This week, as over 5 thousand gravel cyclists descend on Emporia for Unbound Gravel 2025, there are unreleased bikes all over the place.
To say the occasion has change into a launchpad for brand spanking new tech could be underselling it. After simply two days on the bottom right here, I’ve seen no fewer than seven new bikes, a brand new groupset from Campagnolo, and a listing of fascinating tech hacks in proportion with the USA’s bigger-is-better way of living.
The newest of these new bikes comes courtesy of Issue, in an all-new bike known as the Aluto, and might be ridden by Issue’s Model Director, David Millar, on Saturday.
Yesterday, when revealing a unique Issue gravel bike – that one which might be ridden by the CEO, Rob Gitelis – I hinted {that a} second bike was right here from the model.
At that time, Millar’s bike was sitting in Kansas Metropolis Airport, having been delayed en route, however following a late supply and expedited construct I caught up with Millar and the bike on Friday morning.
He tells me that the bike is designed to be extra of a multi-purpose, versatile machine slightly than a extremely targeted race or journey bike. Even simply taking a look at it, there’s clear consideration to its weight, with comparatively skinny tubes all through the body. He did not have a last manufacturing body weight out there, however he was at pains to spotlight how effectively the bike handles.
In actual fact, he went as far as to supply a check experience to let me expertise it for myself.
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He stated Issue’s inside description for the way it handles is ‘brilliant’, and that it comes courtesy of the carbon fibre layup simply as a lot as its geometry.
The bike will boast an official tyre clearance of 47mm, however he’d squeezed in a pair of 48mm Rene Herse Oracle Ridge tyres forward of the race this weekend; a transfer that he could remorse if the sticky peanut butter mud does not dry out in time.
My check experience, albeit brief and on a motorcycle arrange in Millar’s lengthy and low racy place, instantly confirmed that the Aluto will provide agile dealing with and a cushty experience high quality that is a bit extra forgiving and playful than the hyper-specific Ostro Gravel race bike.
My fast impression, nonetheless, was simply how mild it felt, each when choosing it up and when flicking it up onto kerbs and navigating tight turns.
Even with the chunky 48mm tyres and in Millar’s massive body measurement, the bike was extra akin to a street bike within the hand. It is too early to know for certain, and we do not have a precise weight determine for the body or this full bike, nevertheless it may very well be a motorcycle to rival the Specialised Crux with that light-weight, ‘flickable’ dealing with attribute.
Millar defined that the Aluto is a bit just like the model’s O2 VAM road bike in the way it suits into the broader lineup. After I reviewed that bike, I described it as a racy featherweight, including that it is in all probability not a motorcycle you may purchase if data-driven race efficiency is your purpose, however one that could be a pleasure to experience.
I will not profess to having been in a position to discern these sensations in only a few brief kilometres of using, however I can see the place he is coming from and am trying ahead to spending extra time on the bike as soon as it launches.
The concentrate on weight does not imply it completely ignores aerodynamics although, and the eyeball wind tunnel (aka trying on the tube shapes) confirms some aero touches have been added. For instance, there is a slight hourglass form to the pinnacle tube when taking a look at it from the entrance, and each this and the down tube are profiled with a slight squared-off trailing edge.
Up entrance, there is a one-piece built-in cockpit, with cables routed internally for a pleasant clear entrance finish.
The seatpost is spherical, making aftermarket swaps simpler than a proprietary D-shaped design. The seat tube itself is spherical, too, though there’s a slight curve towards the underside the place it wraps across the rear wheel.
There is a storage door on the down tube, utilizing what appears to be like to be the identical locking mechanism because the not too long ago launched Monza, and a pair of bolts on the underside for a 3rd bottle. There’s one other pair of mounts atop the highest tube for a bag or spares pouch, and though Millar is utilizing a SRAM 1x groupset, there is a mount for a entrance derailleur too.
The one element Millar did not give away is the meant launch date of the bike, however given Millar is pleased to reveal particulars like its title and tyre clearance specs, we’re fairly assured this one’s nearer to manufacturing than the opposite Issue bike we coated yesterday.
You possibly can make certain that Cyclingnews will convey you the small print at any time when it does launch.
