Campag’s official line is that for a total T difference (chainring + largest sprocket) of over 4 the chain should be resized. The Campag specialist around here reckoned you might get away with 6 - so switching 9-42 and 9-36 might work - but not 8, so 9-36 to 10-44 is not going to work. I’ve not tried tbf.
I heard the same from Campy support too. I’m tempted to buy a 9-36 just to try. It doesn’t make sense to me that it wouldn’t work if you sized it for the larger cassette. The rear derailleur can obviously handle 40t front and 36 rear for me know. I just have one more larger cassette. I get the shifting might be optimized with a shorter chain, but can’t see it not working.
Sizing the chain for a 9-36 and then trying to put on a 10-44 I get being problematic.
Campy is also saying you are not supposed to use a quick link more than once (or it could result in death according to the warnings!). But plenty of people have used multiple times.
The biggest issue for me is the cost of the cassettes. Not sure I want to spend $250 just to see if it works and pick up one smaller step on the cassette.
Overall I’m loving the Ekar
40k gravel today, using the 10-44 cassette (and my gravel wheels/tyres).
The indexing didn’t transfer over absolutely perfectly - there was a little hesitation on a few downshifts - but it wasn’t out enough to be a problem. I also find it very awkward getting a wheel in with the clutched derailleur, though I’m reliably informed there’s a knack to it.
Again, the hood ridge was an issue, to the extent I folded them back after 10k, which was better; I’m contemplating taking a Stanley knife to them.
Off road, where absolute shifting precision and slight gaps are much less of an issue, I really enjoyed the Ekar. It does seem a bit more at home on gravel which, tbf, was the Campag design brief!
Any updates to how the Ekar setup is suiting you?
Just throwing it out there, disclaimer I might do campy in the future.
I did the math and the Sram Force 1 in proper setup is lighter than the campy but it is not 13 speed. Here is my weight calculations if you use the two setups with value
| Sram Force 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shifters | 701 | $352.00 |
| RD | 266 | $230.00 |
| Cassette xg-1199 | 268 | $450.00 |
| Chain | 256 | $48.00 |
| Crank | 679 | $320.00 |
| Calipers | ||
| Rotors | 262 | $82.00 |
| Total | 2432 | $1,482.00 |
| $/WT Performance Factor | 0.609375 |
| Campy Ekar Break Down | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shifters | 420 | $790.00 |
| RD | 275 | $256.00 |
| Cassette | 340 | $274.00 |
| Chain | 242 | $48.00 |
| Crank | 615 | $360.00 |
| Calipers | 250 | |
| Rotors | 314 | $82.00 |
| Total | 2456 | $1,810.00 |
| $/WT Performance Factor | 0.736970684 |
Take this with a grain of salt but if you use a lighter crank on the Sram setup you will get an even lighter setup and the value/price stays the same (think Praxis or something). I have found that a 38 - 10/42 covers all my gravel racing needs and a 38 - 11/28 almost all my road bike Thursday night kill everyone needs. You can also convert the Sram to 12speed if you want
Good luck with your search!
I’m loving it. Brakes just can’t say enough about them. Shifting is super crisp. I run a 40t chainring, have 2 sets of wheels and all 3 cassettes!
Couple things to note. If you get a creak from the cassette, the fix is to take the cassette apart (it is 2 part) and grease the black spacer in there really well. Then torque to 50nm (printed spec says 35 I think). But I spoke to the campy rep and they’ve upped it.
Second if the shifter gets “stuck” it’s the thumb shifter not returning all the way. There is a tiny hole (1.5mm Allen) under the hood that you need to turn clockwise. How much is trial and error. Mine was about 1-1 1/2 turns.
So a little bit of work to get it finely tuned but once done, it’s fantastic.
Also there is an aftermarket chainring now (made in the UK) that will work with the 13 speed chain. So if you want to run a sram/Quarq crank, you could use that chainring.
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Thanks for this, so glad you like it. Following up on the chat earlier in the thread - are you able to run the 9-36 and the 10-44 cassettes with the same chain with no issues?
Am I missing something, or have you missed out the caliper weight from the SRAM table?
Yes no issues since I’m keeping the 40t chainring the same. They key is to measure the chain first using the 10-44. Then dropping down to the 9-42 or 9-36 won’t be an issue. If you starting first with the 9-36 and measures the chain for that, you wouldn’t be able to jump up to the 9-42 or 10-44. So start with the larger cassette to get the chain longer. If you measured initially on the 9-42, you would be able to jump up to the 10-44 and down to the 9-36.
Would take a bit more figuring if you were swapping chainrings. But right now I’m not so no problems!
Dryser,
Sorry about that - the caliper weight is already combined/added into the shifters on that table.
That puts the SRAM at 2432 / 11 = 221 grams per gear and the Ekar at 2456 / 13 = 189 grams per gear.
Not even close 
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Sure does! You can look at it that way if you want.
For the record you can upgrade sram mechanical to 12 speed if you would like, the link is here;
I’m going to be doing a very similar build. However with Di2. TRP Hylex RS brakes, Di2 remote shifter on the right lever, XT rear mech. I’m trying to decide/find a crank and I’m leaning towards an Ultegra that I have on a road bike currently (if the bike doesn’t sell whole). I’m planning on a 44 or 46 tooth ring with cassettes ranging from 11-40/42/46. I’m 99% sure I can manage from 42 to 46 with no chain change. Eager for the build.
Here is my Crank research with weight and cost for 1x setups, this is considering a 38t however
| Rotor Cranks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crank | Weight | Price | |
| ALDHU 3D+ (No Power) | 583 | $525.00 | |
| InPower Single Power | 700 | $750.00 | 0.933333333 |
| InSpider Dual Power | 750 | $1,160.00 | 0.646551724 |
| Praxis Crank | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crank | Weight | Price | |
| Praxis Zayante Carbon | 620 | $325.00 | |
| Praxis Zayante 1X | 508 | $280.00 | |
| Praxis Zaynte 1x Power | 518 | $580.00 | 0.893103448 |
| Shimano Crank | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crank | Weight | Price | |
| Ultegra R8000 50/34 | 674 | 289.99 | |
| Ultegra R8000 No Chain Ring | 529 | TBD | |
| Ultegra R8000 1x | 595 | 369.99 | |
| Ultegra R8000 1x Power | 605 | 669.99 | 0.902998552 |
| Cannondale Cranks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crank | Weight | Price | |
| HollowGram Crankset | 411 | 555 | |
| Chain Ring | 100 | 109 | |
| Power Meter | 10 | 300 | |
| Total System | 521 | 964 | 0.540456432 |
| Thesis Cranks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crank | Weight | Price | |
| Thesis Hollow-Forged | 625 | 119 | |
| Thesis Chainring | 100 | 60 | |
| Power Meter | 10 | 300 | |
| Total | 635 | 479 | 1.325678497 |
| Sram Red | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crank | Weight | Price | |
| Red EXO DUB | 340 | 381 | |
| Red Chainring 38T | 66 | 60 | |
| Total | 406 | 441 | 0.920634921 |
Please note I did not edit all the charts so some math to take power meters out may be needed, also all BB are equal as in my situation a BBinfinit bottom brake will be used and weight is consistent.
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Thanks this is awesome. I take it then that you believe you could run a 42T or a 44T chainring with any cassette as long as you measure for the biggest sprocket?
Yes. If you follow the instructions for setting up the chain length using the chainring size you have and use the largest cassette you have, you should be fine dropping down to smaller cassettes. I have had zero issues swapping out three cassette sizes with the same 40t chainring.