I sold my Cervelo R3 and then bought an Open UP. Built with mechanical Ultegra, Bontrager Aeolus 3V wheels, 32mm GP5000 wheels. Size XL and it weighs 18.3 lbs (including pedals and cages). I think my 58cm Cervelo was ~17.5 lbs maybe? The disc brakes and wider tires (I was using 25mm on the R3) probably make up a bulk of the difference).

Compared to the R3 the Open UP doesn’t quite have the same snap. But that could very well be placebo. Handling feels similar to the R3 to me. I’ve done a lot of climbing with it and have not felt let down or like I am giving up much of anything up vs a ‘regular’ road bike. For what it’s worth I’ve bettered nearly every one of the climbing segments I previously set with the R3 in just the first season riding it. Granted, I do have a better FTP now than seasons past. I’ve also been able to drop Cat 3 roadie buddies who are riding similarly or higher priced road bikes on the climb sections of our group rides.

Anywho, great bike. I loved the R3 but this doesn’t make me miss it at all. Especially since it has the flexibility to run wider tires and allows me to hit up dirt an gravel roads with more comfort and confidence than I had using 23-25mm tires on the R3

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Matt

I ride a UP as my N-1 bike and it's worked out well for me so far. Built it up with GRX Di2 and I have 2 different wheelsets. For the road I have a set of ENVE AR 3.4 with 28mm Schwalbe pro one tubeless tires. Feels very fast on the pavement. My second wheelset is a cheaper aluminum 650b rim with either 2.1" Thunder Burt tires if there is going to be mud or Rene Herse Swithback Hill for dry gravel/pavement mix.

Initially I had some 38mm GravelKings on my 700c wheels and tried to use it as a quiver killer and I wasn't in love. Felt too "slow" on the pavement and not stable enough on the gravel. I'll add the caveat that I can go south from my house and it's gravel for miles or north from my house is pavement forever. So I didn't really need a tire/wheel that was great for both.

Hope that helps.

built one up for my fiance, wasn't impressed by the ride or quality, had to scrape paint out of the inside of the frame to get some fittings in. It's definitely an in between bike, not nearly as snappy as my tcr, but lighter than my carbon xc bike. I guess it could be an only bike, but it's not great on the road and the gravel in socal is more fun w/ a more capable bike like a carbon hardtail in my opinion.
If i could go back in time i wouldn't get it, can't tell a bit of difference between that and my hongfu carbon frames I've bought and built. It's a designer bike where you pay for the status. So many cheaper options like the new domane which gives you a bit of squish and big tire clearance, I'd rather have 3 1500-2k bikes than one Open Up/Upper.

I have an UPPER. I bought it in 2018.
I have used it extensively as both a gravel bike and a road bike.
I would say that the ride quality is very good. Neutral handling that works well for both.

If I had to call out knocks-
1.) Nude finish on UPPER. Chips easily. My fork got all spider-webbed. But I like the bike so I had it painted. Now it is custom for me!
2.) Short front center (in size medium). Due to the geometry (that fits me well) the bike has a short front center. I have significant toeclip overlap. This is only an issue on tight uphill switchbacks- doesn't matter on the road, and doesn't matter at speed.

Replaced 3T Exploro with an Open Upper, both size medium. Comparing the two bikes, I like the Open much better. Lighter bike with noticeably better ride quality. The 3T was felt a little non-compliant on rough flint hill gravel here in Kansas. I tend to run 38c Maxxis Ramblers on both. As far as build goes, I would definitely go with a non- cable setup. I started off with mechanical Dura Ace with mechanical brakes. Cable routing on the Upper is a major PIA requiring BB removal to route cables. I switched to Ultegra Di2 with a medium cage derailleur and hydro brakes with a much cleaner and easier to maintain build. My road bike is a 2010 Trek Madone and my Open has a similar ride but for gravel. Hope this helps.

Closing in on 3 years on an UPPER and have logged lots of miles across varied terrain from two DKs to 150-mile / 15k climbing road rides. It does everything very well, quite impressive. Handling is more sluggish than a road race bike and the rear end tends to hop on rough gravel, but those are quibbles for a bike that can go both places.

Thanks for everyone for input. Sounds like mostly very positive to moderately positive, with one outlier.

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

Digging up an older thread for follow-up.

Did you get the UP/UPPER? I am strongly considering doing the same thing. The reviews sound like it is a great option. I'm looking for a bike that is enjoyable on the road to tame gravel spectrum- I don't need it to handle MTB duties and I don't expect it to be a road racer.

I built an UPPER with GRX Di2 last summer and it's led me to pretty much retire my other two roadies (Colnago C60 and a steel Colnago). 650 Hed wheels and 42mm Rene Hearse tires (at circa 45-50 psi) and it seems to roll about the same as my C60 on 27c tires - as roughly measured by my powermeter and PE riding with the same people on both bikes. I've done fast Cat1/2 rides on it and long gravel/pavement multi-day rides. It's amazing at both.

I'm contemplating getting rid of the C60 but the old bike racer in me won't let it go...yet. But if I buy a set of 700c wheels for the Open I'll certainly let the C60 go.

I will agree with the previous poster their QC on the finishing isn't great. I had to dremel paint out of the rear drop out cable hole to get the di2 cable through. Otherwise all has been fine.

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"Oh man, it's going to take days to kill all these people!" - Jens Voigt

Never saw this thread when originally posted, but I've since acquired an U.P. that I mostly use for gravel/mixed surface rides on 650b x 2.1 tires. It's a great bike for that purpose - when I ride in that configuration, I encounter pavement, dirt road, and not-too-rocky singletrack. I also recently traveled for a couple of weeks with this bike, so I got a set of 700c road wheels with 32c road tires, and brought both wheelsets. Was able to ride gravel roads and/or light singletrack, and then switch wheels and ride the road the day after. For me, it's definitely not as fast as my Cervelo R3 for true road rides, group rides, etc. - but I find myself reaching for this bike when I want options, comfort, or I'm simply not worried about hanging with a really fast group. I do have it set up as a 1x, so perhaps the road bike performance would be closer to my roadie if I had 2x up front.

Surprising to hear about the finish being spotty, I had heard the workmanship of OPEN was very high quality otherwise. I am thinking about the gray color scheme that looks pretty sharp in the few pictures I have found, and less attention grabbing than the blue/green options.

i have had an OPEN WI.DE for a couple/three years with that gray finish, have given it lots of abuse, and it's still a perfect finish. i'm building up a size run of these bikes right now, outfitted the way the poster just above indicates, 650b wheels and 2.1" tires.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

The finish is very high quality if you’re referring to the paint….just a bit of a problem that they got that lovely paint into all the cable holes as well!

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"Oh man, it's going to take days to kill all these people!" - Jens Voigt

I did not. Obviously buying bikes has been difficult in the last year! I ended up buying a new gravel rig that turned out to be just too rigid for, I as I ride a lot of bumpy stuff. Switched all parts out to a new Specialized Diverge frame 2 months ago and absolutely love it. Significantly more comfortable on the chop, and smooth all around.

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

I also have the grey WI.DE; it's actually quite nice finish, mixing glossy and matte grey in different areas. It's been mostly ridden as gravel bike and the paint has held up well over almost 2 years. I have 650B ENVE wheels fitted with Specialized Pathfinder tires. So far, I have not found anything wanting.