Campagnolo Ekar: 13 Speed 9-42T Cassette

Here comes the highlight of this Campagnolo Ekar 13 speed gravel groupset! In my opinion, the cassette is the most outstanding component of this groupset. Not only is it well engineered, it is also beautifully designed. See for yourself with the pictures below!

Simple packaging, with the small sprockets tucked into the corner.

This is the 9-42T spec with the widest gear range. It is also available in a narrower 9-36T spec and a lower 10-44T spec.

Campagnolo Ekar 13 Speed Cassettes:

Endurance: 9-36T (9-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-20-23-27-31-36) 400%

Gravel Race: 9-42T (9-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-21-25-30-36-42) 466%

Gravel Adventure: 10-44T (10-11-12-13-14-15-17-20-23-27-32-38-44) 440%

The cassette comes in just two sub-modules, the larger part which has 9 sprockets, and the smaller part with the 4 smallest sprockets.

Entire 9-42T 13 speed cassette weighs 397 grams, which is close to the claimed weight of 390 grams.

This is even lighter than the Deore XT 11-40T 11 speed cassette!

The 4 smallest sprockets, along with the lock ring are pre-assembled as a sub-unit.

A special lock ring tool is needed for Campagnolo cassettes.

The 4 smallest sprockets (9-10-11-12) are machined from a single block, which avoids complicated spline designs such as those found on the new Dura-Ace/Ultegra 12 speed cassettes.

The inside of this 4 sprocket cluster is splined to engage the proprietary N3W freehub body.

In the pictures below, there are many beautiful pictures of the cassette. The actual part looks even better, as the surface treatment, texture and design is just so good. This contrasts starkly with some of the other Ekar components, such as the rear derailleur and shifters.

Here are the larger 9 sprockets of the 13 speed cassette, with 13-14-16-18-21-25-30-36-42 teeth.

Simple looking shifting gates and minimally shaped teeth to aid shifting performance.

The gear steps between the larger sprockets are relatively big, unlike at the other end where there are five 1 tooth close gear steps.

All 9 sprockets are machined from a single block of steel! Similar construction method as the SRAM Red or XX1 cassettes, but looks much better here.

Large 5 arm aluminium spider fixed to the rear of the 13 speed cassette.

Check out the details of the connecting bridges between each sprocket. Imagine how much time is needed to machine every slot!

The aluminium spider has 4 splines to engage the N3W freehub body, so as to transmit the torque from the sprockets to the wheel.

I like how the bridges that connect different sprockets to each other are perfectly aligned to the teeth.

For example, the 36T sprocket has 36 bridges which connect it to the 42T sprocket.

The teeth and slots are perfectly aligned on every sprocket, which gives it a well balanced appearance.

With background lighting, the cassette literally glows through the slots, highlighting each of the teeth at the same time.

Sometimes, you come across components that are so well designed and beautiful, that you almost can't bear to use it. This Campagnolo Ekar 13 speed cassette is definitely one of them. The Dura-Ace 12 speed cassettes come close, but are not as neat and well balanced as the Ekar cassette.

Gravel Race: 9-42T (9-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-21-25-30-36-42)

The cassette gear ratios are also pretty well thought out. With close ratios at the top end (9-10-11-12-13-14), it minimizes the gear steps when travelling at higher speeds. In the middle of the range, the steps are quite standard (14-16-18-21). At the lower end of the gear range, the steps become bigger (21-25-30-36-42). Usually bigger gear steps are acceptable at lower speeds, such as when grinding up a steep slope. Generally, since this cassette has 13 speeds, it enables both a wide gear range while maintaining reasonable gear steps at the same time.