1x Campagnolo Ekar drivetrain

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

tiberiade wrote:
Tue May 09, 2023 8:36 am
Hey everyone, I've been experimenting with Ekar for about 1,000km of gravel and I'm accumulating technical issues. Essentially, it's about impossible to keep the shifting working properly for more than 50-100km. I've had some of the most reputable bikeshops work on it (including The Service Course in Girona) but no one seems to be able to figure it out. Usually it's shifting up to smaller gears that becomes an issue (towards 44T). Any pointers?
I've got 2,300km on my bike with Ekar. It's working really well but it does need careful setup, in particular I think the B-tension screw is important. The Campag youtube video explains setup well.

If you'e having issues with Ekar I guess you need to review everything from first principles, ie is the cable routing allowing smooth motion of the inner, does the gear outer have clean ends, is the inner clamped correctly, is the hanger straight, and so on.

graeme_f_k
Shop Owner / Manufacturer
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

by graeme_f_k

DrimeOser wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 8:26 am
eurperg wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 7:07 am
The notch at the bars can be filled with pieces of bar tape. Tightening the cassette harder helps with creaks. Clutch tension can be adjusted with a Dremel…
Filled the notch. But, it shouldn't be there at the first place. Tightened the cassette with all power I have: didnt make the creaking dissapear though. And for the clutch: sorry Campag, but I won't dremel down the spring. That is not my job.
The notch isn't there on every bar - varies a little with taping technique and bar shape.
Cassette creak - in general it shouldn't. This is a possible warranty issue - please refer to your dealer. There are two corrections available for it, that may need to be applied. We have seen one or two cases on 3rd party cassette bodies that are a result of out of tolerance problems in the cassette body dims. This is not warranty from Campag's side but the other two possible issu are, if present.
Deremelling the spring is not something that Campagnolo themselves have ever recommended - you are right, it's a guerilla fix. Don't pin that one on Vicenza ...
Last edited by graeme_f_k on Fri May 19, 2023 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



graeme_f_k
Shop Owner / Manufacturer
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

by graeme_f_k

graeme_f_k wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 11:30 am
DrimeOser wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 8:26 am
eurperg wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 7:07 am
The notch at the bars can be filled with pieces of bar tape. Tightening the cassette harder helps with creaks. Clutch tension can be adjusted with a Dremel…
Filled the notch. But, it shouldn't be there at the first place. Tightened the cassette with all power I have: didnt make the creaking dissapear though. And for the clutch: sorry Campag, but I won't dremel down the spring. That is not my job.
The notch isn't there on every bar - varies a little with taping technique and bar shape.
Cassette creak - in general it shouldn't. This is a possible warranty issue - please refer to your dealer. There are two corrections available for it, that may need to be applied. We have seen one or two cases on 3rd party cassette bodies that are a result of out of tolerance problems in the cassette body dims. This is not warranty from Campag's side but the other two possible issues are, if present.
Deremelling the spring is not something that Campagnolo have ever recommended - you are right, it's a guerilla fix. Don't pin that one on Vicenza ...
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!

graeme_f_k
Shop Owner / Manufacturer
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

by graeme_f_k

Miller wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 9:50 am
tiberiade wrote:
Tue May 09, 2023 8:36 am
Hey everyone, I've been experimenting with Ekar for about 1,000km of gravel and I'm accumulating technical issues. Essentially, it's about impossible to keep the shifting working properly for more than 50-100km. I've had some of the most reputable bikeshops work on it (including The Service Course in Girona) but no one seems to be able to figure it out. Usually it's shifting up to smaller gears that becomes an issue (towards 44T). Any pointers?
I've got 2,300km on my bike with Ekar. It's working really well but it does need careful setup, in particular I think the B-tension screw is important. The Campag youtube video explains setup well.

If you'e having issues with Ekar I guess you need to review everything from first principles, ie is the cable routing allowing smooth motion of the inner, does the gear outer have clean ends, is the inner clamped correctly, is the hanger straight, and so on.
In other words, RTFM :-D
Eagle is the same,as is GRX. Both work well but you can't apply generic set-up rules to either and expect to get optimal function.
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!

graeme_f_k
Shop Owner / Manufacturer
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

by graeme_f_k

graeme_f_k wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 11:33 am
Miller wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 9:50 am
tiberiade wrote:
Tue May 09, 2023 8:36 am
Hey everyone, I've been experimenting with Ekar for about 1,000km of gravel and I'm accumulating technical issues. Essentially, it's about impossible to keep the shifting working properly for more than 50-100km. I've had some of the most reputable bikeshops work on it (including The Service Course in Girona) but no one seems to be able to figure it out. Usually it's shifting up to smaller gears that becomes an issue (towards 44T). Any pointers?


I've got 2,300km on my bike with Ekar. It's working really well but it does need careful setup, in particular I think the B-tension screw is important. The Campag youtube video explains setup well.

If you'e having issues with Ekar I guess you need to review everything from first principles, ie is the cable routing allowing smooth motion of the inner, does the gear outer have clean ends, is the inner clamped correctly, is the hanger straight, and so on.
Last edited by graeme_f_k on Fri May 19, 2023 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!

graeme_f_k
Shop Owner / Manufacturer
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

by graeme_f_k

graeme_f_k wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 11:34 am
graeme_f_k wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 11:33 am
Miller wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 9:50 am
tiberiade wrote:
Tue May 09, 2023 8:36 am
Hey everyone, I've been experimenting with Ekar for about 1,000km of gravel and I'm accumulating technical issues. Essentially, it's about impossible to keep the shifting working properly for more than 50-100km. I've had some of the most reputable bikeshops work on it (including The Service Course in Girona) but no one seems to be able to figure it out. Usually it's shifting up to smaller gears that becomes an issue (towards 44T). Any pointers?
I've got 2,300km on my bike with Ekar. It's working really well but it does need careful setup, in particular I think the B-tension screw is important. The Campag youtube video explains setup well.

If you'e having issues with Ekar I guess you need to review everything from first principles, ie is the cable routing allowing smooth motion of the inner, does the gear outer have clean ends, is the inner clamped correctly, is the hanger straight, and so on.
In other words, RTFM :-D
Eagle is the same, as is GRX. Both work well but you can't just apply generic set-up rules to them, either - and expect to get optimal function.
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!

graeme_f_k
Shop Owner / Manufacturer
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 12:21 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

by graeme_f_k

graeme_f_k wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 11:30 am
DrimeOser wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 8:26 am
eurperg wrote:
Thu May 11, 2023 7:07 am
The notch at the bars can be filled with pieces of bar tape. Tightening the cassette harder helps with creaks. Clutch tension can be adjusted with a Dremel…
Filled the notch. But, it shouldn't be there at the first place. Tightened the cassette with all power I have: didnt make the creaking dissapear though. And for the clutch: sorry Campag, but I won't dremel down the spring. That is not my job.
The notch isn't there on every bar - varies a little with taping technique and bar shape.
Cassette creak - in general it shouldn't. This is a possible warranty issue - please refer to your dealer. There are two corrections available for it, that may need to be applied. We have seen one or two cases on 3rd party cassette bodies that are a result of out of tolerance problems in the cassette body dims. This is not warranty from Campag's side but the other two possible issu are, if present.
Deremelling the spring is not something that Campagnolo themselves have ever recommended - you are right, it's a guerilla fix. Please don't try and pin that one on Vicenza ... :-)
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!

DrimeOser
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:35 pm

by DrimeOser

[/quote]
The notch isn't there on every bar - varies a little with taping technique and bar shape.
Cassette creak - in general it shouldn't. This is a possible warranty issue - please refer to your dealer. There are two corrections available for it, that may need to be applied. We have seen one or two cases on 3rd party cassette bodies that are a result of out of tolerance problems in the cassette body dims. This is not warranty from Campag's side but the other two possible issu are, if present.
Deremelling the spring is not something that Campagnolo themselves have ever recommended - you are right, it's a guerilla fix. Please don't try and pin that one on Vicenza ... :-)
[/quote]
[/quote]

I have the notch on Enve bars, filled it with bar tape. A friend has a notch twice as big on his 3T bars. I still think when you design a lever, you kinda mount it to some bars to see if they fit and if there is any notch, you simply smoothen that out before going into production. That would appear the normal way to go for me.
Then, with the cassette, many many people have creaks but there has been no official information from Campag to the public. I know, there has been an update to the sleeve from the first run. No idea what the second update was. And, it is not like shops contact their customers going, 'hey you bought a cassette from us, there is a fix if you have unwanted sounds.' It is all murky if you are not dealing with a hardcore Campag shop. I know from one shop in particular that they only got information when contacting Campag directly with a problem.
And the clutch, to me, could have been designed a bit better. I know Vincenca doesnt ask me to dremel it. That was just a forum suggestion.

MauriceBrocco
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2022 9:38 am

by MauriceBrocco

The notch on the bars is prominent on mine. I did. however not try to specifically wrap my tape and get rid of it. The way I grab the shifters is very far forward usually so it doesn't really bother me.

My cassette did develop the creaking issue despite it being the revised version with the silver spacer. The bike has done around 3000k until it started making noise. I took it apart, cleaned it and greased it and now it's gone for the time being. Upon inspecting it, I did notice that the bigger part of the cassette sits very slack on the freehub. I'm running a custom built wheelset with Novatec Hubs. I converted the hubs to the N3W freehub once Novatec made that available. Now this might be a case of bad tolerances as Graeme suggested. I hope this won't cause me problems in the long run.

gwerziou
Posts: 347
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:25 pm
Location: Ballard, WA

by gwerziou

I think it was on this thread someone was going to try fitting an Ekar shifter mechanism into a regular Record or whatever shifter, how did that turn out?
• A hi-zoot bike, pretty sweet
• An old bike, more fun than the new one actually
• Unicycle, no brand name visible

lightklein2
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2003 9:00 am

by lightklein2

Hello

does anyone know an alternative to the 13-speed Ekar cassette?

lightklein2
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2003 9:00 am

by lightklein2

[quote=gwerziou post_id=1808496 time=1685765053 user_id=75986]
I think it was on this thread someone was going to try fitting an Ekar shifter mechanism into a regular Record or whatever shifter, how did that turn out?
[/quote]

hey

i am trying the same thing . Based on my clarifications, this should work. The Ekar brake/shifter body is the same as the mechanical Super Record.

emotive
Posts: 613
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:40 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

by emotive

lightklein2 wrote:Hello

does anyone know an alternative to the 13-speed Ekar cassette?
Not exactly, but Classified have released their Hub and Cassette for Ekar. I don’t know who makes their cassettes but their SRAM shifts well so I am hopeful for good Campag compatibility from ther Ekar cassettes, and for aftermarket Ekar cassettes from whoever is manufacturing for them.

de lars cuevas
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:28 pm
Location: the Netherlands

by de lars cuevas

gwerziou wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2023 5:04 am
I think it was on this thread someone was going to try fitting an Ekar shifter mechanism into a regular Record or whatever shifter, how did that turn out?
Hijacking... I'd like to see somebody fitting a shifter lever without ratchet parts in the left Ekar shifter for use as a dropper remote. :-D

gwerziou
Posts: 347
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:25 pm
Location: Ballard, WA

by gwerziou

lightklein2 wrote:
Sun Jun 11, 2023 9:01 pm
gwerziou wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2023 5:04 am
I think it was on this thread someone was going to try fitting an Ekar shifter mechanism into a regular Record or whatever shifter, how did that turn out?
hey

i am trying the same thing . Based on my clarifications, this should work. The Ekar brake/shifter body is the same as the mechanical Super Record.
Cool, I'm quite interested!
• A hi-zoot bike, pretty sweet
• An old bike, more fun than the new one actually
• Unicycle, no brand name visible

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply