that "perfect" gravel frameset for 2025

[MrB123]

UK mountain bike brand Bird are supposed to be launching a new gravel bike today. Will be interesting to see what they've done. Could be alloy rather than carbon. Their MTBs are very well regarded.

[RDY]

Are there enough bolt bosses though?

Also, those are 100% dropped seatstays.

are we looking at the same image?

D'oh!! Brain fart. I read that as dropped chainstay. My bad.

Look almost exactly like the Haro Buzzard...

I think they are the same.

[RDY]

Why would someone get this over Tideace Noah?

Tideace Noahs have a teeny tiny head tube. Deal breaker for me, but the rest of it is dang near perfect.

And why is that a dealbreaker for you?

because I like a bike that has geometry that fits me.

How does headtube length (in isolation) matter for geometry? Stack is largely in line with other gravel bikes. It's not low.

[jo.k]

It's not low, but it sure is long and (I gather) meant to be used with a shorter stem. The "520" has a 396 reach!

[Requiem84]

It's not low, but it sure is long and (I gather) meant to be used with a shorter stem. The "520" has a 396 reach!

It's becoming a bit of a trend maybr. The Ridley Astr has 393 reach in size 'S'.

[jo.k]

Makes me feel old fashioned and stupid for running a 130mm stem on my gravel bike

[joebusby]

Frankly I think it's ideal.

If you want the bike as dual purpose road/gravel, you can size massively down (e.g. at 6ft I could rock a "49" with a ton of seatpost and a 120mm stem and get a lighter bike), or if just for gravel you can size up a bit to get more internal space and run a shorter stem.

The problem comes when a bike is too short and too high for a given size - then you are unable to do anything but try and fit a massive absurd -25 drop stem.

[MrB123]

https://www.bird.bike/aerelon/

[Requiem84]

But a shorter stem would make it steer a bit more nervous? Wouldn't you want stable steering for most gravel?

[TheRich]

But a shorter stem would make it steer a bit more nervous? Wouldn't you want stable steering for most gravel?

They're also increasing the wheelbase and making the HA more slack.

The effective stem length, the distance from the steerer to hoods/drops, is already so long that a decrease isn't as much of a factor as the frame's increases in stability.

[uquality]

But a shorter stem would make it steer a bit more nervous? Wouldn't you want stable steering for most gravel?

They're also increasing the wheelbase and making the HA more slack.

The effective stem length, the distance from the steerer to hoods/drops, is already so long that a decrease isn't as much of a factor as the frame's increases in stability.

I ran the numbers through a geometry comparison tool and found the same thing. There are different way to make a frame "stable".

[uquality]

And super long chainstays. Not the prettiest frame either imo.

What's not pretty about it? Am I missing something?
I don't like the really short head tube, but other than that?
Some people don't like dropped chainstays I guess, but most bikes are going that way.

[pistonbroke]

Kinda looking myself at the moment...
How about the Otso Waheela C

700x54
1024g m frame weight

https://otsocycles.com/collections/waheela-c

[jayjay]

https://www.bird.bike/aerelon/

This looks nice. Is it an open mold frame or their own design?

[MrB123]

https://www.bird.bike/aerelon/

This looks nice. Is it an open mold frame or their own design?

Not sure. There's a thread about it on the Singletrack MTB forum that one of the guys from Bird is contributing to. Only limited info at the moment. They haven't even confirmed the geometry yet.