Why Cyclists Regret Buying This Groupset!

Is the Campy Ekar GT groupset worth it, or does it fall short? Discover the truth from a seasoned cycling expert!
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Dustin Klein: Working Artist, Lifestyle Cyclist, Maker.

Explore an in-depth review of the Campagnolo Ekar GT groupset from a veteran cycling product designer. Learn about its performance, shortcomings, and whether it's worth your investment.

[davidnicholson]

Campy peaked with the 11sp mechanical version of Super Record, which remains one of the best looking mechanical groups ever, is incredibly durable, shifts brilliantly, is light as hell and has the single best lever shape ever.

[frankmesh]

I just swapped from my GRX 2x11 to the Ekar and I couldn't be happier. Shifts better, brakes better. Hoods are so much more comfortable. My shifts have never felt laggy at all on Ekar. I also prefer the thumb shifter. I've only ever used shimano road and gravel groupsets before this as well.

[maklinbikes]

Been riding the original Campy Ekar for over a year. It's my favorite drivetrain. Also ride a Force 1X AXS drive on another bike and lots of miles on Shimano. I like the Ekar so much that I'm thinking about putting it on a pure road bike and ditching front derailleurs all together and sticking with mechanical shifting. Shifts are solid and dialed. The shift lever throw is really short and I find people over shift it a bit until they get used to the throw. Both the thumb shifter and the down shift lever are perfectly reached in the drops, although the thumb takes some getting used to in the hoods. After a few rides, the ergos and short throws make Shimano mech feel very archaic. The upshifts with the thumb ratchet are the most solid upshifts I've ridden. The hood ergo could use some improvement. Brakes are best brakes I've ridden once bled properly. Every bike we've gotten from a factory with this kit pre-installed has had a terrible bleed, but solved with a fresh bleed. I will say the calipers don't handle wet dirt great, but outside of wet dirt; they are fantastic. I've ridden this drive in some horrible conditions. Every negative review I've read or seen on Ekar, just seemed like the reviewer/rider was riding a bike that wasn't set up correctly. Oddly, you must have 3 times the amount of housing needed on your setup to make the loop from the frame to the rear derailleur stop. We just had 3 bikes with these drives show up in the shop from the factory and all 3 had excessive housing to the rear derailleur of which we took care of. Little things that impact the shifting on any drive. Anyway, I own a shop and get to ride lots of stuff... I dig the Ekar drivetrain.

[adamtick]

The work that’s gone into this video is impressive!

[orengardz]

i think the poor shifting is because of the internal cable routing. being mechanical and specially 13 speed the cable pull have to be super precise, and with that extra bends in those internal routing it creates extra friction.

[sebastianm]

I keep reading bad reviews about how badly Ekar shifts and yet I got an Ekar groupset on my custom steel gravel bike which was incredibly easy to install and index and it is incredibly easy to live with. It shifts absolutely flawless, barely ever needs readjusting and just works. Also, Campy Ekar parts are constantly available on a discount in Germany so it's not actually that expensive. And these days, Campy N3W freehubs are available for most hubs. I bought cheapo Taiwanese Novatex hubs and built a custom wheelset. And even for those, I got a Campy freehub. It's definitely more of a roadie/allroad groupset than your hardcore mullet Sram setup. But I think it has its place and performs on par with the others.

[lincolnlu]

I'm not sure if MSRP is still valid in 2024. You can get full ekar for like 800 bucks online.

Also, one thing people forget is not everyone is a tall dude, so Campy shifters are really good for us small people with small hands.

[flexmtb]

Maybe the 12 feet of extra cable lassoing in the back there doesn't help with the shifting? Just a thought. Not sure.... :P
Great vid as always man. Love the channel.

[olivermurphy]

I have the original Ekar and it’s been great, crisp shifting, great brakes. Funny you mention the Delta brakes, most people thought they were great looking but not that great for their intended purpose…stopping. Ekar isn’t $1900 even for the new GT version. You can get a bike with Ekar for under 3k.

[Jacob]

Man, your editing is honestly a pleasure to watch
Great content!

[barryandhorace]

Hey Dustin - interesting reaction to this video, especially from Campagnolo - I've had the original Ekar for more than 2 years. You have a point about the shifting. The 13 speed can be very fussy to get dialled in. If you are not confident with indexing, this can be frustrating. Also, when you remove the rear wheel using the rear mech clutch can put the indexing out of whack. When it is dialled in, I have found that it is as good as any other shifting system I've used. The thumb shifter is old school campy. If you are not used to it, it takes a while to adjust to, but not THAT long for goodness sake! One positive missed is that when original Ekar came out, it was the lightest gravel groupset on the market. Not sure how the slightly heavier GT version compares. The other plus with Ekar is the close ratio gears at the top end of the cassette make group riding less jumpy for cadence. I find the cost of brake pads annoying, but that's a once a year expense and it is offset by how strong the braking power is and the good modulation. I bought it to avoid the addition complexity of electronic shifting and having one more (unnecessary) thing that can go wrong. You have to call I as you see it though.

[andrewblakesley]

I started with 3 speed Sturmey Archer and then 6 speed freewheel (I'm that old). I worked up to 10 speed and started snapping chains. I settled back on 8 speed but do most of my riding on single speed. Modern bikes don't interest me. They're too expensive, so much less durable and harder to work on at home. Shimano Cues and MicroSHIFT offer some hope that the industry remembers normal cyclists.

[EricStorms]

Have you tried the opposite end of the spectrum, Microshift Sword gravel group? Would be interested in your take on that.

[scottbecker]

I think the biggest hindrance to Ekar's shift performance is that it is a mechanical group in an age where frames are increasingly designed around electronic shifting. Few people in their right mind would choose to run a mechanical groupset with cables fully hidden down the stem/steerer. There's no way the super tight bends at the stem aren't causing extra friction. Even full-length cable housing is sub-optimal.

[davidross]

Campagnolo has squandered one of the sport’s most iconic brands. I suspect that the family is locked down in disagreements and that’s why they can’t seem to find a way forward.

[chrisdaigle]

Ekar must be set up by a Campy fan. It is VERY sensitive to getting set up correctly. I have assembled two Ekar bikes and they shifted perfectly fine once I got the chain length correct and the B adjustment right.
Campagnolo is not assembled by semi slave workers in the South Pacific who are practically chained to their work bench. They pay their Eastern Europe workers a living wage and that's worth a lot to me.
Campy as a company is kind of stuck up. But they're still cool

[ffnatik]

I was also used to SRAM/Shimano shifting and ended up putting Ekar 13 (not GT - paid $1000 for the full group), but once you're used to it, you love it. I was looking for the lightest group I could get for an Open M.IND road bike I was building. It's been an excellent bike and even works well in the fast groups. I run a 40 up front and a 9-42 rear cassette.

[michaelkalus]

I just built a new gravel bike earlier this year with the Ekar, not the GT and I have no complaints, it shifts well and the one thing I miss on my Super Record Wireless is the thumb shifter that you're scratching your head over. Having it "back" on the gravel set is nice.

I have to say though I have been riding Campy for 20+ years, so I am probably a bit of an outlier when it comes to my gear choices.

[highpointview]

Gotta give credit, your production skills rock. I say this not even caring a hoot about the campy mech.

[michihoffi]

Got an EKAR on my Canyon Grizl. And i have no laggy shiftig at all. Shifting is basically equal to the sram XO1 on my MTB. ;)