Lauf Anywhere had a small pop up, so I bought that for her TG WW on sale for ~$2.5k shipped vs msrp $1.3k at a LBS for the E5 Diverge? Id been feeling like Id ignored gravel, what with the Merida Ex Enduro (Powered by Shimano Steps) and then a two week holiday in the Alps, where I ragged the El Roy as much as I could before heading home to a UK winter. Also, when it comes to comfort, because the front end is suspended its more obvious that the rear isnt. And, finally, I will swap back to the Hunt Superdura Dynamo wheel and re-install the lighting system for winter training and to tackle a 300km audax that I have just signed up for but more on that in my next update. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The Anywhere uses the same frame as the True Grit, with a 68mm threaded bottom bracket and the same long/low geometry designed for speed and stability. Since then weve had a long British winter thats only just on the wane. The last four hours were really tough despite being mostly flat and it seemed my legs had only one speed slow!
Lauf True Grit: Checkpoint - Riding Gravel A particularly long reach of 399mm for the medium is combined with a short head-tube (133mm) to promote an aerodynamic position on the bike.
2022 Lauf Seigla gravel bike review: Unconventional looks The Smoothie handlebar and 40mm tires definitely help isolate the rider from road imperfections. Tyre pressures are set to the low 40s of PSI high enough to avoid feeling sluggish on tarmac, but low enough to give grip and an element of comfort on dirt. Lauf Anywhere Weekend Warrior: $3340 True Grit (12x142mm TA) Lauf JAF (15x100mm TA) Lauf Smoothie SRAM Rival 1 SRAM Rival 1 SRAM Rival 1 Flat mount Hydraulic SRAM S350 42t When jutting across roads less traveled, you can feel the bars flexing while on the hoods. The reach is 80mm with a 125mm drop, and the bars have a claimed weight of 240 grams. As such, I was sent a set of its latest carbon XCX Gravel Race wheels. I soon re-joined my outbound route, the wide gravel tracks corners revealing the mountains Im familiar with seeing in Aviemore. I was running Hunts Mason X Hunt 4 Season Disc wheelset during the summer months when I wasnt using the dynamo wheel. Weighing a claimed 450g, the Lauf Anywheres Just A Fork (JAF) has a full carbon construction, triple cage mounts on each leg, and is based around a 15 x 100m thru-axle. Maybe its the combo of the supple tyre, and the forks suspension and lower lateral stiffness than a traditional fork, but at those pressures the feel between tarmac and bar is just too vague for my tastes. My only criticism of the drivetrain/brakes has been that the shift paddle can sometimes squash my 4th and 5th fingers if Im braking on the hoods and my brake pads are a touch worn. Perhaps not surprising because this bike has, as claimed by Lauf offers Copious amount of microscopic comfort. I felt I really understood what the team behind Lauf wanted to create. Laufs own Smoothie bar dominates the cockpit. Its barely compromised on tarmac with the right tyres and itll fly along unmade roads with gleeful abandon. Unless I end up riding the bike more off road I will likely swap the tyres to something a little lighter for more road-focussed riding.
LAUF ANYWHERE GRAVEL BIKE TEST - Road Bike Action My only other real addition to the bike is a new Garmin Flush Out-Front Mount. Overall, the Lauf Anywhere is a truly awesome all-rounder Ive spent the last six months riding it I have managed to rack up 4,500km The Anywhere will handle pretty much whatever adventure your imagination can think of. Its incredibly good at reducing handlebar buzz, too, which over long distances adds to fatigue, and helps with bigger hits, but with 30mm travel, theres only so much it can be expected to handle. Like most people, I ride road bikes with at least two gears up front, but the Anywhere uses a 111 SRAM Rival drivetrain. Im currently running some Ritchey pedals, but often swap between pedals for a set of Shimano XT Race pedals and something else I cant talk about right now. Despite this, Lauf has created an impressive handlebar in the Lauf Smoothie, which is designed to address the issue of vibration felt through the hands. No bike can be perfect at everything, though, and there are a few points to consider. This construction, plus the overall shaping, allows for isolated flex and a perfect mate for the new rigid fork. The new Smoothie bar and 40mm tires isolate the rider from the imperfections of the road perfectly We have about 200 miles on the Anywhere and it has been lots of fun The large tires allow us to run low tire pressures (35 PSI) on the wet roads offering great traction with speed. The Lauf True Grit is built for gravel racing: big days, covering long distances, over a multitude of dirt surfaces. When fitted with gravel tires you have the optimal setup for gravel with proper pedal-to-ground clearance. Surprisingly, the bike does not use the leaf spring fork that made Lauf famous. Theres inherent stability from the length, while the front wheel is better able to track the ground, with both the tyres volume and the forks suspension keeping the whole bike calmer. The most obvious changes were the wheels and tyres. This would be a great way to liven the bike up a little and to drop some weight. This means the frame reach is 394mm and reach to handlebar length 456mm. So much so that on my first ride with it I was constantly checking the rear tyre for a flat. I was a bit unsure how my knee would take it, but thankfully it held up with only slight pain around the 100-mile mark. ), but gravel gives me something else that wider tyres cant easy, local access to great riding, big miles, and long days in the saddle. It has Lauf Lush bartape and is 420mm wide on the medium size. LAUF ANYWHERE RIDE The Anywhere is nearly identical in feel and handling to the True Grit when on the pavement. But not before Id popped to the local bakery to pick up some Scottish delicacies. I actually think this combination suits my riding perfectly, especially as Im not a natural road racer with years of riding a 53-48t under my belt. I have previously used a battery powered Hope R2 front light for night riding, which produces a claimed 1,300 lumens. By all reports, this bike was light, fast and fun. The relatively slack 71-degree head angle and short 80mm stem is said to help increase stability at high speeds over rough terrain. Swish. Ive plans in the works thatll see me riding the bike a lot later in the year, and in the run up there are a few modifications thatll be needed. Force level shifters are joined by an XX1 AXS derailleur and 10-50t cassette, driven by a Force 1 chainset with a 42t ring. I got out of the saddle on most of the climbs and spent less time spinning on sharp hills. That's with a hodgepodge spec of alloy Easton EA70 stem and FSA post, Ritchey saddle and DT Swiss wheels. 15mm front axle, STATS Furthermore, I really believe suspension has a place on a gravel bike. In December 2019 I took part in the popular Moonrakers and Sunseekers 300km Audax, organised by Will Pomeroy and the team behind Great Western Randonnes.
Question: Anyone own or ridden the Lauf True Grit? It's just a shame that the JAF fork limits the bike's compatibility with road and. The Dava Way follows an old railway path and goes through a number of rather cool cuttings. Basically, what we have here is a roadie version of the True Grit. RBA OG Embroidered Champion Packable Jacket. As featured in my third update, below, I spend regular, but not consistent amounts of time in Aviemore, Scotland. The large but smooth 40mm tires allowed us to run low tire pressures (35psi) on wet roads offering great traction and speed. On the road, they dont feel too sluggish and their relatively continuous central tread rolls fast, while the carcass seems supple. 1,052 feet, not metres. pdf. The 4km descent to the loch was a welcome relief and, at the bottom, I decided approaching 40km was a good time to enjoy my lunch by the shores. However, the Anywhere doesnt feature the suspension fork, instead it uses what Lauf calls Just A Fork (JAF), which is essentially a rigid, full carbon fork. We are all huge fans of the True Grit and Zap even chose it as his favorite dual purpose bike of 2018. So, even without prior knowledge of Laufs bikes, the True Grit would naturally sit towards the top of my shortlist. It would be good to see some provision for internal dropper post cable routing, too. Is it possible to stop by a loch with your bike and not take a photo? I played close attention to my position on the bike because in late 2018 I picked up a knee injury, which I have been trying to fix ever since, and I have been wary of riding a new bike because I dont want to damage my knee further by riding hard on a different setup. THE RIDE At the beginning of June I headed out to Ireland to ride the Transatlantic Way a self-supported ride from Dublin to Kinsale, Cork via the wild west coast. Awesome! This also means that on long rides when you become fatigued, the bike isnt hyper-responsive to bar input that could lead to a mistake. Though the frame will take a gear cable, this version of the True Grit uses SRAMs wireless AXS groupsets as do the top-level Ultimate (5,990) and third-tier Weekend Warrior AXS (3,390). Then when you swap to slimmer 700c tires, say 30mm, the bottom bracket "automatically" drops accordingly. For a fully-fledged gravel race frame, the Anywhere can be built up pretty light too. The rest of my sleeping kit was stored in the saddle bag. Anywhere User's Manual. 3x Bottle Mounts Three bottle mounts come in handy for a long day in the saddle. The Smoothie handlebar is made with a combination of S2 glass fibers and carbon, but as with their Grit suspension fork, the materials are not a blend but instead separate and isolated to offer more compliance while eliminating fatigue failure. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Much like the fork, the Canyon VCLS 2.0 seatpost Ive fitted is a two-piece leaf-sprung unit, designed to flutter backward and forward, to take the sting out of trail chatter. Lauf's Seigla has taken all of the best aspects from its True Grit gravel race bike and improved it, with increased tyre clearance and frame compliance. The Maxxis Velocita AR tyres are by far the widest I have ridden on a road-biased bike. This time last year I was banging out 100 to 150k rides weekly, with occasional jaunts of up to around 200k. This leaf-sprung suspension fork offers 30mm of travel, which is enough to take the sting out of the dirt roads, without impacting too much on the bikes dynamic geometry. Riding a fully rigid bike meant that my body felt pretty beaten up by the end of the ride (it took me 12 hours to complete), and watching many other competitors on mountain bikes I definitely could have done with some form of suspension. I guess Im fairly happy rattling over rough surfaces at closer to 50psi, especially considering the squish afforded by the Grit fork. These cookies do not store any personal information. The urban jungle that is Aviemore has its own Orbital. From there, I enjoyed a mix of tarmac, farm track and, eventually, classic Scottish gravel double track through and past Carrbridge, and on to the climb up and over the hills to Lochindorb. This makes for a sturdy frame that handles all the fun at only 1.150g - Medium frame in Lava Black, including front and rear derailleur hangers.
First ride review: SRAM XPLR RockShox suspension, Zipp wheels, and 1x With sugar coursing through my veins, I followed the largely flat Speyside Way out of Grantown-on-Spey. As for the bike, the only issue I had was a hole in the rear tyre that wouldnt seal. Anywheres are available in four builds, for differing tastes and budgets. It was a new experience for me having never raced before or had any proper gravel riding experience. tire clearance, and arguably better looks, it's a winner out of the gate. It also meant that I didnt actually change anything specifically on my bike, and much to the amusement of Joe I even kept on my third down-tube bottle cage and 32mm gravel tyres. It impressed on asphalt, dirt and true gravel. My tried and tested Apidura saddlebag and top tube bag got another outing, along with a real hidden gem in the world of bikepacking bags, Alpkits Airlok Dual handlebar bag. These wheels, built for XC racing, have an internal width of 22.5mm and combined with the tubeless 700 x 40c WTB Nano tyres, the bike had lots of grip and a more confidence-inspiring wheelset. Socks: Team Dream This got the bike to a final weight of 8.15kg, which was a total saving of 450g on its original weight of 8.6kg. Because I had a post-mount Shimano hydraulic brake on the Parlee, I had to install Shimano's post mount to flat mount adapter in the 140mm size - this sounds incorrect, but that positions the caliper into the right position on the Lauf Grit. Thanks for the feedback. These changes got the bike down to a respectable 8.22kg. Chainstays are 425mm long and theres a 1,040mm wheelbase.
Lauf Anywhere - gravel bikes and lightweight suspension forks Currently, the bike is sold with DT Swiss XR1501 alloy wheels, fitted with 40c wide Maxxis Rambler tyres. I envisaged a desolate slog, through a windswept bog, pushing for hours and cursing my route planning ability. When it comes to really rough off-road riding, the Smoothie handlebar isnt nearly as effective as the 30mm-travel Grit suspension fork. At 182cm tall I sit between a Medium and Large on Laufs sizing guide. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. On our normal road group rides, the bike never held us back and has been giving us an advantage on the roads that are littered with fallen rocks and debris.