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The bike of the future (2/2)

The (copy)cat is out of the bag

When we launched the Exploro, the bike industry didn't really get it. And that was great. Now it is "inspiring" other gravel bikes, and that is great too.

Posted by Gerard Vroomen , photos by Marc Gasch, - 17 December 2018

In part 1, I talked about how I grew up riding gravel and dirt, moved to road but very quickly was drawn back to the messy part of cycling, albeit while taking my road bike with me. And eventually, that led to the OPEN U.P. and the 3T Exploro.

In part 2 I promised to talk about how the industry has changed since. After those introductions, we’ve gone through what I’d like to call the “5 steps of passive-aggressive bike industry flattery”.

  1. Most bike companies don’t get it, don’t see who would need such a product, ridicule it, etc.
  2. Public opinion is split, maybe 50/50 or even 30/70 against the product, but a high percentage of those who try it love it. Only problem is, how do you get people to try something they don’t think they’ll like. So it grows, but slowly.
  3. Magazines and industry awards are usually more open-minded than the industry at large, so the product tests well and wins awards and industry people start to notice that it becomes popular. (though in some cases the media also needs time, like this one).
  4. The flattery part, where brands are “inspired” by the originals to bring out something similar because they are afraid to miss the boat.
  5. Most late-comers don’t find the success they hoped for, either because the market isn’t THAT big (see for example cyclocross, where companies like Ridley and Redline continued to thrive and many newcomers never did) or because their product isn’t compelling enough (I’ll skip examples here :-).

I’ve seen this first-hand in triathlon when we launched the original P3 at Cervélo. In he beginning, it was also hard to convince people and then it took off. But the same has happened for various types of mountain bikes, folding bikes, cargo bikes, aero bikes, cyclocross bikes, etc.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

So I am not surprised it is happening now with gravel bikes, where more than a dozen models have come out with dropped chainstays and dual 700c/650b wheel options in the past few months alone. What does surprise me is that so few seem to have learned from those previous cases:

  1. They always copy the wrong thing. It’s not the dropping of the chainstay that matters, it’s creating tire clearance with the right geometry and stiffness that matters. Same back in the day with the P3. Everybody started copying the curved seattube, but while that was very visible, it wasn’t the reason the P3 was popular (proper rider fit was a lot more important)
  2. The late-comers are rarely successful, all they do is legitimize the market and boost the original. Again looking at triathlon, few people remember that in the 1990’s, Trek was the #1 bike in triathlon without even making a “triathlon bike”. Their 5200/5500 OCLV road bike with clip-on aerobars was what people used. Then for the year 2000 they introduced their first triathlon bike, which told their customers they needed a dedicated tri bike, not a converted (Trek) road bike. But these people then bought one of “the originals” – often a Cervélo tri bike – and not a Trek, so pretty soon Cervélo became #1. Without Trek legitimizing the market, I am not sure that would have ever happened and definitely not that quickly.
  3. The originals almost always understand the market better than the latecomers. Say you want to ride in Mongolia for three months. Salsa makes brilliant bikes for that. Why? Because that is the type of riding people at that company do, so they understand it inside-out. You can do a poor copy (focusing on the wrong thing, see point 1), you may legitimize the market (point 2), but your product won’t be as good because you don’t understand the use case as well as Salsa (if you did, you would have made that bike already). And even if you copy well, the original is already upgrading to a better version anyway.
  4. The only way out of this for late-comers is to turn themselves into an original. For example, Urban Arrow was relatively late in cargo bikes, but they were one of the first to spot the potential for electric cargo bikes. And soon they sold so many of those that they completely stopped offering cargo bikes without electric assist. Of course to achieve such a switch, you need to understand the market deeply enough to know in which direction to pivot.

So when people ask me if I’m bothered that there are now so many gravel bikes with dropped chainstays, the answer is no (OK, one gravel bike introduction pissed me off, but only because it was such a blatant copy AND they were telling people I designed it for them, which of course I hadn’t. That crossed the line).

For one, I don’t mind it because actually the key features are usually not copied very well. But most importantly, I love it because it legitimizes the market.

It’s not just because this is good for our business (although I don’t mind that :-). It’s also because I absolutely love “gravel/dirt/mixed surface/allroad/whatever-you-call-it” riding. I think it is the most fun you can have on a bike, so the more people learn about it, try and and fall in love with it, the better. The world is a better place when people ride their bikes, and these are the sort of bikes that people will want to ride more.

And that even goes for the “copies” because I don’t want to come off as negative, of course most bikes nowadays are good. Even if some important points are missed that could make it better (tire clearance, geometry that works for all tire sizes, etc), almost all of these “gravel” bikes are more appropriate for many riders than pure road bikes (see the previous post about that) so the fun factor will increase regardless.

So what does this mean for the FUTURE of these bikes? I think the main paradigm shift for the product has already happened. We can now build a bike that rides well with road tires and change into a great gravel/offroad bike in seconds with different tires. Or do almost everything with one “medium” set of tires. That is the core tenet, the feature that lets people ride such a bike in more places, with more comfort, with more fun.

After that, there can be many variations, based on usage, type of rider, type of terrain, and useful or less useful gadgets, but the basis is already there.

Aerodynamics is one of those variations. I don’t think the whole gravel market will turn aero, just like that hasn’t happened for road bikes. But it’s clear that when trying to turn a gravel bike into a fast road bike, the aero helps, as it does on wind-swept gravel courses. So it’s here to stay, and I humbly predict 3T will continue to lead that segment.

What does it mean for the future Exploro? I’m really happy with how the bike performs now, which is not good news for a bike designer! For us the most important step right now is to make the bike more accessible to people, through improving our dealer network and offering more complete bike options.

3T will always be a premium product, that’s simply the result of our focus on BE FIRST and the reality that we’re a nimble but small company, not one that cranks out millions of bikes. Yet within those constraints, we want to make the bikes as affordable as we can.

You saw us do that with the Exploro Exploro Team Force Green bike (above) and there are so few left that we’ve made some more, with the same spec but in Black (below). You’ll likely also see more spec variations coming, not a ton (small company) but some. It’s only logical that if one frame can be so many different things (a full-on road bike, a singletrack-slaying beast), it will be offered with different specs tailored towards those different uses. For example, I would like to offer the Exploro with the full-on Strada parts kit, so 700c carbon aero wheels, road tires, etc. And of course you can still ride easy gravel on those tires, or swap the tires and really take that offroad.

I understand that this is still by no means a “cheap” bike but for what you get, it’s a great price. In fact, this is what I was planning to ride (until those green bikes flew out the door) and I am afraid the same will happen with the black ones. Sometimes I feel like that master carpenter with IKEA furniture: you just never get the opportunity to keep something for yourself.

 

◄ Previous Story 3T Bike Protection
Next Story ► RIMBY: Dear Brittany

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25 responses to “The bike of the future (2/2)”

  1. P

    Paul G says:

    28 April 2019

    Hi Gerard, I’m ready to join the revolution and trying to decide between the Exploro and the U.P. As I’m riding more road than dirt (for now) I was leaning towards the Exploro but not sure if it makes sense if I ride with a higher or more comfortable stem height. Some folks suggest that the Exploro may be a bit of a harsher ride but I wonder if this can just be mitigated by tire width and pressure. I’ll be running 700×30 most of the time. thanks!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      29 April 2019

      Hi Paul, first off, even if you will mostly ride road, I doubt you’ll stick to 30mm tire. Once you have clearance for bigger, you will quickly find out that bigger is better, even on pavement. And even more so now that the tire makers are offering better and better wide tires. Pirelli for example makes the brilliant Cinturato tubeless road tire in sizes up to 35mm. And with that extra volume, you can also do fun off-road stuff, even though the tire doesn’t have any knobs and is a true road profile.

      As for the harshness, in engineering terms the tire and the frame are in series, meaning everything has to travel through both to reach you. This also means that as the tire gets more and more comfortable (by increasing with to the 30mm you suggest, or more) the frame matters less and less. The tire has already filtered out so much that it matters less what the frame does. And once you ride a 2.1″ MTB, 99% of the comfort comes from the tire compared to the frame, so it really doesn’t matter at all what that 1% does.

      Reply
      1. P

        Paul says:

        12 May 2019

        Thank you Gerard. That’s very helpful. Can you speak to what differences I would experience between an Exploro and an U.P. If both were set up similarly with a more upright riding position and tires to maximize speed for on road use? Regretfully there’s no options nearby to demo either. I’m guessing that the exploro frame design will optimize the use of a wider tire without reducing speed more than an u.p. (Like a 35 on an exploro May run as fast as a 30 on an u.p.?) And it’s frame geometry may feel like a faster climber and perhaps require more attention on technical terrain?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          13 May 2019

          Hi Paul, first of all, both bikes can do the same type of rides. Obviously I have the choice of both, and it’s not like I ever think before a ride “Oh, today I am riding this, so I need bike X and it would be impossible on bike Y”. Both have fantastic tire clearance, both have capable geometries, etc.

          In that whole spectrum they cover, from pure road to extreme gravel, the Exploro focuses a bit more on the speed end of things and the UP a bit more on endurance. But they are nuances, obviously the UP is still very fast (see Geoff Kabush) and the Exploro is still great for bikepacking (see XPDTN3).

          Reply
  2. H

    Higor Alves De Freitas says:

    19 April 2019

    Hi Gerard, I recently sent an enquiry with regards to you coming into Imperial College London to discuss your innovation in the bike industry, but I realised it may might be more in context to ask here! I am a current student doing an MEng in Design Engineering at Imperial College and find your work fascinating and would love it if you could come in to do a talk about how it takes time for an industry to adjust to innovation; the advantage of being the first mover; and anything else you’d like to talk about! I don’t know how much you’re in London, but I know we’d love to have you here so feel free to answer directly to the university email I’ve provided here, or to add me on LinkedIn to discuss further.
    Many thanks,
    Higor Alves De Freitas

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      19 April 2019

      I’ve sent you a private message.

      Reply
  3. C

    Carlos says:

    22 January 2019

    Hello Gerard,
    Do you guys have a dealer in TX? Thanks

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 January 2019

      Hi Carlos, yes we do, several, both in the Dallas and Houston area. See here for details: https://www.3t.bike/en/stores?useraddress=Texas%2C+USA

      Reply
  4. R

    Rasmus says:

    21 January 2019

    Hi! Two questions:
    1: I plan to get a RTP Strada sometime this year. Do you have any good questions I should ask the custom painters to make sure they know how to paint a bicycle? Or maybe you even know some painter in or near Stockholm who has actually painted RTP bikes?
    2: For my bike tour this summer I had planned to set the Strada up with a tight-ish cassette like 11-36 or 11-40, and rather large (like 48t or 50t) front chainring for riding through mostly flat Sweden and Germany, and have a smaller chainring (smaller than the largest cog at the rear) in the bag, which I would switch to once I reached the alps. Then I thought that if I would anyway bring two chainrings, why not bring a front derailleur as well, and get a Strada Due. Any thoughts?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 January 2019

      Hi Rasmus, probably the best way to approach this is to get referrals. There are two main sides to custom painting:
      1) Do you like the style (or at least can they do the style you want)
      2) The technical execution, which really mostly has to do with durability once you know you like their style (and therefore more than likely also the painting methods they use). There are lots of different ways to make a beautiful and durable frame finish, so it’s not like you absolutely have to ask if they do this or that, but once you get to talk to the referrals, you can see if they have any issues with chips, blistering, etc. But I think you’ll find most custom bike painters do very well in that regard.

      What I would steer clear of are people without bike painting experience. From time to time I hear people talk about having a car painter do their frame, and it often leads to disappointment. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s a whole different ball of wax to paint a bike than a car. So don’t assume “a painter is a painter”.

      Hope this helps.

      Reply
  5. B

    Bill Hartong says:

    30 December 2018

    Gerald, I have come to your site to look at the 3T Torno LTD cranks.(Peleton Mag) I would like to consider using one for the 2019 Tri season on a Trek Speed Concept. This crank seems to be quite excellent! First we are testing to find an optimal crank length. One athlete I am working with has tight hip flexors and my research is pointing to shorter crank arms as a solution…That said, I know the industry has it current standards but I would love your opinion on shorter crank arms. (That is shorter then 170). Happy New Year..

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      30 December 2018

      Crank length is a tough one. There is no research that indicates a functional rule between body measurements and crank length, so there is no correlation between body dimensions and optimal crank length. But crank length does affect performance in individual riders. So it’s very hard to optimizen unless you do lots of individual tests.

      I definitely agree that if you’re going to change crank lengths, theninsustry standard of changing by 2.5mm is hardly anything. The idea that 95% of the population rises cranks 170-175mm is of course odd. But it’s today’s reality.

      Reply
      1. B

        Bill Hartong says:

        30 December 2018

        Thanks for the response.

        Reply
  6. c

    chris says:

    22 December 2018

    can you please release some aero numbers for the exploro at the 45kph other manufactures use for their road bikes? I’m really keen to know how the numbers compare in road format with aero wheels and road tires as that’s how i ride mine in the summer

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 December 2018

      Hi Chris, nobody really tests at 45kph, more like 48kph (30mph). TOUR tested exactly what you describe against “normal” road bikes and they were very impressed. I’m not sure if you can find it online somewhere, I must have a physical copy of the article somewhere but I am not exactly sure why and it’s Christmas vacation for me for the next two weeks!

      Reply
      1. c

        chris says:

        23 December 2018

        THanks Gerard and happy chritmas haha Crit’mas get it.. 😉

        Reply
  7. c

    chris stocks says:

    18 December 2018

    Hey Gerard, I had a bad chain suck event with my exploro, i’m gutted about it, with the shape of the frame and the clearance with the chain ring bolts, it it does drop in it is hard to stop instant damage. Perhaps you could have a look at a solution for that for ongoing release as I know a few others have suffered this, and the design of the exploro clearance is very close in there due to that dropped stay, some sort of protector would be good. thanks, chris

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      18 December 2018

      Hi Chris, sorry to hear about the chain suck. The problem is that unlike with road bikes, the Exploro is used with a huge range of chainring. For 1x you can see anything from 34t to 50t. So there is no small range of ring-to-frame transitions to design for. That coupled with the tight tolerances to get a chainstay in-between the tire and rings means that there is no room for a beefy protector. Putting a protector there means the chainstay becomes 1-2mm narrower. That may not seem like much but in this case, it’s a lot, making it impossible to create the required stiffness.

      So it’s a complex issue. I would LIKE to somehow squeeze a protector in, but it’s not so easy.

      Reply
      1. c

        chris says:

        22 December 2018

        thanks for taking the time to reply. I have to say after some time away from it, and then coming back to it after a few months I appreciate it more and ‘get it” more now than when I first had it. keep pushing those design ideas, and would really love the 36 inch wheel version in a super sloping full on aero, happy christmas!

        Reply
  8. L

    Lyubo says:

    18 December 2018

    hey, did you plan to make exploro frame with integrated cockpit: all cables inside? Like BMC Roadmachine 01, but with gravel related tyre clearance?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      18 December 2018

      Hi there, I don’t have anything against internal cable routing, I just don’t like bad internal cable routing. Which of course means pretty much all internal cable routing. Back in the day with Cervelo, we were the first to really have good functioning internal cable routing through the frame with low friction (after also some attempts with too much friction I have to admit). And already since those days, so 15 years ago, I’ve been thinking about a good way to route the cables through the stem and bar. But there are so many drawbacks to most designs, that it is much better to have them outside than to go through all those issues. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on cables through the bar/stem, but bottom line is it has to work.

      Reply
  9. J

    John says:

    18 December 2018

    Oh, I was on the waiting list for the green one and my bike shop just called me they got it in, but the black bike looks even better! Going there now to ask him to order that one. Keep the good stuff coming Gerard!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      18 December 2018

      I’ll try!

      Reply
      1. J

        JT says:

        19 December 2018

        When will we see a British racing green strada?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          19 December 2018

          Nothing planned. But of course the Strada is available in RTP ready-to-paint, so you can always have it painted Racing Green if you fancy that.

          Reply
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