4/17/22 2:07 PM

As I’ve apparently been living under a rock, I just stumbled upon this Campy 1x13 mechanical gravel gruppo. Can get a 38 ring with 10-44. Supposed to work great, and being Campy, it’s gorgeous.

Love my SRAM 1x11, but could use a bigger gear than 38-11. This also gives me a slightly lower gear, improved spacing, and Ergo shifting.

Be still my heart.

4/17/22 4:39 PM

Supports a 9t smallest cog on cassette too. 9-42 cassette is one of the 3 for the groupo.


Cassette @ Merlin are 236.00 US, 275.00 state side.


Me, I'm sticking with 11s 11-34 with 31/48 30/46 or 28/42 chainsets...

Agree totally, the Ekar is one of the best looking offerings of late...

4/18/22 3:43 PM

As of recently there were almost no cassettes around.,in the US anyway. That may have changed, but was true recently.

4/18/22 4:07 PM

A quick check shows Colorado Cyclist has 3 or 4 of each size. So not many, but a couple.

4/18/22 5:00 PM

I set it up on one bike - 38t chainring with 10-44 cassette. It works very nicely - the sole complaint I have about it is that I feel the gear ratios are too closely clustered at the top end and too far apart at the bottom end. The cogs on the cassette are:

10-11-12-13-14-15-17-20-23-27-32-38-44

Which gives, for example, only a 7% difference between the 14 and 15 cogs, but 16% difference between 27-32 and 32-38, and 14% between 38-44. I prefer the jumps to be pretty much the same right across the cassette.

4/19/22 5:14 AM

That’s interesting, the jumps are more evenly spaced on my SRAM 11 speed 11-42. Guess I’d have to ride EKar and see how I liked it.

What bike do you have it on?

4/19/22 8:21 AM

Dan, why not just put a SRAM 40t Ring on your CheckPoint?
I have the same setup (Force CX1) with a 40t ring and the same 11/42 Cassette on my Trek Crockett that I use for Gravel.
A 40x11 is about 101 gear inches and the 40x42 is about 27 gear inches with 700x40 tires.
Ekar with a 38x10 is about 106 gear inches. Do you need a gear of that size?
I used my Crockett for RAGBRAI with Road tires a few years ago and had plenty of High End and Low End gearing.
If you switch to Ekar you will need wheels with the New Campy Freehub Body. the 13sp Ekar cassette requires the new Freehub, will not fit on all our old Campy 9sp-12sp Road Freehubs.

4/19/22 3:39 PM

Well the reason I got a 38 in the first place was because I wanted the low gear, and I’d actually like one lower than that, not higher. I’m old and decrepit, but I still like to ride steep stuff. I set the bike up for D2R2, where I need real low. As to the high, I stopped counting gear inches years ago, I just know I’d like a higher gear than 38-11. Not for hammering on the flats, but for pedaling moderate downhills. I’m about 195 and it’s not hard to roll a decent gear on even a slight downhill, and I spin this one out pretty quick when the road points down.

But you’re right, I’d not bother to put this on the Checkpoint. It would be an excuse for a new bike!

4/20/22 8:11 AM

Dan, you do realize that your bike can coast , right?

My biggest gear is a 46/12, which is nearly identical to the 50/13 I use on the road (and Ekar's 38/10). Either one is good up to 35 mph and beyond that, I just coast or soft pedal.

Ekar doesn't have multi-shift capability in both directions, but with the larger gearing gaps, that's probably less of an issue, especially since you're used to SRAM's shifting. The cassette gearing does seem a bit odd, but the rationale is to provide close gaps between the gears that will be used the most with the smaller chainring of a 1x. With a 38t chainring, that will probably be the 12-20 range.

4/20/22 8:59 AM

quote:

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I prefer the jumps to be pretty much the same right across the cassette.

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4/20/22 9:18 AM

Yes I do realize the bike can coast. I was saying I want bigger then 38/11, not bigger than 38/10. And I'm not talking about spinning out at 35mph @ 120 rpm or whatever, just rolling at moderate cadence down a moderate downhill. I've ridden the bike four years, and I know what I want!

4/20/22 9:31 AM

Yeah, 38/11 is pretty low; it's actually the highest gear on my hardtail MTB. I hear you and getting the gearing you want can be frustrating. I would love Campy 12 on my road bike, but they don't make a cassette that has what I want.

4/20/22 10:16 AM

Totally get it now...N+1.
Enjoy your new Build.

4/20/22 10:53 AM

quote:

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But you’re right, I’d not bother to put this on the Checkpoint. It would be an excuse for a new bike!

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4/20/22 12:32 PM

Very nice workmanship...if a bit quirky.

It reminds me of an Eisentraut frame I saw a long time ago. It was lugged, but was beautifully filed with perfect brazing lines exposed. It wasn't stainless, but clear coated Reynolds 531.

I wonder how much the Kirk weighs with all that brass filet material.

4/20/22 1:38 PM

I always thought the filet was not additional weight with mitered rather than over lapping tubes into lugs etc.??

Once I get sick of all the plastic I may wind up here. But the upper end carbon is so very well implemented.

I do love a steel fork, seems easier to get a balance that with carbon fork, especially on steel. I mean without the entire build being so stiff as to have the dream glide.

The Nago EP frameset I got from Walter is a lively feeling thing with a Clyde on it. The Addict LTD that was #1 from 2014-20 also. Upper carbon can get that springy thing going on, love that feel.

Now the Domane Classics, which is my #1, like any Trek plastic is so far from lively it is not funny. But that long low stability with ability to fit fatish [for road] tires like Dan has on his RSL is huge plus in the cush dept. My Classics is 105CM wheel base, hardly seems like a road bike on paper, but it sure is... that is 2" longer than the EP...

The Lorry like beast is stable like you'd imagine, a plus for my old clyde/ars as well. I can't put that bike down, and it just turned 9. ;)

4/20/22 11:36 PM

quote:

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That’s interesting, the jumps are more evenly spaced on my SRAM 11 speed 11-42. Guess I’d have to ride EKar and see how I liked it.

What bike do you have it on?

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4/22/22 6:25 AM

"I always thought the filet was not additional weight with mitered rather than over lapping tubes into lugs etc.??"

I was thinking more in comparison to a welded frame. I don't imagine there would be much difference compared to a lugged frame. Then again, there's lot of brass in those joints.

4/22/22 6:38 AM

Well my talk of a new Ekar bike is mostly fantasizing, but you never know what I might do in a weak moment (particularly influenced by alcohol or caffeine).

IF I did look at a new bike, I’d start with a Breadwinner G- Road, made right in Sparky’s Portland, with a segmented fork and welding by Christopher Igleheart, whom I rode with long ago in this (Maine) Portland. I’ve corresponded with them over the last few months, and just emailed to see if they’d do an Ekar bike (I don’t see why not short of availability problems).

One of these things where 80% of the time I see no point and the other 20% it seems like a great idea….

4/22/22 10:21 AM

That's a pretty bike, except for the fork. That, to my mind, is ugly as sin--I just don't like the cylindrical legs. They are fully functional, but...

4/22/22 11:27 AM

I love the fork. Form follows function. Maybe it's my past association with Christopher Igleheart (whose custom forks are a thing).

Variety makes the world go round....

4/22/22 11:29 AM

Good thing there is variety. To me, it looks a little too functional, but it's your bike, not mine!

4/22/22 1:12 PM

"it looks a little too functional"

For me as well. #coke/pepsi

I had grabbed a pair of SS Traitor Crusade disc gravel bikes for dirt to re$ell with steel segmented forks. Made some coin and harvested two TRP/Hylex hydro brake systems too. yada


A friend got a Ti-Cycles Ti monster done up. So to save a lot of coin, he got one of their imports rather than scratch/custom. They go over to bring to their top standards, which are tip top. It may well be a Habanero or very similar to start with, with T-Cycles rebrand decals.

So a Ti segmented Fork, with even bigger diameter than the steel BW or Traitor forks. I just can't warm up to the aesthetic.

Ti-Cycles is one hell of a shop on custom, they modded the dropouts on the for His Rohloff including custom cable provisions for same. Boy it's good work.

But, his goal to get his Rohloff disc trucker lighter at great upgrade cost, did not quite net the diet he had hoped for. ;)

Two points, fork not for me, and T-Cycles has some crazy shop talent on board. Seeing custom lugged frames they built in stands getting campy put on... The times I've visited there etc., yum!

Browse: https://www.ticycles.com/

Look at the retro fitting and customization pages.

They'll do HT retro fits, and all other manor of work at great cost. ;) But they WILL do it right...

4/22/22 1:32 PM

As far as:

quote:

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Very nice workmanship...if a bit quirky.

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4/23/22 7:43 AM

Well my inquiry to Breadwinner about whether they would build an Ekar bike was answered by their sales manager saying he was building an Ekar G-Road for himself. So the conversation continues, at least.