Braking performance of gravel groupsets

[tiberiade]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently looking into my next build and while I've got frame and wheelset figured out, I'm very hesitant on the groupset. So far I have had gravel bikes with Shimano Ultegra, Sram Red XPLR, and Campagnolo Ekar. I was considering building a mullet groupset with a mix of Sram Red and Eagle, but I'm not overly convinced by the braking performance of Sram's system. My Ekar groupset, with all its faults, brakes superbly: great modularity, great power, hardly ever makes any noise (looking at you Shimano), and my fingers don't get stuck under the lever (looking at you Sram).

While I can deal with the bad design of Sram's levers, I'm just really unimpressed with the braking power. Could it be because of the pads or because of my tyres? Should I just be waiting for new groupsets to come out?

Particularly interested in feedback from people who've used Campagnolo and know how good the braking is. Thanks!