New 1x13 groupset from Campagnolo - Now it strikes 13: New gravel groupset from Campa

One chainring, 13 sprockets on the rear wheel: With the Ekar groupset, Campagnolo is offering a drivetrain that consistently dispenses with the front derailleur and the second chainring for the first time. This is the Italian company's response to a trend that has been evident on gravel bikes for some time and is likely to gain further momentum in the future. More and more bike manufacturers are offering gravel bikes with so-called single drivetrains, where front derailleurs and two chainrings are no longer an option. Until now, Shimano and SRAM have offered various single-speed groupsets with ten, eleven or a maximum of twelve sprockets. Only the Spanish company Rotor has already ventured into a single gear system with 13 sprockets.

<<Pioneer: The 1x13 groupset from Rotor>>

With the Ekar, a groupset with 13 mechanically shifted gears is available for the first time. The theoretical advantages are obvious: more sprockets mean smaller, more harmonious jumps between the gears without compromising the gear range. The front derailleur eliminates a component that beginners in particular often find complex to operate and that repeatedly provokes chain drops, especially off-road. A drivetrain without a front derailleur is not only lighter, but also allows frame manufacturers to increase the tyre clearance on the rear wheel.

Super-slim chain

The engineers at Campagnolo managed the feat of fitting the 13 sprockets of the Ekar cassette in the same space as the ten-, eleven- and twelve-speed cassettes. There is a choice of three gradations with 9-36, 9-42 and 10-44 teeth. All cassettes consist of two steel blocks milled from the solid, which sit on weight-saving aluminium carriers. The tiny nine-pinion cassette requires a new mounting standard for the cassette body. The so-called N3W freewheel body is compatible with eleven- and twelve-speed Campagnolo cassettes and is also available as a retrofit kit for all Campagnolo and Fulcrum wheels with brake disc mounts. The 13 sprockets also require a special, super-narrow chain with an outer width of just five millimetres.

Rear derailleur with hydraulic damper

The Ekar crank is made of carbon and is equipped with four different chainrings (38, 40, 42, 44 teeth) and available in four lengths from 165 to 175 millimetres. The Ekar rear derailleur has a hydraulic friction damper that increases the chain tension and thus prevents the chain from slapping. When changing wheels, the rear derailleur can be locked in a rear position. This means that the rear wheel can simply be pulled out downwards without the sprockets getting in the way of the rear derailleur.

The Ergopower brake lever on the right has a newly designed thumb switchwhich is much easier to reach from the grip position in the lower link when shifting to smaller sprockets than its counterpart on the road groupsets. The shifting mechanism in the lever is similar to that used by Campagnolo in the Centaur and Potenza road groupsets. When shifting up, up to three gears can be shifted in one shifting process; gear changes to smaller sprockets are made in stages.

The brake bodies of the disc brakes have also been redesigned. Unlike the Campagnolo road groupsets, there is only one variant, which is equipped with Brake discs with a diameter of 160 or 140 millimetres is compatible. At 1.85 millimetres, the brake discs are slightly thicker than their road counterparts and are said to be particularly heat-resistant.

150 grams lighter than Force AXS, 250 grams lighter than GRX Di2

The prices of all individual components of the Ekar add up to around 1,700 euros. This puts the groupset at the same level as the Force AXS from SRAM, which only offers twelve gears but shifts electrically. The GRX Di2 groupset from Shimano, which is also electric and has 1x11 gears, retails for around €1,400. The weights of the individual Ekar components specified by Campagnolo add up to 2,477 grams. This would make the complete groupset around 150 grams lighter than the Force AXS and around 250 grams lighter than the GRX Di2.

Further information: https://www.campagnolo.com/DE/de