What's your opinion of ekar? Tempted to put a 1x on my partner's bike because she struggles with the whole 2 chainring thing lol
If you got a frame with super short chainstays and internal routing through an integrated cockpit, I'd say better avoid it. I love it, but I'm running it on a custom steel gravel frame with external routing. Being 13sp mechanical, it depends on an accurate setup and smooth running cables. And super short chainstays (like <420mm or even less) lead to more extreme chainlines in the outermost gears which Ekar really doesn't like.
I got it very cheap cuz I bought most of the parts used. The 1st gen Ekar is currently heavily discounted in some stores since Ekar GT came out. If you buy a cassette new, go for the Ekar GT cassettes over the gen 1 cassettes. The gear ratios are better (10-48, for instance) and they do not have the creaking problem, that plagued some of the 1st gen cassettes (though this can be alleviated with a bit of Loctite IME).
I love the brakes. I love the super short lever throw for shifts. I like the thumb lever, but that's really a matter of taste. I love Campy's lever shape. Their electronic stuff has reached the point of irrelevance but they do know how to make good mechanical groupsets IMO. Ekar to me is the only 1X groupset that truly feels like 2X because of the available gears. I've been running Sram 11sp 1X before. I'd be interested to check out Sram 13sp. But I really can't be arsed to ride electronic on my gravel bike. I'm using it for ultras. I don't wanna be stranded in the middle of the night in the woods with a non functioning derailleur. I ride electronic on the road bike, though.
