The 'Un-Official' Campagnolo Ekar thread

[alvinholbrook]

Originally Posted by Kirkspants

That said, does anyone know any reliable and reproducible ways to do full-length housing for Campy?

gonna be honest... I'm running full-length housing with my Ekar bike and it works great, a year and ~1500 hard miles later. Less finicky than my 11s Record group on my road bike with exposed cables and housing, though that too hasn't required too much work.

[Kirkspants]

Hmmm… what cables/housing and what bike are you running? This Domane has a wicked series of bends before it hits the down tube. The bike I can’t do anything about but curious what else is changeable. Thanks for the reply though!

[Kirkspants]

Originally Posted by Dave B

This!!

We carry Scott, Specialized, Trek, Cervelo, Allied, Look, Norco, Factor, and Pinarello at my shop and having to make sure you know how each manufacture and their "best version ever" proprietary system works for all their clever models. It is comical.

We rarely get Campy builds (except for my own stuff) until Mistermo brings me his Aspero and Ekar group to build. Stoked to get my hands on the stuff.

Steve, I am waiting!!!!

Hah! Okay so my natural next question to you is what’s your go-to cable/housing setup for mechanical? We have always just settled with SP-41 and polished stainless Jagwire bulk or Shimano OptiSlik or whatever it is called now. I’m just hunting around for anything I haven’t thought about. Also, being a short guy with a slammed stem on a small bike and long stem… really bad for reducing friction

[Dave B]

Originally Posted by Kirkspants

Hah! Okay so my natural next question to you is what’s your go-to cable/housing setup for mechanical? We have always just settled with SP-41 and polished stainless Jagwire bulk or Shimano OptiSlik or whatever it is called now. I’m just hunting around for anything I haven’t thought about. Also, being a short guy with a slammed stem on a small bike and long stem… really bad for reducing friction

I have two quick thoughts. I have an almost endless supply of cables and housing at my disposal, so I typically use our bulk stuff, which is Jagwire. I use this on ALL brands of componetry.

I also romanticize Campagnolo and have for too long. short not impressive reasoning. I will use shop stuff for customer's bikes as I try to fix their bikes to as new as possible for the least amount of money I can charge them...BUUUUUTTTTT

for my bikes I order a cable set from Campy and typically (before COVID) had a few sets on hand at my home shop. Like I said, the reasoning is silly, but I do love the campy cable sets that all come together.

Pretty much any cable and housing work, I just like my personal bikes to have as much Campy as I can. With that said I am looking at three bikes (with CAMPY) and all have normal shop housing. They work just as good. ATMO

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by mistermo

Ratio has said they’re coming out with a 13s hack for SRAM levers to work with Ekar. No idea if that means it’d work with SRAM rim brake levers but the chance is reasonable given their 12s hack works with some of their rim brake levers.

Here it is:
https://ratiotechnology.com/ratio-up...-compatibility

Use a SRAM mechanical lever to shift 13 speed Ekar. A rim brake solution.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

What matters isn't the difference in gear inches, it is the relative difference in gear ratios (in percent). The relative ratios from 9-10, 10-11, etc are:

11.1%
10.0%
9.1%
8.3%
7.7%
14.3%
12.5%
16.7%
19.0%
20.0%
20.0%
16.7%

So the relative size jumps at the small end of the cassette are appreciably larger than the relative size jumps at the large end of the cassette (about twice as large actually).

This is, of course, correct. However, I will contend that that's where you probably want a big difference. If you are searching for a lower gear, a big jump down is likely to be welcome.
I've been using it for several hundred miles, and I have to say I have yet to think "Wow. That was too big a jump"

[Philster]

Ratio also announces what they say are the first Ekar compatible chainrings. They have smaller options which may help those of us bothered by the cassette lay-out.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by Philster

Ratio also announces what they say are the first Ekar compatible chainrings. They have smaller options which may help those of us bothered by the cassette lay-out.

34,36,38 ratios are smart. Would like a 40 too.

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by makoti

This is, of course, correct. However, I will contend that that's where you probably want a big difference. If you are searching for a lower gear, a big jump down is likely to be welcome.
I've been using it for several hundred miles, and I have to say I have yet to think "Wow. That was too big a jump"

Agree 100%.

[AngryScientist]

Merging the ekar threads to keep all the info in one place.

Question: Is anyone making chainrings compatible with the ekar crank?

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by makoti

This is, of course, correct. However, I will contend that that's where you probably want a big difference. If you are searching for a lower gear, a big jump down is likely to be welcome.
I've been using it for several hundred miles, and I have to say I have yet to think "Wow. That was too big a jump"

My personal preference is for equal relative jumps across the entire cassette. Even when grinding up a steep climb, I like to be able to fine tune my gearing/cadence. On pavement, that means small to medium sized jumps across the entire cassette.

On trails, the situation is a bit different - due to often wildly terrain and grades, bigger jumps between gears are better (or else you'd spend too much time doing multiple sprocket shifts). But even here, I'd prefer the relative size jumps between gears to be about equal across the entire cassette.

[JWB475]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Merging the ekar threads to keep all the info in one place.

Question: Is anyone making chainrings compatible with the ekar crank?

The only one I have seen is from Ratio for SRAM cranks....although I have made a few for my Easton cranks with a flat file and some patience.

[JWB475]

Originally Posted by JWB475

The only one I have seen is from Ratio for SRAM cranks....although I have made a few for my Easton cranks with a flat file and some patience.

Whoops, misread your post, nevermind LOL...

[d_douglas]

If there is no Ekar EPS group in the works, will there be a Chorus EPS disc group on the horizon?

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

If there is no Ekar EPS group in the works, will there be a Chorus EPS disc group on the horizon?

Neither are getting an EPS kit. The only EPS kit will remain Super Record and it will stay 12 speed.