Slick looking bike. Stack is still a bit on the high side but I’d wager that >75% of age groupers could obtain their current TT position on this bike.
Slick looking bike. Stack is still a bit on the high side but I’d wager that >75% of age groupers could obtain their current TT position on this bike.
I wanted this bike so bad but I would have had to order online (no dealers anywhere close). The geometry was just too far out of whack to give me confidence to order online. 3T was wonderful last fall. I sent my last fit sheet and they had a recommendation but it was some big tweaks (seatpost, stem, handlebars). That just made me uncomfortable. That’s when an LBS really adds value.
I absolutely love that paint design.
The higher stack ensures everyone will slam the stem.
They got ride of all the things I didn’t like about the old Exploros. I think this might be my next bike.
They recommended you change the seatpost on an Exploro?
Looks very good.
So, looking at the 3T website, unless I totally missed it, they don’t really indicate what the max tire clearances are with 650B and then with 700C, and 1x and 2x, as typically those are different. Anyone know where those specs are?
Bikerumor has some specs to that end. 27.5x2.25 seems like the max with 1x.
I’ll have to dig out the email. Maybe I’m recalling it wrong. There were three things that had to change.
I absolutely love that paint design.
The higher stack ensures everyone will slam the stem.
They got ride of all the things I didn’t like about the old Exploros. I think this might be my next bike.
My only beef is that they didn’t run the front brake hose internally.
Why would want to replicate your TT position on a gravel bike?
Why would want to replicate your TT position on a gravel bike?
I took it as a sarcastic crack that most people TT position is not that different from their gravel position… I could be wrong 
I absolutely love that paint design.
The higher stack ensures everyone will slam the stem.
They got ride of all the things I didn’t like about the old Exploros. I think this might be my next bike.
My only beef is that they didn’t run the front brake hose internally.
so its not just me!!!
I look at that and think man, for $x,xxx I want some slickness.
Why would want to replicate your TT position on a gravel bike?
Moreso a comment as to how the somewhat high stack shouldn’t inhibit most people from obtaining their desired positions. Also, I had just looked at some old race photos and it really hit me just how “slack” the fit is of most age groupers… even relatively fast age groupers.
Why would want to replicate your TT position on a gravel bike?
x2. I started in TT and have “slammed” TT and road positions.
I learned very quickly that doesn’t work in technical gravel. I got religion in a cyclocross race. A Cat 1 CXer came up to me after a race, and said, “Dude, raise your bars 5cm and drop your saddle 3cm.”
My next race was an absolute revelation. So much better.
I could see maybe a road position if you’re just doing “fire road gravel,” though.
That’s the thing with “gravel” is it can mean everything from like BWR where there’s some mild dirt in the middle of a road race, to doing single-track enduro on the wrong bike (which is incredible fun).
I absolutely love that paint design.
The higher stack ensures everyone will slam the stem.
They got ride of all the things I didn’t like about the old Exploros. I think this might be my next bike.
Out of interest, what did you not like about the Exploro?
Not to answer for him but the combo rear derailleur hanger, through-axle thing was really weird and annoyed many.
Looks like a lot of fun, but the rear tire-seat tube clearance worries me. Having ridden through some nasty mud that has shut down bikes with great apparent clearance, I’d be concerned about wrecking this thing in wet/muddy conditions.
Not to answer for him but the combo rear derailleur hanger, through-axle thing was really weird and annoyed many.
Also not to answer for him…
I personally don’t mind the rear derailleur hanger. I did crossthread one hanger at the worst possible time, but i learned to be more careful after that. I switch wheels frequently and I don’t even think of it as an extra obstacle anymore.
I did have a seatpost require warranty because the splined insert came apart from the carbon. I think it was semi common. I’m only 165 pounds but that made me feel pretty fat. Reguarding the adjustability of saddle tilt, people complain but i think they just didn’t understand how the spines work.
My biggest complaint about my exploro is the seatpost clamp. I’ve had slipping and I’ve had creaking. They did warranty a clamp for me (the old clamp somehow bent) and it hasn’t slipped since but it does still make some noise. Hopefully the clamp on the new bike works better.
I love my Exploro. It’s the closest thing to a perfect bike that I’ve owned. It has its quirks and problems, but I’ve said for a while that if i broke this one, I’d buy another. Now if i broke this one, I’d buy the Race Max.
I wish i was still sponsored by them so i could get a new one…I’ll have to keep dreaming about it for now. I can’t justify the expense when my current 3T is nearly perfect already
I absolutely love that paint design.
The higher stack ensures everyone will slam the stem.
They got ride of all the things I didn’t like about the old Exploros. I think this might be my next bike.
My only beef is that they didn’t run the front brake hose internally.
so its not just me!!!
I look at that and think man, for $x,xxx I want some slickness.
If it weren’t for the front brake hose I would have already ordered one… still might.
I’ve got an original team Exploro and I’m glad they got rid of the derailleur hanger, I always hated that and the diff lock seat post. Speaking of the seat post, two days ago I had to drill out and use an extractor to remove the seat post wedge bolt. The first Exploro’s had a hole to access the wedge, which is stuck almost an inch inside the frame, from below and after years of it being exposed dirt had caked all around the wedge bolt and I thought I cleaned all of it out but I ended up stripping the hex and couldn’t remove it. It took me an hour with a drill to finally get the extractor to bite and unscrew the bolt…WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS!!
Not too keen on the changes on the RaceMax, I love my Exploro (even with its faults), if anything I’d grab an original LTD since it has the flipped seat post wedge, flat mount and then order the new seat post.
Looks very good.
So, looking at the 3T website, unless I totally missed it, they don’t really indicate what the max tire clearances are with 650B and then with 700C, and 1x and 2x, as typically those are different. Anyone know where those specs are?
This seems to be where this get technical and potentially confusing but I follow their logic. 3T is only listing recommendations based on actual measured tire width and height when mounted on a wheel which they have new acronym for: RAM# and WAM# (Radius As Measured and Width As Measured where the # refers to rim internal width I think) .There is an explanation on their website but it follows a lot of testing they did in terms of trying to understand actual wheels+tire dynamics when comparing nominal tires sizes on various rims. The basic summary is in 650B you are fine with 2.1 inch tire and can go bigger depending on rim. For 700c the recommendation is to get the WAM at 35-42mm so that is like a 38-40mm tire on many rims. You can go bigger but its rim dependent and it looks like 3T recommends dropping to 650B wheel if you do really want to go bigger for handling purposes.