The new Guru Praemio R is a race-level full titanium bike.
“We wanted to build a ti bike that could go toe to toe with any crit bike out there,” said Josh Novis, Guru’s sales rep. “The Praemio R frame features make it stiff enough to crank on but with the compliant ride that ti is known for.”
The Praemio R has the tapered 44mm headtube, a PressFit BB30 bottom bracket and “the industry’s only 1” ti chainstays. Combined with the massive 44.5mm diameter downtube, the bike has a very stiff bottom half for proper power transfer.
Up top, the thinner top tube and 12mm seatstays provide a more compliant ride, something the titanium exaggerates in a good way.
The massive chainstays provide some tire clearance challenges. They had to mount them wide on the BB, which required welding as far put as they could without distorting the BB shell.
They also had to get a new roller die tool to pinch the tubes at the front to clear both the tire and chainrings. Another new tool was needed to cold work a bend into the back of the tube. The result is clearance for a 700×25 tire and a fatter chainstay than you’ll find on any other ti bike.
Dropouts are machined aluminum and are mainly done to differentiate it visually. The added flair doubles as a replaceable dropout.
Starts at $4,500 in full custom geometry with an ENVE 2.0 tapered fork. Frame weight is around 1300g for a 54.
Guru is primarily a custom builder, with lead times only around 4-6 weeks. However, they’ve expanded their Fast Forward program to offer more stock choices and help some rider get a new bike for less than full custom if a stock bike will fit.
New Photon, Evolo R and Praemio andthe CR901 and CR701 triathlon/TT bikes are now available through their Fast Forward geometry program. That offers several stock geometries and paint schemes that can speed up delivery to as little as one to two days.
