The most exciting gravel bike for 2020 is...
 

It is still may and we already had a 3 very exciting new bike announcements:

1. New Santa Cruz Stigmata with a great combination of short chainstay, very ample tire clerance and overall frame comfort
2. New GT Grade with the most flexing rear part of the frame ever made and with improved tire clerance and adjustable fork
3. New Open WI.DE. with both chainstays dropped (once again Vroomen surprised everyone) and a HUGE tire clerance for 650b tires.

In the pipeline are probably: carbon Cannondale Topstone, new Jamis Renegade and a 2020 Specialized Diverge which should take some cues from new Roubaix.

I thought the WI.DE will only clear 47mm in 650b. Doesn't hardly seem to justify the weird chainstays

from I have read it can take 2,4 650b tire.

Links?

The new Allied Able is pretty slick. https://alliedcycleworks.com/pages/allied-able

When i first saw it, it took me a few minutes to figure out, but that chainstay is like a modern carbon version of the Nishiki Alien from a quarter century ago.

The OPEN new U.P. and U.P.P.E.R. easily clear 650b x 47mm, plus a lot of mud clearance. The WI.DE is 650b x 2.4. It's as if a new U.P. hybridized with a fatbike. (Not for me, but if I were coming at gravel as a MTB guy . . . .)

Jan Heine and BQ posted a WI.DE. first look today:

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2019/...new-open-wide/

Just one flatbar away from a XC MTB. "Gravel riders!...See The Light"

That's like saying a glider is just 2 jet engines away from being an f15.

A flat bar XC is a fundamentally different bike than a drop bar gravel bike.
I get it, some gravel frames are creeping closer to some XC geometry.
But many arent at all doing that.

As for this bike- the drop bars, rigid fork, and shifting style are so different from flat bar that it's a fundamental different preference for riding.

Don't get all hurt because the MTB group shifts better.

I don't understand this comment.
I have a SRAM 1x11 mtb. It shifts fine.
I have a Shimano 2x11 gravel bike. It shifts fine.

In my relatively limited experience, they both shift fine.

Elevated chainstay to fit 43's? :foo:

I haven't seen one in person yet but I would guess that is a conservative tire size. Their other Alpha Allroad claims a max tire of 35mm but I've seen one running 38's with mud clearance. I'm anxious to see the Able in person. This bike just won the Dirty Kanza yesterday. Being from Arkansas I might have a bias for this company. The new OPEN Wi.de looks awesome too.
All that said, I ride a gen 2 Santa Cruz Stigmata and it would be hard for me to find a more comfortable bike. If I would shopping, the new Stigmata would be at the top of my list.

The new Stig would be at the top of my list too. Maybe I can pick up a used one in a year or two 😉

Could you tell me more about comfort of your stigmata? Is front of the bike comfortable? What tire are you using? What bikes you have ridden before stigmata?

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...36acc735d0.jpg @sweetspot In my opinion, my Stigmata feels like the kind of bike that you can ride all day. The geometry of the bike and the cockpit positioning are perfect for me but I believe the quality of the carbon and layup of the bike play a big role in the comfort. Santa Cruz make some of the nicest carbon bikes in the industry. The front of the bike and fork have worked great on gravel rides and I'm not exactly a small person at 6'2, 220lbs. The cockpit is alloy Zipp. I typically run 40c Scwhalbe's but also swap some 32c's for the tarmac. The bike is fast and lightweight. Planning on a new set of hoops soon hopefully adding to the comfort. I can only imagine how comfortable the new stigmata is with 45c's or fat 650b! Hope this helps.

Yes, exactly. And the UP is good for 2.1 inches on 650b.

SAGE seem nice if you want gravel worthy and have $$$$ titanium is the only choice

https://sagetitanium.com/products/ba...m-gravel-bike/

The Stigmata v2 geometry is right between full blown race cx and gravel so it lends itself to being able to setup either way. I also have a v2 stigmata and it's a great bike. I've even done some rides where I should have been in a mountain bike. It's a great frame plus you get the best warranty in the business as well. I might wait for the end of season sale and pick up the new v3 frame.

I would have liked they stuck with 15x100 for the front though. You get tons more wheel choices with that.

To fit 43s with short chainstays, that is the kicker.

Twice. On the same day. You can't buy that kind of publicity.

To be honest I don't see this as an extraordinary achievement. Look at Specialized Diverge which has 421 mm chainstay and clears 42s tires without any chainstay trickery at all. Fitting 46s tires with 420mm chainstay of Open Wi.De. is an achievement. No question about it!

I'm not sure anyone said it was extraordinary, it's just the design they chose in order to pull it off. I agree, it's all pretty standard at this point.

Gotcha. The Revolt that I'm waiting on fits 45's and the chainstays are 5mm longer than the Able. I don't know enough about geometry to understand how much of a difference 5mm makes.

Top M/F will definitely help their sales, no doubt! :beer:

Ok, im sure this wont get much traction since its a bike by GT, but how has the new Grade not been discussed after the initial post?!?

That is a really cool bike.

- fits 42mm tires
- sensible unpaved gearing of 46/30 with 11-34.
- fork has an adjustable dropout to change trail depending on riding preference/style.
- seatstays are fiberglass core and dont attach to the seat tube at all now.
- all are 2x drivetrains.
- the seat tube is cut out to allow space for large tires and fenders(curious how this affects stiffness?).
- mounts all over the place- fork, bento, bottle cages, rack, fenders.
- external cable routing for easy service.


Really interested in the fork- that is interesting and allows it to feel like a couple different bikes.
As far as tech- this is way cooler to me than some elevated chainstays that are inherently more flexible and seem kinda gimmicky since other brands accomplish the same result with a more traditional/established setup.