I first noticed Viral Bike’s new Wanderer Drop Bar Bike when I saw it being pushed around at this year’s Sea Otter Classic. I was super busy at the show (or spending too much time in the K-Edge trailer) and, sad to say, didn’t get a chance to stop and check it out up close. The bike was officially launched on the 18th of April and looks like a cool bike.
Let’s take a gander.
The Viral Bikes Wanderer
The development for the Wanderer started after they moved their HQ from Bend, Oregon, to Bentonville, Arkansas. The Wanderer is Viral’s drop bar-specific adventure bike, “designed for the roughest roads and the longest of backcountry adventures”.
The frame on the Wanderer is built around mountain bike standards including a full 100mm mountain bike suspension fork, and boost spacing. “As soon as we had the Pinion SmartShift in our hands, we knew that this would be the next bike to market,” says Viral’s founder Steve Domahidy.
The new Wanderer is also built specifically around Pinon’s electronically shifted gearbox, SmartShift. Along with that, TRP has added their Hywire which is a drop bar shifter/brake lever combo designed around the SmartShift.
The Hywire allows for a proper shifting experience when using a drop bar with the Pinion gearbox. “There have been a lot of workarounds to making drop bars compatible with the Pinion gearbox, but they’ve all been pretty major compromises, until now,” Domahidy continues.
There doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about when it comes to battery life for the electronic shifting. Pinion claims a full 10,000 shifts per charge.
Wanderer’s Unique Geometry
Pushing the boundaries of gravel and adventure bike geometry, the Wanderer runs a 67.5 head tube angle and long front center. This pushes the wheelbase and reach out for more stability while descending, whether loaded or not.
In addition, is “changing the game” with size-specific geometry, concentrating on seat tube angle vs. size-specific chainstay lengths. “At the end of the day, we have little control over the final chainstay length of a bike. It is what it is when you tension the belt to a specified amount, and you can change that a bit with belt lengths and gear ratios, but now you’re compromising the final drive ratio to accomplish a chainstay length. That’s not how we wanted to go about it,” Domahidy says.
Instead, the Wanderer puts larger riders and smaller riders more forward on the bike with a steeper seat tube angle. This accomplishes the same result as longer chain stays.
More on this from Steve Domahidy:
“Shorter riders benefit from a steeper seat tube angle as it helps improve the front and center geometry which helps keep toe overlap in check. Taller riders benefit from the same steepening of the seat tube to keep their center of balance more forward and centered over the bike. As you raise the seatpost for taller riders, this moves their center of gravity further and further back which unbalances the ride characteristics. Because we can’t really effectively control the chainstay length, we decided to control the center of gravity through the seat tube angle“.
As you may have guessed, Steve spent a lot of time working on and refining the Wanderer’s geometry. He thinks the results are “sublime”
One of the most noticeable characteristics of the Wanderer frame is the unique seat cluster area. The seat cluster de-couples the top tube from the seat tube. Then a titanium spring plate is welded to the seat stays to support the rider. The technique offers 10-20 mm of flex to the seat tube. Thus, giving the rider additional comfort and control when stuff gets dicey.
Wanderer’s Geometry Charts
* based on a 100mm travel fork
** measurement in the shortest position
Frame Specs and Retail
Retail: $4250 (frameset)
Retail: $9795 (complete bike with RockShox SID SL Ultimate) // $9295 (with Viral Carbon Boost Fork)
- Viral Bikes triple butted titanium tubeset
- Full Mountain Bike capability and clearance for a 29” x 2.4” tire
- Pinion C1.12i SmartShift gearbox delivers 600% gear range
- Frame kit comes with Gates belt drive, front and rear cogs, forged cranks, TRP Hywire brake/shifter combo with 180mm rotors front and rear, battery, charger, wiring kit, locking tool, rear cassette spacer kit, and first 6000-mile oil change
- Rigid* or 100mm fork compatible
- 31.6mm seat post, compatible with internal dropper post routing.
- 148mm Boost rear hub spacing
- IS41 upper/ IS52 lower headset bearings
- 4.25 lbs. for medium frame
Pre-orders are available now at the link below. A 50% deposit is required. Pre-order frame kit customers will receive the TRP Ha\ywire brakes and shifters for free in addition to being able to select the color they’d prefer to anodize their frame’s logo and stripes.
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