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Everyone loves more sprockets. In 2020 Italian component maker Campagnolo became the first major manufacturer to fit 13 of them onto the back of the bike when it launched the Ekar gravel groupset. Achieving this required the creation of a new backwards-compatible freehub standard, dubbed N3W ('Next 3 Ways').
The N3W freehub can accommodate 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13-speed cassettes with 9, 10 and 11-tooth smallest sprockets.
This allows it to work with Campagnolo’s 2× road drivetrains as well as single-chainring gravel setups paired with wide-range cassettes – the brand offers 9-36, 9-42 and 10-44 tooth ratios.
Read on for details of the N3W standard, a full list of brands offering compatible wheels, and our picks of the best Ekar-compatible wheels.
In its native state, the N3W freehub is essentially a shortened version of the road freehub design Campagnolo has used for years. This allows for compatibility with the tiny nine or 10-tooth sprockets used on the brand’s super-wide ratio 13-speed cassettes – these would clash with the end of the old-standard freehub.
With the addition of the N3W adapter which adds 4.4mm to the length of the freehub body, the N3W freehub is effectively converted back into the old standard, to accept discontinued nine and 10-speed Campagnolo cassettes, and current 11 and 12-speed options.
In Campagnolo’s own words:
‘N3W is a freewheel body engineered to house 11, 12, and 13-speed cassettes with 9, 10 and 11-tooth starting sprockets. It is also still compatible with older nine and 10-speed cassettes. N3W has the same groove profile as the classic Campagnolo body but is 4.4mm shorter, making it lighter.
‘N3W is directly compatible with the new Campagnolo cassettes with nine and 10-tooth starting sprockets. To make it compatible with today’s cassettes with 11-tooth starting sprockets, simply use the N3W ring (code AC21-N3W), which makes them the same length as the classic body.’
As explained above, N3W wheels will work with anything but the most ancient of Campagnolo cassettes. One caveat is that you might find things trickier if you’re using third-party alternatives. With regards to fitting your bike, they use the same axle spacing as any standard wheels, so there’s no trouble there either.
Things get more complicated if you want to fit an N3W freehub to an existing set of wheels. This is because to accommodate the new freehub body, it’s necessary to replace the axle.
Campagnolo produces two kits to allow you to do this to its own wheels, one for older cup-and-cone style assemblies and one for those that use cartridge bearings.
As Campagnolo owns Fulcrum, its wheels are also well served by adaptors. However, if another manufacturer made your wheels, you’re less likely to be able to make the switch. One notable exception is DT Swiss, which makes several conversion products for its hubs.
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Most of us associate Campagnolo with premium pricing and an aggressive racing pedigree. Its deep-section Bora Ultra wheels provide both in multiples.
These race-ready 60mm deep wheels cost a lot of money and go very fast. Despite ceramic bearings and tubeless compatibility, in other respects like their narrow width they’re also a little old-school.
From one extreme to the other. These aluminium wheels from Campagnolo-owned brand Fulcrum offer a much cheaper entry point for anyone wanting to build a bike up with the N3W system.
Fulcrum wheels are invariably solid and dependable, and these wheels offer a 19mm wide rim that will play well with wider tyres. They’re also tubeless-ready and run on cartridge bearings.
If our experience with other Fulcrum products is anything to go by, they’ll likely be robust. However, they’re not exceptionally light at a claimed 1,760g for the pair. They should do well for road or mixed terrain applications.
A key impetus behind the N3W system was the need to accommodate the smallest nine or 10-tooth sprocket on Campagnolo’s 13-speed Ekar gravel groupset. If you’ve got money to spend, the brand’s Levante wheels make the perfect companion to this radical mechanical groupset.
With shallow 30mm carbon rims, the Levantes are almost as wide as they are deep. Their generous internal rim width of 25mm is ideal for massive tyres run at low pressures.
They weight a claimed 1,485g and use a unique ‘mini-hook’ rim design which supposedly saves weight while retaining security, a halfway house to a fully hookless rim.
The Drift is a high-end carbon gravel wheelset from Dutch firm FFWD. With an inner width of 24mm, these wheels support tyres up to 60mm wide. They’ve also been reinforced for off-road use, with features including thicker than normal spokes. Despite this, they clock in at a claimed 1,515g for the pair.
Coming as standard with FFWD hubs, there's also the option to purchase the wheels with DT’s famously durable 240 internals. The Drifts benefit from a three-year warranty and while they’re a premium product, it’s still cheaper than matching your wheels to your groupset.
Sussex-based Hunt wheels does an excellent job of producing budget wheels that still include on-trend features. Its Gravel X-Wide wheels are an update of its longstanding gravel wheelset.
With a slightly increased spoke count and broader rims than its road options, the latest X-Wide hoops push things further with a 25mm internal width that suits tyres from 40 to 50mm.
These shallow wheels should be ready to roll from the off as they arrive with tubeless tape, valves, spare spokes, and axle adapters.
Speedy forward motion is also helped by the firm’s ‘FastEngage’ freehub, which uses 4-pawls to provide quick 10-degree engagement. Weighing a claimed 1,698g for the pair, they should also be durable thanks to features like corrosion-resistant brass nipples and quality Pillar brand spokes.
Currently, the number of wheels with N3W hubs is slightly limited. Obviously, the N3W body will be fitted as standard on all new Campagnolo wheels, and it appears as a standard option on the wheels listed above.
The following is a complete list of brands that have licensed the N3W design, indicating they're either producing wheels using the system, or are considering releasing them in the near future:
3T, Aivee, Alchemist, Bitex, Carbon-Ti, Cadex, Chosen, Corima, Damil, Deda, DT Swiss, Enve, F.I.V.E. Bianchi Spa, FFWD, Formula Engineering, FSA, Fulcrum, Giant, Glory Wheel, Gravaa, Halo Wheels, Hed, Hunt, Industry Nine, Kappstein, Keir, KT, Kubus, Mavic, Miche, Newmen, Ohr, Pilot Cycles, Powerway, Ritchey, Scope, Spinergy, SRAM, Syntace, Tune, Ursus, Vision, Zipp.
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