New gravel race bike from Lauf

[raggi]

Just unveiled yesterday, http://laufforks.com/true-grit/#LTGIntro.

Mostly geared for 1x (no fd cable routing, comes with a bottle opener instead obviously)
Reworked Lauf Grit fork (about 50g lighter than the older model)
Long and slack geometry
1100g for a size large frame (fully painted, including hardware) + probably around 850g for the fork (assuming 900g for the last model)
Threaded bottom bracket ( )

Like the look of it personally, will be interesting to see reviews/experiences.

[wheelsONfire]

It's cool that they make their own bike. But i am not sure i like the idea of using a longer reach frame and shorter stem.
It's closing the gap between road and mtb a bit more than the "standard" geometry of gravel bikes.

None of us have probably never ridden a true grit, perhaps it's great!
I think they do make a mistake not including a FD wire/cable hole in the frame though.
Etap is not a great choice to use since the Etap FD limits the rear wheel tire clearance.
They claim 40mm, but tested it has proved to be 35mm (pending on rims width).
Also consider wheel and tires lateral movement.
Not funny if the tire rubs the Etap battery.

I'd rather have had a full Di2 Ultegra over Etap on a gravel.
It works great for gravel.
I have been riding this system with zero issues since April 2016.
Also, i have used tires that are 43mm wide.
Not sure if that true Grit handles 52-54mm 650B tires?
I now ride 650B rather than 700C wheels/ tires.

I still feel Open UP is such a great bike so untill something amazing appears i am not interested in another gravel bike.
BTW, i also have Grit fork, which i like.
The revised Grit fork, is perhaps 50g lighter (about 5%). But that's far too little of a weight saving to be considered an upgrade.
The new, revised forks "axle to crown" has also increased from the standard version.

If anything, i would look for a fork hammering Grit.
Something around 650-700g would catch my interest.

Perhaps Lauf can achieve that in a few years.

[kode54]

the new Grit SL looks promising. better shape, less curves. lighter.

[UpFromOne]

Looks like a great frame, but almost as though you take a size smaller than usual. I agree about the 2-3cm longer top tube for the size, that's a substantial geometry adjustment. And shame about no mechanical FD allowed.

[BenediktS]

Hey guys, I wanted to pitch in on the eTap tire clearance discussion here.
The FD location on True Grit is optimized for clearance. 1. We push the FD as far forward as possible within the envelope available. 2. We use a wide axle crank (extra 2.5mm each side), this matches the chainline to the 142x12 rear end, gives gravel worthy double crankset clearance towards chainstays (neglected on many other gravel bikes) AND moves the FD out by 2.5mm.
All in all, offering an easy fit, with real world clearance (for when things turn dirty), for our stock Rambler 40 that measure around 42.5mm on our 24mm internal width American Classic Race wheelset.

Regarding the top-tube length (approx 10mm longer than for example on Niner RLT RDO), when you have a chance to demo the True Grit I'm sure you'll love the stability and confidence this little change brings.

Cheers guys!

[raggi]

Got a chance to try out the True Grit earlier today on gravel roads.

It's an absolutely brilliant bike. It just feels super stable while hammering on gravel while still being nimble enough at slow speeds.
It's also the first time I've tried out the Grit fork and I kept trying to find bigger and bigger bumps, waiting to 'feel' the fork working, not realizing it was making the ride super smooth without me really noticing (got a rude awakening to that when I rode the same gravel roads home on my crux after the test ride). You can feel it moving slightly while standing and powering up hills, it might bother some people, but I went up some pretty hefty climbs (on gravel and grass) and never felt like the fork was holding me back, if anything the extra grip and smoothness helped.

All in all, I'm extremely impressed. I spent the last week riding around 300km on gravel on my Crux, loving every minute of it. After spending around 30 minutes on the True Grit on gravel, the Crux somehow felt like the wrong tool for the job afterwards.

Granted I'm not a reviewer of any kind, so some technical details probably escaped me. But I like riding good bikes, and I had an absolute blast riding this one.

[joshpeck]

Interesting.

3 bottle mounts and threaded bb! hell yeah

[UpFromOne]

Other than sourcing a FD with that bolt pattern, wouldn't someone make a cable stop that you could clamp to the upper part of the seat tube, for a possible Top-Pull FD cable run?