Best racey-geometry gravel bike for a roadie?

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

Moderator: Moderator Team

stalkersk
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:44 pm

by stalkersk

kevinw wrote:
Thu Sep 01, 2022 12:43 pm
stalkersk wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 9:26 pm
I would suggest 3T Exploro. Got Exploro Ultra and Ridley Kanzo Fast. The 3T is much more racier/roadlike and you can run double chainrings easily.
Thats interesting - assumed it would be the other way around.

The Kanzo Fast was my first choice but couln't get hold of one so ended up with my second choice which is the 3T exploro racemax - which I do love to be fair.
You can feel shorter rear stays. Hard to describe, but 3T feels much more like point and shoot compared to Ridley, when hammering through corners. Yours has even shorter stays. Ridley 425mm, Ultra 419mm. Aand you can run 50/37 if you want insanly tall gear on AXS. Kanzo advantage over racemax is 700c tyre clerance 45mm with room to spare.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



kevinw
Posts: 250
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2019 3:49 pm

by kevinw

stalkersk wrote:
Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:03 pm
kevinw wrote:
Thu Sep 01, 2022 12:43 pm
stalkersk wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 9:26 pm
I would suggest 3T Exploro. Got Exploro Ultra and Ridley Kanzo Fast. The 3T is much more racier/roadlike and you can run double chainrings easily.
Thats interesting - assumed it would be the other way around.

The Kanzo Fast was my first choice but couln't get hold of one so ended up with my second choice which is the 3T exploro racemax - which I do love to be fair.
You can feel shorter rear stays. Hard to describe, but 3T feels much more like point and shoot compared to Ridley, when hammering through corners. Yours has even shorter stays. Ridley 425mm, Ultra 419mm. Aand you can run 50/37 if you want insanly tall gear on AXS. Kanzo advantage over racemax is 700c tyre clerance 45mm with room to spare.
Yeah even though the claimed clearance on the racemax is 40mm on 700c I have 38mm fitted and wouldnt risk anything larger.

I have a second 650b wheelset with 2.22inch tyres for rougher stuff but would be nice to be able to run something in the 45mm range - 45mm tyres on 650b wheels doesnt handle well on the racemax.

Just about get away with 32mm road tyres on the 700c wheels though - which I assume would fill a bit odd on the kanzo fast if the fork has room for 45mm tyres?

ghdana
Posts: 69
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2021 4:43 pm

by ghdana

Also loving my Ultra, after about a month of ownership, I've ridden my road bike maybe only 4 times since getting it. I have 700x43 GravelKing SK+ on front and back and can keep up on shorter group rides even using those. Handles singletrack really well. I went for it over the other Exploro models because of the wider clearance and potential for a dropper post. Force/Eagle 1x is great, I don't feel the need for 2x, even when I'm hopping on the group ride after doing some singletrack.

https://i.imgur.com/XPcPP0q.jpeg
7.7kg Allez Sprint
9kg Exploro Ultra

stalkersk
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:44 pm

by stalkersk

kevinw wrote:
Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:35 am
stalkersk wrote:
Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:03 pm
kevinw wrote:
Thu Sep 01, 2022 12:43 pm
stalkersk wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 9:26 pm
I would suggest 3T Exploro. Got Exploro Ultra and Ridley Kanzo Fast. The 3T is much more racier/roadlike and you can run double chainrings easily.
Thats interesting - assumed it would be the other way around.

The Kanzo Fast was my first choice but couln't get hold of one so ended up with my second choice which is the 3T exploro racemax - which I do love to be fair.
You can feel shorter rear stays. Hard to describe, but 3T feels much more like point and shoot compared to Ridley, when hammering through corners. Yours has even shorter stays. Ridley 425mm, Ultra 419mm. Aand you can run 50/37 if you want insanly tall gear on AXS. Kanzo advantage over racemax is 700c tyre clerance 45mm with room to spare.
Yeah even though the claimed clearance on the racemax is 40mm on 700c I have 38mm fitted and wouldnt risk anything larger.

I have a second 650b wheelset with 2.22inch tyres for rougher stuff but would be nice to be able to run something in the 45mm range - 45mm tyres on 650b wheels doesnt handle well on the racemax.

Just about get away with 32mm road tyres on the 700c wheels though - which I assume would fill a bit odd on the kanzo fast if the fork has room for 45mm tyres?
Actually on 32 it feels ok, have ridden both bikes on 32 GP5000 alot and they are pretty harsh 😅. One thing which is interesting, in heavy winds you feel them a bit more on Kanzo, same 45mm tyres on 65mm deep LB rims, so my theory is Kanzo will be a bit more aero compared to Ultra.

bobinski
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:06 pm

by bobinski

I was very tempted by the Kanzo for similar reasons but I am likley to go with the Vielo v+1 race edition.

https://www.vielo.cc/pages/v1-race-edition


Its very well reviewed. I am tempted by the R+1 but at 60y of age i am beginning to feel the lower back more and more and thats just a it too racey for me. At 174cm tall I am on the cusp of medium but with short legs standover dictates a small so they are being careful to spec a stem and handlebar to accomodate my bike fit on my Scott Addict. I appreciate i am paying a bit of a premium but getting the fit dialed in at the point of purchase with a one piece bar and stem is worth it. Alos, it looks lush!

MiddMan
Posts: 284
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:54 pm

by MiddMan

After quite a delay via the courier service (delivery was supposed to be 1 September) it finally arrived a couple of days ago. I’ll give this a proper thread, but in the meantime, here is a teaser. I’m hoping my wife doesn’t notice through the camouflage… At least until I can come up with a good reason for suddenly having another bike in the stable Image

Image

waltthizzney
Posts: 269
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:35 pm

by waltthizzney

Any CX bike is aimed for an aggressive riding position, gravel bike is the opposite

Post Reply