The new 3T Exploro arrived several weeks ago and I have since ridden it everywhere: smooth suburban pavement; pot-hole riddled city streets; tight, technical singletrack; and steep, rocky fire roads. I’ve ridden it quite hard – going over the bars twice with a badly bent brifter and a two inch gash in my knee to show for it. Broadly speaking, I have challenged this bicycle and myself through all manner of mud and dirt and in nearly every condition one is likely to face while riding it.
(The 3T Exploro in its natural habitat)
A few of you have PM’d me asking for my opinion on this bike, which I’ve only mentioned recently only in passing. Those thoughts are presented here in a deliberate effort from me to bring something to the forum besides hate.
For those who want the headlines: while this bike has minor flaws consistent with a first generation product, its killer strength is its versatility. This really is the world’s first n-1 bike; my road, cyclocross, gravel, (squ)aero, and buff trail-going mountain bike; my all surfaces, all seasons, all-in-one, all around the world bike; my ‘don’t need shit in life except this gravel bike’ gravel bike; my ‘go slow faster’, real fast, mildly oxymoronic bike. This bike tries to do it all and does it all quite well.
Background
I believe this genre of equipment – road geometry bikes with drop bars and 2.1 inch clearances – is about to explode. Riders now want more versatility out of their bicycles. We want to take on all types of terrain, often in a single ride. We want to get off the roads and away from deadly traffic and densely populated routes as the number of white bikes on the roadside grows and the tales of neglect and malice among smartphone-addicted or murderous motorists continue to stagger and horrify our communities.
These bikes solve problems. They open up new road and provide new experiences. They allow us to proactively combat becoming a headline by taking us to the hills and the gravel, to the dirt, to the remote or forgotten paths with every aspect of natural beauty and little of our malignant civilization. They get us off the Kickr – out of the basement and into the fresh air.
I knew I needed such a bike last winter when I was unable to complete my planned route because the dirt and rock and frozen slush were too much for my Felt AR. I decided on the 3T Exploro because the stack and reach matched my AR down to a couple millimeters – which I ride un-aggressively with a more relaxed fit – and because the marketing around aerodynamics warmed the cockles of my triathlete heart. I also have my eye on endurance gravel racing in the near future, and there is likely no better tool for the job than the 3T Exploro.
The Build
This was a challenging process. Decisions on group, gearing, power meter/crank, wheels, and tires were not made lightly, easily, or, as it turns out, correctly. Because of what I need this bike to do for me – everything! – I required and will require multiple options for each.
-For the group, I went with an XTR/hydro road di2 bastard 1x setup. I considered 2x, but you cannot mix XTR and Ui2 derailleurs, and the XTR FD does not work with this frame. A clutch derailleur and a long cage (ability to go up to 46T sprocket) is also a plus.
-Gearing for 1x is tough here. I initially chose a 46T up front and 11-36, thinking I would ride primarily on the roads. I was totally overgeared on the trails. I’ve since moved to 40T front and 11-40 in back. This is better still, but on pure road rides I wish for tighter ranges. Ultimately I may go back to a Ui2 FD and RD if I decide I can’t hang with the 1x setup…or maybe I’ll keep both and change depending on the season/use case.
-For the meter, I originally bought a power2max, which was the only reputable crank-based option compatible with BB386EVO when I ordered. I returned it when the DZero line of Quarqs was announced in favor of same. There is no reason that I can think of to choose p2m over Quarq.
-For wheels, I chose the Enve 4.5 AR disc wheelset for road and hard-packed gravel, and this was the right call. I further built up a set of Nextie 650B XC hoops (27mm width) around DT Swiss hubs I already had. I wish I’d gone wider (the 32mm width). The old days of 21mm internal widths are gone. Wider is mostly better. I also believe the days of single wheelsets are over – at least for this type of bicycle and for tubeless use – insofar as this bike replaces other bikes in your arsenal and you switch back and forth between the terrain on which you ride it.
-Tire choices have been a bit of a disaster. For the Enve’s, I blew out the sidewall of a Schwalbe Pro One, then struggled for two days to get a pair of Clement X’Plor MSO 32mm tires set up tubeless, only to discover they are impossible to set up tubeless. I am now running the 36mm version, which are tubeless compatible and which I set up easily enough. On the 650Bs, I went with the WTB Horizon 47mm gumwall slicks, which is the tire du jour among the 3T insiders. I like them. I further configured 650B wheels from my proper mountain bike to work with the Exploro. I’m running a 2.25 Racing Ralph on the front and a 2.1 in the rear – and yes, it fits.
(Triathlete idiot tries tubeless.)
The tires and the wheels and the gearing are all a work in progress. There’s no silver bullet.
Performance
I rode this bike home from the shop late one Friday night in the city, and my first impression was that it rolls comfortably and smoothly and with exceptional compliance. My daily commuter is an aluminum piece of garbage, and these same roads routinely jar me into an alloy-hating frenzy. But the Exploro just floats, absorbing bumps without bruising; when struck soundly, the thing recoils like a well-designed spring. It’s hard to divvy up the comfort and compliance credit between the Enve’s (and low pressures) and the Exploro itself, but my gut says that both are outstanding.
The Exploro suffers on rocky and steeply rocky terrain. Even with the 650b XC wheelset, it’s just too rigid. I am a very poor offroad rider in general, but descending steep and rocky terrain on the Exploro is frightening because of the aggressive geometry and the drop bar braking. One of the times I went OTB was because I was jerked into grabbing too much front brake as I tried to control my speed with both. The bike is just too stiff for this kind of thing, and not even the compliance of well-crafted carbon wheels saves the ride. I’m a shit offroad rider, so that is likely part of the problem. I can’t pick a line to save my life.
Notwithstanding the above, I believe the Lauf Grit fork is the right remedy here. The Lauf Carbonara was the solution to a similar problem on my fat bike and the Grit should be the solution here too. Notably, the the guys at Lauf are pushing through a special order for a black glossy version (as opposed to matte) to match the Exploro frame. Really great to see innovative companies step up and deliver custom product for the most anal retentive of us who simply cannot and will not tolerate mismatched kit.
I don’t know if this bike is fast. It feels fast and responsive. On very smooth roads with Enve’s and road slicks, the ride feels identical to my Felt AR w/ 404s, but on anything less than pristine cement it floats with greater comfort and with better compliance. The Enve’s feel and look as aero as anything I’ve ever had, even with the hub-disc brakes. I suspect the bike a good deal slower than the AR, for what it’s worth, mainly as a result of the hub-disc braking. But the exceptional power and modulation of that braking is worth its cost and of course this bike would not be possible without it.
I also believe this bike is slow because of the super duper fork. ‘Narrower’ (i.e. <50mm) rim/tire setups leave massively open sections between the fork blades, which chicanery would likely say routes air flow directly into your shins, costing precious watts (as he says about Dimond). Maybe there is room for an aerodynamic fork with significantly less clearance as a remedy for these use cases.
(Needs moar clearance)
Anyways, if I don’t sell my AR first, perhaps I’ll aero test the two bikes against each other to quantify the differences. Even though such a comparison would not be apples to apples, the head to head would be instructive and entertaining for the nerd community here.
Criticisms
Some of these are petty, but they still deserve mention.
First, the six week delay. What is so hard about being honest with your customers about a product delivery date? If there’s a good chance you’re going to miss the window, give a bigger window. But especially don’t take the money and continue to move the goalposts. That is really poor form.
Second, the seatpost clamp under the top tube is just the worst aspect of this bike. This is so incredibly idiotic I can’t understand the logic except that someone at 3T must be the biggest weight weenie on earth, because there is no way a regular side address seat post clamp is impacting aerodynamics. This bolt is so deeply embedded into the area where the seat tube meats the top tube that no multi tool can access it. So when you go out for a ride and the seat post slips – which it will if you apply less than the 9Nm of torque, which of you always do because it’s impossible to gain enough leverage to torque that invisible bolt to such a spec – you are completely hosed. Better nail the seat position right off the bat, or sit on the trainer, because twenty miles of a dropped seatpost left my knees screaming for two days.
A few other things that suck. The squared off post means tail lights are basically impossible to properly secure. I personally dislike the diff lock saddle rail clamp; I dislike it on my AR and I dislike it on this bike. I pretty much hate the fact that I have to carry a multi tool in case of a rear flat, and there is no integrated Silca key anywhere. It’s amazing that I can even get through the day with such travesties.
Finally and most importantly, what is with the price? I mean what in the actual fuck. This bike is so expensive. I sold two bikes to buy this bike, and the way things are going with ancillary equipment, I might need to sell one more. That’s the only thing that makes the price point on this bike make sense really – it’s replacement ability. But everything else about the price is really and truly obnoxious. Maybe Vroomen spent too much time at Cervelo. Or perhaps the drive to shed weight from this frameset is driving up the cost, which is of course insane on a bike that will never be light as a total unit. I would love to see this bike and its derivatives become accessible to non dentists, but at this cost it won’t happen.
Feel free to ask me anything about this bike. I’m very new to this area of cycling, but I’ll do my best to field questions. I would also appreciate advice from the wise and experienced among you in getting the most out of my ride.
