However, outside the race venue Lauf had a number of handmade jigs with several other bars from different brands as well as the Smoothie attached. With its long wheelbase, the Lauf is incredibly confident when speeding down rough descents. Sizes: XS, S, M (tested), L, XL, THE GEAR tire clearance, and arguably better looks, it's a winner out of the gate. Anywheres are available in four builds, for differing tastes and budgets. I got out of the saddle on most of the climbs and spent less time spinning on sharp hills. Would you like to receive offers, updates and events from BikeRadar and its publisher Our Media Ltd (an Immediate Group Company)? Using bikepack bags, the Anywhere handled well and remained stable. After completing my first hill climb race on the Lauf Anywhere, it got me thinking about the bikes weight. However, the Anywhere doesnt feature the suspension fork, instead it uses what Lauf calls Just A Fork (JAF), which is essentially a rigid, full carbon fork. for a true multi-purpose bike, the Anywhere hits the mark, especially if there is more pavement in your schedule. In the drops you still feel the flex up and down across the bar, but there is almost no twisting flex. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The Icelandic leaf-spring design looks crazy, but really isn't any different than a. The biggest upgrade I made was to the wheelset and tyres. He has a particular focus on mountain bikes, but spends plenty of time on gravel bikes, too. As a result, Felix loves to find the limits of endurance bikes and bikepacking gear for BikeRadar, while he also lets his competitive side loose during gravel races and hill climbs. True Grit . True Grit - Gravel Bike . Unless I end up riding the bike more off road I will likely swap the tyres to something a little lighter for more road-focussed riding. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Awesome! RBA OG Embroidered Champion Packable Jacket. At the back theres a 142 x 12mm axle, along with a chainsuck plate to protect the chainstays. On a sunny day, take a picture of a pine forest and youd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between summer and winter especially as puddles in the UK are a near year-round feature. As for the bike, the only issue I had was a hole in the rear tyre that wouldnt seal. I was joined at my lunch spot by the last of the summers midges; their presence an itchy and unwelcome addition to my macaroni pie and empire biscuit Scottish fayre at its finest. Theres no adjustment needed on the fork and, in terms of bar and saddle height, Ive set the bar low-ish, but not quite slammed, and the saddle at my preferred pedalling height. Because I had a post-mount Shimano hydraulic brake on the Parlee, I had to install Shimano's post mount to flat mount adapter in the 140mm size - this sounds incorrect, but that positions the caliper into the right position on the Lauf Grit. Traditional telescopic suspension forks are designed to absorb large impacts, and they are good at that. Its incredibly good at reducing handlebar buzz, too, which over long distances adds to fatigue, and helps with bigger hits, but with 30mm travel, theres only so much it can be expected to handle. Lauf has equipped the frame with four pairs of bosses: two within the frame triangle for bottles, one under the down tube for either extra water or storage, and a pair in front of the stem for a bento-box, ready for longer races. The Smoothie handlebar is made with a combination of S2 glass fibers and carbon, but as with their Grit suspension fork, the materials are not a blend but instead separate and isolated to offer more compliance while eliminating fatigue failure. Lauf calls it Long 4 Speed geometry, which is essentially a recipe for a longer, lower and slacker road bike. With a quick fork swap, you could have either bike, but you would also need a new front brake line that would be long enough to reach on the suspension fork. I like a racier bike, too. |, USD $4,190.00 Depending on how bad the weather is and whether I can stand getting wet on rides, a set of clip-on mudguards could be a worthy addition, as mentioned above. Furthermore, I really believe suspension has a place on a gravel bike. Im also considering fitting my old-faithful WTB Volt saddle, although it might be a relative downgrade in spec its an upgrade in comfort for me. This uses a glass-fibre top blended into carbon-fibre drops. The bike felt pretty heavy and the first few corners a little unsteady I hadnt ridden a loaded bike for a while but after the first hour I was already used to the change in handling. On our normal road group rides, the bike never held us back and has been giving us an advantage on the roads that are littered with fallen rocks and debris. No matter how much flex the Smoothie bar promised, I was still very much aching after the constant vibration more press ups needed, perhaps? Before this, I felt I hadnt quite done the Anywhere justice because many of my rides were road-based, but this trip really opened up what I thought was possible on a rigid, drop-bar bike. I swapped back the dynamo wheel which is still one of my favourite bits of kit for the Lauf and attached the Crudcatcher Roadracer MK3 mudguard set to keep me dry and comfortable. Jersey: Team Dream I thought the stock 40c Maxxis Velocita tyres were a bit overkill for the road riding I was doing, so I borrowed a fetching pair of tan wall WTB Exposure 32 tyres. Starting at 10pm this was not only an overnight ride but also the longest single ride I had ever attempted. This is the first bike I have ridden with flared handlebars, though, and as yet I havent found a natural and comfortable position on the hoods. This construction, plus the overall shaping, allows for isolated flex and a perfect mate for the new rigid fork. When jutting across roads less traveled, you can feel the bars flexing while on the hoods. Lauf has previously launched a couple of mountain bike and fat bike forks, and the concept for the Grit is the same. The Lauf True Grit gravel frame has undergone serious testing as it meets the ISO standard for mountain bike frames. These changes got the bike down to a respectable 8.22kg. This got the bike to a final weight of 8.15kg, which was a total saving of 450g on its original weight of 8.6kg. As you might or might not know, the core of Lauf True Grit is the Lauf Grit SL, with its 30mm front suspension fork. Since then weve had a long British winter thats only just on the wane. However, I like the position, especially when descending. Almost 20 hours later, I arrived back in Bristol with a fully stamped Brevet card, and I was extremely relieved. These cookies do not store any personal information. out of the box, Laufs Anywhere is ready to go on the pavement, on most mellow dirt roads, and maybe even on the trails if youre feeling bold The second key point is that this bike hits a reasonable price. Like a lot of cyclists, Im at times pretty conflicted about driving to and from rides riding from home is much simpler and, of course, its one less vehicle on the roads but as good as Bristol is for riding, the mountain biking available from my door can get a bit stale. Particularly, it is more lightweight, more compact, and sturdier than the standard model. Download installation guides and manuals for your True Grit. Its incredible to think that I rode all of that on the same bike! Lauf Seigla geometry. Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. ), goading me into riding faster than my cold legs would go. Lauf True Grit (technically not on the list) At $3765 this is the most expensive (and best looking) option and I'm hesitant to get this as my first gravel bike because of that The same frame as the Lauf Anywhere but has the Lauf fork and SRAM FORCE 1 ( link) Also a 1x42T cank and 11/42T cassette which seems more sensible gearing for gravel When jutting across roads less traveled, you can feel the bars flexing while on the hoods. Why is the geometry this way? In 2017, and prior to joining BikeRadar, Felix quit his job as a production engineer to go bikepacking from one end of Japan to the other. While its a good 10k before anything exciting happens, at least the Lauf is an efficient way of crossing ground and once out on those gravel roads, theyre definitely worth the trip. The internal width of the rims isnt particularly wide nor built for the demands of gravel racing, so I changed back to the DT Swiss X1900 wheelset that the bike came with. It's a bike that has been designed for racing across challenging mixed surfaces as fast as possible and does that by combining absolutely enormous tyre clearance with geometry closely comparable to. The head tube angle is a bit steeper at 71 degrees . I havent yet experienced any creaks or play issues either. BIKE OF THE WEEK: SCHMOLKE INFINITY GRAVEL, THROWBACK THURSDAY, 2015: ALEX DOWSETT BREAKS THE HOUR, TOM PIDCOCK SHOWS OFF INSANE DESCENDING SKILLS, WATCH 2023 TOUR DOWN UNDER PROLOGUE HIGHLIGHTS. The smooth rolling of sub-40psi is certainly alluring. Felix is an experienced videographer and responsible for the output of BikeRadars YouTube channel, where youll also see him in front of the camera presenting reviews or sharing his riding exploits through our BikeRadar Diaries series. As such, Ill keep my long-term reports rolling in every couple of months. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. #biggravelmiles #lauftruegritKim finally got a gravel bike..And I'm actually kinda jealous. pdf. I was a little disappointed that the frame doesnt accept mudguards because training in the winter/spring means having to accept that Ill inevitably get wet. Thanks! They are also tubeless-ready and come with everything needed to make the conversion happen. Ive been rattling around on my Lauf for a good few months now, which has provided the perfect antidote to the mountain bikes I test day-to-day. The bike comes with tubeless-ready DT Swiss X1900 wheels and is specced with a Shimano-style freehub body. A rare XL size caters to riders 63 and taller. Prices start at $3700 for a complete bike; not a bad deal for all the tech this comes with. More on those later. Although I wasnt going to reduce its weight by any significant degree, it was still fun to see how light I could make the bike with limited time and upgrades available. At 182cm tall I sit between a Medium and Large on Laufs sizing guide. Im also considering swapping the current DT Swiss X1900 XC wheels for a lighter wheelset because I will mostly be riding the Lauf Anywhere on tarmac roads. The glass fiber Smoothie handlebar flexes to compensate for frame judder. Glasses: Goodr superfly. The frame has seen updated tube. Compared to the 800 lumens from the Exposure Revo, the extra power of the R2 is certainly useful when riding faster, however for the kind of road riding I have been doing I felt the Revo was bright enough. The urban jungle that is Aviemore has its own Orbital. Jump out the door, grind your way through or load it up and head anywhere you want. The Smoothie handlebar and 40mm tires definitely help isolate the rider from road imperfections. Unfortunately, I couldnt complete the ride due to acute knee pain, which I later found out was an overuse injury of the tendon. Lauf will offer its Steigla with either the Grit fork or with a rigid fork. The Grit accepts a 160mm brake rotor at minimum, with options for a 12mm or 15mm thru-axle. Lauf True Grit bikes have a slack seat tube angle (72.5) and are thus set up to be used with zero-setback seatposts. No, aesthetically, its not to my taste, but its excellent and I would thoroughly recommend it after a winter with no soggy bottoms. With sugar coursing through my veins, I followed the largely flat Speyside Way out of Grantown-on-Spey. THE RIDE The Lauf Smoothie handlebars are designed to eat vibrations and are made from the same flexible carbon as the Lauf Grit leaf sprung fork. About us. The bikes finishing kit includes a premium FSA SL-K 27.2mm carbon seatpost, Easton EA70 stem and a Ritchey Comp Streem saddle. I really liked that the light stayed on for up to an hour after stopping pedalling because it gave me a chance to set up camp in the light, and if I needed to stop on the road I was still visible. It would be good to see some provision for internal dropper post cable routing, too. As hinted at in my original update, see below, Ive now made one or two changes to the bike, the first of which is the addition of the Canyon VCLS 2.0 seatpost. As it was, it was a fairly steep, but entirely rideable and incredibly scenic rough doubletrack over the hill with a little dip and then a steep final pitch to 360-degree views of the mountains. The Dava Way follows an old railway path and goes through a number of rather cool cuttings. Thanks! THE VERDICT Sadly, thanks to clothing/feeding/weather/time, I pulled out halfway. My only criticism of the drivetrain/brakes has been that the shift paddle can sometimes squash my 4th and 5th fingers if Im braking on the hoods and my brake pads are a touch worn. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. One of the reasons for this is its geometry. The frame is light at 1,070g, but also strong enough for tackling serious gravel racing. If I had the choice of a lower gear I would have definitely taken it, and I think the bike would benefit from an upgrade in the gearing. Im fairly confident I enjoyed my visit more than they did. Lauf has released a new gravel bike, called the Seigla. Lauf Steigla builds and pricing. Having spent plenty of time testing road bikes for Cycling Plus, Ive dodged my fair number of icy patches on tarmac. But they all use Shimanos SPD cleat system. I ride mountain bikes a lot for work (and adore MTBing too! The frame geometry reinforces this preference for speed. So, with the offer of running the latest version of the bike with an updated Grit SL fork and new componentry, I didnt hesitate to say yes. And, despite the huge new max tire compatibility, they were able to maintain the same . If you are riding access roads or just the normal dirt or gravel road, the rigid fork with new Smoothie bars and large-volume tires will be more than sufficient. Overall, the Lauf Anywhere is a truly awesome all-rounder. Fortunately, in between my Trail Bike of the Year testing, Ive been able to get out on the Lauf a fair bitand have continued to explore Bristols surroundings, taking in all the local sights from stately homes to south-west Englands most popular fly tipping sites.