Earlier this year, I introduced our Lauf Seigla Race Wireless long-term test bike. As the successor to Lauf’s popular True Grit, the Seigla is designed to be smoother, more capable, and more versatile gravel bike. Did Lauf accomplish its goals? Today we’ll take a look at my experience with the Seigla so far.
So what do you do when you already hand-make top flight bike frames in carbon and Ti and want to go to the next level? You add gold, of course.
Today Fezzari Bikes, the direct to rider company, announces their take on a gravel bike, the Shafer. It is a carbon fiber frame and fork gravel bike with a lot of nice details and a forward-thinking geometry which pushes the boundaries of what gravel bike geometry can be going forward.
So, what we have here is an interesting sales model and a fine bike for those who crave the ultimate in efficiency that carbon fiber can bring to the table. As a straight-up road bike, we’d have no issues with the Viathon G1.
All that SRAM performance is quickly and efficiently applied via the stout carbon frame which shows no hint of lateral flex under heavy pedal pressure or fork shudder under heavy braking.
Editor’s Note: In recent times we have noticed that there are more and more folks looking for a gravel bike. They are seeking advice and looking for tips on how to go about this. In Part 1, Grannygear walks us through the process of how he and Mrs. Grannygear found a gravel bike that would work for Mrs. Grannygear’s needs. In this post we will get a look at what upgrades they made to tailor the bike for her.
Featuring several bikes with the new GRX components which Shimano introduced last year, (and which Riding Gravel is still reviewing), the new Warbirds still have all the salient features of the range introduced last year. Big tire clearances, dual wheel size capabilities, lots of accessory attachment points, and the Class V VRS vibration damping system.
Salsa Cycles announced this morning publicly that the Cutthroat model will be a ground-up redesign for the 2020 model year. The Cutthroat is Salsa Cycles carbon drop bar mountain bike which is aimed at bike-packing and long rides in remote territory, ala Tour Divide. It also is a fairly popular model amongst some gravel riders.
The GX5 is pretty smooth, but the fork isn’t quite up to steel fork feel. That said, it handles in a stable, but not sluggish manner, over choppy roads and deep gravel. The light weight is very nice and the total package is fun to ride on. The wheel and tire limitations are somewhat of a bummer, as is the slightly too stiff fork, but this bike is very impressive so far.
Noble Bikes GX5 Gravel Bike: Getting Rolling- by Guitar Ted [adrotate group=”4″] Gravel cycling has been … Noble Bikes GX5 Gravel Bike: Getting RollingRead more