Campagnolo Ekar Review - Just SO Campagnolo...

[@sspirito3130]

I've done about 1000Km on my new Ekar groupset and so far I am really impressed. I love the ergonomics, the ability to control all your gears with the right thumb and middle finger is great. Brakes are the best brakes I ever tried. I didin't have to do any adjustments so far. My GRX was frustrating: sticky pistons since day one, which was super annoying, then I snapped the first cable after a few weeks, and the second time after less than 3000Km

[@riccardovolpe4822]

amazing video, so clear! let me add some of my toughs from a total campy fanboy with more than 5k kms on ekar... the tiny tolerance are a fact and of coruse a weak point especially in the dirt where a gravel groupset must live, but... I've noted that if your frame has external cables the accurancy of the shifter is slightly long lasting than if you have internal routing! about gearing of course you're right but finally campy has answered you (us) with the amazing new GT range!

[@rbrownja]

I’ll say that I went with an interesting approach with Ekar. I built up a roadie 1x with 44t chainring and 9-42 cassette giving me incredible top end speed and climbing gears for days. There was a bit of struggle early on nailing the shifting but it’s seemed to behave pretty well for close to 5,000km. Plus, it looks so tasty on a steel frame 🤤

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Good to hear it dude! And that sounds like quite a rocket you've got there. 44x9 is a big gear!

[@tgoods5049]

I’m doing the same thing! It will my gravel bike, but will also see a lot of road miles in fast group rides.

[@rbrownja]

@@tgoods5049 you won’t regret it! It’s so tasty on fast flats and climbing too!

[@oberpfalzbike]

Thank you so much for this honest review. I experienced similar issues on running this groupset on my gravel bike.

[@CuriousMind_LVG]

Thank you for this unbiased review. I have GRX812 and really like it, but was thinking to some day try out Ekar. This is really good food for thought. Cheers!

[@christopherhood9241]

I've had ekar now for 18/19 months & riden just over 20k miles & I have to agree with your review. At the time of my bike build in the UK ekar was the easiest group set to purchase with supply chain issues & covid. The gears are pain in terms of reliability shifting Campag should have gone electronic from the start. When they work well they are super but this is not every day, sadly. Reminds me of the car brand alfa, you know your going th have issues... the one day a year it works is an awesome feeling. I have suffered finger/thumb numbness in the first few days after a number of ultra events from the manual gears. Looking at SRAM as a replacement/upgrade & going back to 2x.

[@andrewlucas246]

Great to see another video! Hope there's plenty of riding in store for you over summer

[@michaelkimpton6136]

I'm proud to now own that Daccordi 🥰

[@One_mole_worth]

Maxing out that 38t 😂 I've developed my own chainrings for 34t and 36t cinch...my local gravel has some 30% grades on chunky fs roads I found my shifting issues resolved when swapped over to jagwire pro slick polished cable (and new housing). The issue is the Teflon coated cable that comes with ekar. It flakes apart in the housing causing more friction, which makes it harder for the spring to overcome the friction.

[@adrenaline33867]

Do say more about the 34 and 36t chainrings you’ve developed

[@One_mole_worth]

@@adrenaline33867 sorry for the late reply, don't check youtube notifications. Brackish Cycles :) give it a google. chainrings on the website

[@francoisbru3613]

2 years owning my gravel bike with Ekar groupset and I have to admit that shifting performance and reliability have been my most complain and frustration... Invested in it when I could not get any SRAM product but just for that I want to change it... Braking performance and modulation are definitely a big high though but cannot compensate for the shifting frustration....

[@thedownunderverse]

Welcome back dude! 🤟🏻

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Thanks mate! Photography has eaten all of my old Youtubing time 😵‍💫

[@dirkrudolf5014]

absolutely matching, the comment of christopher hood: one day a year you`ll love the Campa shifting - but the rest of the year .... it' s just a bad romance

[@davidlenneberg4303]

Good honest review hopefully Campagnolo listen to this and make some improvements and that you’re chain broke for somebody who loves to ride Campey there chains are normally bullet-proof. 😢

[@TimSchulzks]

Just sold my Super Record mechanic Groupset. Was a nightmare...

[@glassacre]

I had Ekar on a gravel bike for 2 months and eventually couldn't wait to get rid of it (to be fair though, i'm not sure it was correctly set up by the bike manufacturer). Some issues I had with it: on a snack break, the wind knocked over the bike onto the drive side and I suspect then bent the hanger. It shifted fine for a couple weeks after that, but all of a sudden on a long winding ascent, i lost access to the bottom 4 gears. Ekar is something that sounds great in theory but not in execution. The shifting was never precise for me. Shifting up into harder gears was great, and always accurate, but shifting down, i almost always missed shifts. Maybe 40% of the time it was accurate. I also had a lot of issues (and something few too many reviewers point out) with the down-shift lever getting "stuck" on the brake lever. This requires easy (but annoying) adjustment. If the lever sticks by the brake lever, you cannot shift up or down. Range for me was mostly ok. I did spin out quite a few times (very hilly by where i live). I had the 40T and 10/44. Another thing no one mentions is god forbid you drop the bike on the drive side. Ekar's derailleur sticks out quite a bit from the chain stay. That means anything will knock it out of alignment (as it did for me). GRX in contrast is flush with the frame. Lastly - the brakes on Ekar are amazing...far and away the best I've used on a bike. For me, this groupset was too finicky. I want to enjoy the ride, not deal with constant shifting issues. It's not a groupset I'll consider again (until or if they maybe go to electronic shifting).

[@shanefrench3944]

Ditto

[@KuriReevel]

So, this man rides with its gravel bikes over 60 km/h… What a man.

[@andreaslindenthal6654]

You can ride those bikes on paved rodes. Shocking, I know!

[@ohnopiero]

Im still in the process of building my ride. So far I heading towards going for the chorus group set. 34 - 50 paired with 11 - 32 .

[@ianlee1655]

I’ve been running Ekar for 6 months and totally agree about it needing plenty of regular adjustment to keep the changes good. It’s not easy to do either. Have Red mechanical on my other bike and it seems so much easier to get right than the Campagnolo. Would have liked AXS wide, but…. £££👍

[@derekhobbs1102]

Feels like 10 months since I saw a video from you. I still haven't progressed beyond Deore LX 3x9 speed.

[@justwhenithought]

Thanks for your honest review. I wouldn't want to have a groupset that's hard to live with.

[@nommchompsky]

I assume the finicky shifting that comes along with 13 gears is the reason brands are switching over to electronic shifting

[@JustRideAdelaide]

I would expect electronic Ekar to come very soon which could really turn the system around. Interestingly, the 2x12 mechanical road groups had excellent shifting. If they'd adapted that with gravel ratios it could've been a great groupset.

[@trevekneebone369]

I wonder if a Campagnolo Chorus 2x groupset would work well? They offer 48/32 chainrings and an 11-34 cassette these days.

[@Z64025]

I used Chorus 12-speed disc with that crank & cassette combo for both gravel racing and road riding. Chain catcher is a must for rough gravel, especially rocky descents and front shifting at speed. Would love to try Ekar but Chorus works and seems a more efficient choice for an “allroad” bike imo.

[@garagesale5948]

Huh, mountain bike flat bar rapid shifters only allows one down shift at time

[@l.d.t.6327]

You can't compare Ekar mechanical shifting with Dura aced 11sp, which is up with the best in shifting among all groupsets ever made. Campagnolo shifting was flawless and very reliable up until 9sp, but imho the reinforced plastic shifter behind the braking lever was the worst thing they have done: that thing is flexy and takes all of the crispy-ness out of the shifting.

[@ChrisCorless]

Another insightful review, keep up the great work. Have you had a chance to try Pirelli's new RC gravel tire, hope you do!

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Cheers mate! I haven't tried the new Pirellis yet. I miiiiight just see if I can get my hands on a set. They look pretty fun.

[@ChrisCorless]

@@JustRideAdelaide Definitely, would be awesome if they rolled like the H and Terra Speeds and had traction like the M's. Have a great week!

[@outbackwack368]

Sounds like Campy would benefit from friction shifting instead... I had a Bianchi with Campy back in 2000 and never really favored it. In 2002 I got a Serrota with Dura Ace and never even considered Campy again. Now I'm a SRAM fan. Thanks!

[@didierforton6801]

I have a bike with since october. I'm happy expect that I broken my chain at less than 1000 km. Does somelse had the same issue ? I find it's really a good groupe because you have only a single chain ring and even, you have a good range between lowest and highest speed. I just hope some accessories manufacturer will come on the market to have chain rings at 36 (or lower), oval chain rings, powermeter, ...

[@johstdallmann3667]

Does anybody know, if you can run the ekar with a different chain, like a 12speed SRAM?

[@bogusjimmy]

Kangaroo at 3:28 is definitely a SRAM fan

[@JustRideAdelaide]

idk, I get some real Microshift hipster vibes from it

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

Top notch... as usual. The channel, not Campo 😀👍

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Appreciate it mate!

[@RadioSnivins]

I'd love to hear the backstory on the Daktari at 00:09.

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Quite a whip that one! Bought it from a bike shop who were selling it on behalf of the guy who bought it from new in the mid 90s. I swapped out the Record 9 to Athena 11 to make it more hills friendly and rode it occasionally for a few years because it was really friggin nice! Those carbon rims were only for a cool photo shoot and it spent its life with alloy clinchers. I ended up selling it to a guy I know who absolutely adores it! I have a pretty small house and had to set a bike limit because it was such a pain drowning in bikes I barely rode 😂 It was cool to own for a while but it's getting a lot more love now with its new owner

[@RadioSnivins]

@@JustRideAdelaide Bike genealogy is cooler than penguin balls.

[@jonnythelegs2597]

This isn't the first time Campag have "tried" to make a decent off road groupset.

[@bootsauce47]

Are those tires the Pirelli Gravel S? If so can’t wait for a review…

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Just the regular Gravel M. A set of RCs arrived this week though so you can look forward to that review!

[@wernerp3943]

Campa

[@eirikkristine]

Shifting under load it’s not good on Ekar

[@p.a.ch.3861]

Honest opinion

[@petergiourelas3753]

Im still using downtube shifters, no plans to change

[@lukeholloway7836]

I’m not questioning your mechanic ability’s but you have to be Abel to adjust you’re cables correctly it’s ok to have to adjust it occasionally the cable is supposed to stretch over time and you’re hanger is strait of course stay up

[@treygray2817]

Potenza and Record should shift identically, according to Campagnolo.

[@thedownunderverse]

I’m not sure this is true - they have totally different shift mechanisms (down the cassette). Ultrashift and lever ergonomics is pretty much the only reason I stick with Campy - agree with James, when dialed in they’re great gruppo’s but they need as much regular attention as an Italian woman or they go wacky 🤪

[@treygray2817]

@@thedownunderverse Yup, I use Potenza and I'm just there for the ergonomics and admittedly aesthetics. I used to run Chorus and I kinda miss ultrashift, but I didn't want to spring the extra money for it. And I was told Campagnolo claims their groups are functionally the same.

[@thedownunderverse]

@@treygray2817 Dunno how Italian’s define “functionally”, clearly US and PS function differently. Maybe they’re referring to shift quality? I also have Potenza (rim) on one bike and it’s also great stuff. In some ways the droopy lever is more ergonomic but just a fraction slower and more annoying on the down shift

[@JustRideAdelaide]

I guess it depends what they're claiming is identical 🤷 Anyone who claimed my Athena and Record 11 sets had identical shifting would be laughed out of my house

[@alanhill7965]

I found mine very disappointing shifting everything was just awful eventually selling the bike with it on , now have Sram red 1x and couldn’t be happier

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Ahhhh man that sucks Alan! Was that a Grit SX as well?

[@alanhill7965]

No I had a lot of expensive problems with the shimano grx that was on it then the Ekar , I got it running ok but just wasn’t happy so splashed out got the top of the range Grail with Red etap and love it

[@redhunter1535]

I have Sram Red too and it awesome, doing everything with 1 single lever

[@Wolfgangsson]

I guess if you actively decide to biy a mechanical set in 2024 as well a Campa set you have to live with its flaws. It is like driving a Ferrari. It is mechanical and far from perfect but is emotion for me

[@DaveCM]

I was considering Ekar for my new bike. But, your review matches what I've heard from others. It has turned me off to the idea. I have decided to go with SRAM AXS. It gives me the range and I have it on my road bike and it has been very good and very reliable.

[@marcuswong1797]

Dont matter the 'strengths' I stopped the video at 5:00 and was done with this review. .. if a groupset's no1 job is to 'shift' and 'durability' and what you say is true, then no need to buy/continue with the video. Next time talk about strengths before problems, so the viewers will stay for the whole video haha

[@JustRideAdelaide]

I usually do start with strengths and move to weaknesses but as you noted the weaknesses are pretty centrally important to a groupset so I decided to frontload it 😂

[@brasstinmancrazy]

It doesn't seem like a bike packing friendly group set, shift tweaking, single gear jumps, and can you imagine the pain of needing some parts in a small country town, village etc... you'd need to carry spare shifting cables (always a good idea) and even a chain or you'd be stuck.... I'll stick with Shimano and SRAM

[@JustRideAdelaide]

Yeeeeeah I think specific parts of Italy might be the only place you'd have a good chance of finding spares 😂

[@EditioCastigata]

3:27 That's one ugly rabbit right there. 🙂