The Ekar gravel bike drivetrain from Campagnolo has several unique selling points. Firstly, it is the only truly lightweight and high-quality shifting option for gravel bikes that does not require electronics or batteries. In addition, the gearbox is unique with 13 sprockets - the competition only has a maximum of twelve, which with a single chainring brings noticeable restrictions in terms of range or gear jumps. The Ekar is therefore particularly popular with individualists and is an enormously important product for the ailing traditional Italian manufacturer, which has recently been steadily losing market share on road racing bikes.
Ekar GT wheels under 3000 euros?
However, a major disadvantage of the ensemble has always been its high price. For gravel bikes under 4000 euros, there is almost no alternative to the GRX groupset from Shimano; for the more expensive bikes, Campa has to compete with the electronic shifting gearboxes from SRAM, which dominate the market. The new Ekar GT aims to change this and capture new market shares in the booming gravel segment. The suffix GT stands for "Gran Turismo", which is intended to indicate the focus on cycling holidays and tours. The group mainly caters for this with new transmission options, more on this later. With a list price of around 1500 euros, the Ekar GT should cost a good 300 euros less than its more upmarket sister. With an appropriate downgrade of wheels and add-on parts, complete bike offers with 1x13 gearing should be possible for less than 3000 euros.
The main difference is an additional weight of 300 grams according to the manufacturer. This is mainly due to the omission of the elegant carbon crank, which has been replaced by a simple, solid aluminium version. Less expensive materials and manufacturing technologies are also used for the rear derailleur and sprocket sets and they are slightly heavier.
Functionally, the Ekar GT should hardly have any losses; on the contrary, it even has some new features. The brakes and brake discs are identical to those of the Ekar, and their function is top notch. The grips have been slightly revised and now offer better support for the hands. The easily accessible thumb lever and grip width adjustment on the brake lever are also on board the Ekar GT.
Climbing made easy
The biggest novelty of the Ekar GT is the additional gear ratio options, which were previously not available for the 1x13 drivetrain. The familiar 9-36, 9-42 and 10-44 sprocket packages are joined by an even more mountain-orientated gradation with 10-48 teeth. Campagnolo has also introduced a smaller chainring with just 36 teeth - previously it started at 38 teeth and went up to a maximum of 44. With the smaller gears, the Ekar should also offer a sufficient gear range for less trained riders, even on steep climbs. The chainrings can be changed quite easily without removing the cranks; the rear derailleur is equipped for all options. This makes it easy to adapt the gear ratio to a specific terrain.
Matching aluminium wheelset
With the Ekar GT, a new Zonda wheelset is being introduced that is a good match in terms of price and quality. The new aluminium rim has an internal dimension of 23 millimetres and strikes a balance between wide road tyres and gravel tyres. With G3 spoking and the 2Way-Fit tubeless rim, proven Campagnolo technologies are on board. The set is said to weigh 1690 grams, for which Campagnolo is asking 690 euros.
Jens Klötzer
Editor
