I find the new Orbea Terra fairly compelling. Published 50mm clearance but they say straight up that’s conservative and it’ll easily fit 2.1 TBs. UDH, big frame storage, round post, reasonable cable routing. Plus mounts for real fenders, which as a denizen of the PNW is super nice in winter. Also nice that Orbea allows you to customize things like crank, stem and bar size to your liking.
It does arguably look a bit like an e-bike with that bulged downtube, but then e-bikes increasingly look like normal bikes by design, so whatever.
But looks aside seems like a solid option. It does feel like most companies are going to have an “adventure” gravel bike aka Unbound and a “aero/speed” gravel bike for more tame or gravel races with more road.
Honestly even with a few great options coming out I don’t know if anything is tempting me to update from my Crux. I have 50mm Tracers on and it feels great. Still seems like one of the better gravel race bikes on the market even 3 years later.
Yeah I feel the same way about my Seigla. But I’d love a bike that can work as a fast gravel option in summer but take proper fenders in winter. Seems like as this fast/adventure split becomes clearer, only the latter category are being made with fender mounts, so I’m kinda looking for the most “race-ready adventure bike” at this point.
The Argon 18 Dark Matter seems promising, but rather hard to find around me and also not available as a frame…
Orbea’s other gravel bike just dropped, the “Terra Race.” Officially 45mm clearance though they say directly that’s with 6mm on all sides and it can fit 50s. (I think it was raced at Unbound on 50s FWIW.)
Seems a solid option in the “race” category. No frame storage is a bit of a bummer but OTOH it has a round seat post, which I like.
This is becoming a popular approach for the OEM’s listing tire width. List the “official” supported width and then explain what is possible (ie - what people have been running) under good conditions. I think it’s helpful, at least you have a little bit of guidance from the brand vs. trying to figure out on your own.
I don’t think there are any warranty/liability implications, they aren’t going to warranty a frame for rubbing/grinding damage whether you are running the “official” size or an oversized tire. Worst thing that happens is you get a bunch of uneducated folks trying to squeeze 50’s in during a mud year at Mid South/Unbound/etc. and destroy a bunch of frames and/or end up walking.
Maybe the handful of companies making bikes that “officially” support 2.25/57 will now explain that they can actually handle 2.4’s
It looks like a nice bike. Seems like a miss to only support 53’s when it’s 1x only, but at least they made that leap. And I’d bet their target markets in the EU are totally good with 53’s.
I don’t get their pricing for just another asian-made frame, but I guess it’s the same as any situation where you are paying for a brand name with history (colnago, pinarello, etc.).
It’s not that Asian made frames aren’t good. The good manufacturers in Asia are probably the best in the world at producing carbon bike frames. Allied used to make frames in the US and tried really hard to make it work before realizing they were out of their depth compared to the companies that have been doing it for decades in volume.
Nobody wants to highlight the fact that the best way to make a quality frame is on an automated/repeatable assembly line. I love the idea of an artist/craftsman building a bespoke frame from scratch (and would pay a premium for it), but that’s not how these carbon frames are made. There was a day that all high end bikes were made that way and these Italian brands (and other brands) are still trying to sell some of that magic, but it’s all marketing fluff in my opinion. Their costs are going to be a little higher just because they operate on a smaller scale than the big boys, but I don’t understand why anyone would pay those crazy prices. But I also don’t understand it for other “luxury” stuff either. I guess if you look at bikes as fashion statements, it’s no different than buying a high end bag or shirt.
Yeah I’m not disputing the quality of an Asian frames at all. I just probably couldn’t see myself paying 2x more for a ‘premium’ brands Asian frame vs one of the standard brands (trek, specialized, giant, cannondale)
I think “Asian made” paints with a rather broad brush. Giant, for example, makes VERY high end frames in Taiwan, have been for decades, and manufacture frames for many of the top brands. They actually weave and create their own carbon prepreg sheets; it’s probably the most advanced carbon bike operation in the world. OTOH there are tons of smaller factories in China and Vietnam that may make serviceable (and very cost effective) frames, but they have nothing close to the expertise and history of Giant.
For Europe made carbon, some Colnagos (though funnily not their WorldTour models AFAIK) are made in Italy. 3T and Time both make some frames in Europe (Italy and Slovakia, respectively), though they use a different process to reduce labor costs. The new Open UP/UPPER will be made in Portugal. In every case though, these frames cost more and are not obviously superior to a quality Asian frame like those produced by Giant.
Very good points. I think Taiwan is definitely at a different level for high end components than some other Asian countries. Similar to Japan in manufacturing of some other products.
And speaking of Giant, surely we’ll see a UDH-equipped Revolt very soon? That’s a fantastic frame that ticks pretty much all my boxes, save for the UDH…
