Fuji gains traction in gravel road bike segment with new Tread

Written by Tyler Benedict Feb 02, 2015 12:52 p.m. ET

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The new Fuji Tread gravel bike is a bit of a mashup, combining their alloy cyclocross frame and carbon fork with different gearing and components that make it a bit more appropriate for longer rides on rough roads. Or just very, very fast commuting.

The Tread comes with disc brakes, TRP Spyre mechanical brakes, Shimano Tiagra 10-speed group with a compact Oval Concepts (Fuji’s house brand) crankset. Tires are 700×32 Vera CityWide slicks with flat protection, so you’d need to grab another set of rubber for off-road use. The frame is custom butted alloy with a tapered headtube, and the fork has carbon legs with an alloy steerer and dropouts.

All that and an Oval Concepts alloy cockpit is yours for just $1,049. Given the price and spec, you’ll need to head over to their “Lifestyle” bikes category to find it, but with the same frame as their Cross bike, it’s a decent budget option for a multi-use ride.

Tyler Benedict

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Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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mudrock

9 years ago

Great bike for the price. Wonder why they went with seatstay mounted brakes – makes it harder to use fenders and racks.

Micah

9 years ago

@mudrock Because it was a CX bike first.

Mirwin

9 years ago

What’s the diff between a cx and gravel bike? Geo?

Jim

9 years ago

@mirwin that kind of definition is always fuzzy, but my guess is that a gravel bike is a CX bike optimized for folks who don’t want to race at all… so braze ons, a bit of geo, loadout, weight.

LateSleeper

9 years ago

@mirwin: My list for a true gravel bike includes lower BB, clearance for wider tires and a 1:1 climbing gear for when you need to stay seated on a steep section of loose gravel. Oh yeah, it also needs bottle mounts, so I guess Fuji checked one box.

9 years ago

Similar to Specialized. The CruX EVO is essentially a regular CruX with 3 bottle cage mounts, compact (not CX chainrings), and wider gravel tires — that’s it. Doesn’t stop it from getting great reviews as a swiss-army knife, winning the Dirty Kanza, & crushing as Rebecca Rusch’s main steed before she jumped over to Niner.

Honestly don’t get the point of the Diverge when they have this. Guess it’s not comfy enough for a Roubaix crowd.

Mr. P

9 years ago

A gravel grinder’s geo is longer like a long distance bike (because it is doing long distance!) while a CX bike is shorter so it can be more maneuverable for course obstacles. Pretty simple, right?

So while I really applaud the accessible price point, repurposing a CX frame for long distance rides might not be the best fit.

Sam

9 years ago

I like to see the industry acknowledge that in fact cyclocross bikes work great as gravel bikes.
@Mr.P I don’t see why you want a long distance bike to be longer, for instance a quick comparison of a cannondale synapse and superX show identical reaches and the superX having a longer wheelbase.

John

9 years ago

@G, the Diverge has thru axles and IIRC a lower bottom bracket and better tire clearance. Pity they went with that proprietary SCS axle out back, or I would already own one. It’s a shame none of the major players seem to be able check all the boxes…

edge

9 years ago

CX and gravel bike??? Splitting hairs.

John

9 years ago

I love when people who don’t ride gravel assume cross bikes == gravel bikes. SMH

SSS

9 years ago

Agreed. One is intended for a 50 minute race whilst the other has to be comfortable for rides that can go for longer then 12 hrs. A CX bike has too high a bottom bracket and not enough tyre clearance IMO

Tomi

9 years ago

@SSS of course with an high bottom bracket you suddently become stupid and crash into a ditch every time you try to pedal a cx bike on a gravel road.

Sure if you purpose build a bike not intended at all to race cross you can dial the geometry a bit but that lower BB idea is way overrated. A CX bike makes for a very good gravel bike nonetheless and I understand why a manufacturer would use the very same frame to lower the production cost. We are talking about a mass produced entry level 770$ bike, not a custom made high end gravel bike.

John

9 years ago

@Tomi: I rode almost 3000 miles of gravel last year, and a CX bike does *not* “make for a very good gravel bike”, for the reasons SSS points out. It may look similar for those like you who don’t ride gravel, but I can tell you the last thing I’m looking to do is raise the bike’s center of gravity and have to run skinnier tires.

Fuji is just trying to put some marketing spin on a bike made of parts they happen to stock, to cash in on a market they don’t actually understanding. The problem with even the low-end Tread 1.5 is that anyone buying one as a gravel bike would need to spend that $770 plus the cost of their next bike.

Mac

9 years ago

@John- I think you’re being a little harsh here. I would expect a man who rides 3000 miles a year on gravel to have a proper set up; we wouldn’t expect a roadie who puts 3000 miles a year to ride a $1,000 bike (though he could). Nor would we expect a serious MTB rider to slay the trails on his first bike. Everyone has to start somewhere and if your somewhere includes a lot of gravel/dirt/crummy county roads then this is a great introduction.

Is there something wrong with offering a bike with a nice spec at a reasonable price? Who cares if it’s parts they have in stock? Is that actually relevant?

Tomi

9 years ago

@John:

I am riding on gravel too. I do it on all sorts of bikes, with very different bikes : my race road bike with 25mm tubulars, my CX racing bike and my drop bar converted MTB. I can put a 47mm 29er front tire on my CX bike with a 40mm at the rear, it may not be as good as a bike with two 47mm tires but it is good enough.

What are your issues with what you call an high BB really ? Please explain it to me. Do you even know that many big brand CX bikes are using much lower BBs than 10y ago ?

Steven

9 years ago

I was just looking over this bike, and didn’t realize this was one of Fuji’s CX frames. I was hoping to use it as a commuter — would there be any disadvantage wit the CX geometry? I was hoping that since it was “gravel” bike that it would have a more relaxed geometry, but now I am questioning if this bike is right. Any other recommendations for something similar?

Anthony

9 years ago

Hey Steven, I was also looking at this bike and was wondering the same thing. I did some research on the frame geometry of this bike and vs some other gravel/adventure bikes and found it to be very similar to most of them. In fact it had a slightly longer wheelbase then some, same bb height, same head tube angle as well as other specs from gravel specific Frames. I’m thinking that’s why Fuji went ahead and used this frame for there new gravel/adventure bike, because it looks like it’s better for that type of riding anyway. So it probably doesn’t make sense to use, (make) a different frame just for the sake of saying it’s a new gravel/adventure bike when they already had a great starting point. This will be my second Fuji this year I just picked up a 2014 Fuji Absolute 1.3 Disc and it’s a great bike.

Steven

9 years ago

@Anthony — thanks for the response. I am wanting this bike, but right now my size 58 is out of stock at my store. I am hoping my store gets the bike back in stock soon so that I can test it out! I have a 2013 Fuji Sportif 1.3C and I like it a lot. It is great for my longer road rides. The ’13 models didn’t have the disc breaks or 28cc tires like the ’14 and later models.

Anthony

9 years ago

@Steven, What store are you buying yours from? I’m lucky I have a Performance Bike locally and they have all sizes I’m pretty sure in there warehouses. What’s also good about Performance Bike is you can order the bike have it shipped to store, assembled allcaig at no charge and when it’s ready go pick it up and if you for some reason don’t like it, ordered the wrong size or whatever you don’t have to buy it. I was able to stop by my store today and they had a Tread 1.1 on the floor in a 52 which is too small for me, but I was able to check it out in person and it’s definitely a great bike for the price. It was also $899 for that Tread 1.1 which is a super good deal as well.
If anyone knows of any more gravel/adventure road bikes under $ 1,000 that are worth looking at let me know because I’d like have more choices if there worth looking at. Only one I saw that was in my price range was the new Kona Rove al.

Steven

9 years ago

@Anthony — I go to Performance Bike, but I need a size 58. The 58 is not listed on Performance’s website. I sent them an email, and I was told “out of stock”, but usually they just gray that size out. I am not sure what is going on. I will call my local store to see if they are more helpful. 56 is too small, and 60 is big. I’m 6’1″.

marmota

9 years ago

Hi,
Has anybody encountered any info regarding tire clearance with or without mudguards?

Anthony

9 years ago

Hey Steven, did you have any luck finding the size you needed? I stopped by Performance yesterday and got talking with the manager there about the Tread. He ordered a ton of them and only had two left within two weeks. I ended up test riding it and decided to pull the trigger on it. The geometry was very comfortable, not to racey just right. Overall it was everything I was looking for and I rode it for a pretty long time to tryand get a good feel for it instead of the usual around the block test ride which doesn’t do much good. mine should be in within a week and I’m really looking forward to putting many miles on it. They actually had a Performance exclusive Tread 1.0 which was really sweet. It gad full 105 components and cake with Clement X’Plor USH 700 x 35 tires az well! Hope you had good luck with your search Steven.

Road Warrior

9 years ago

Well… I just grabbed one Tread 1.0 from performancebike. $1099 for a full Shimano 105 makes it a steal. Its a comfortable ride and does everything well. Did 10 miles of gravel w/o any issues. If you have 10 hrs + to ride gravel only roads get a serious gravel. If you want an all rounder road bike for 1/3 less get a Tread.

eric

8 years ago

Does anybody know how much the Fuji Tread 1.0 Disc Road Bike – 2015 weigh ?

ANTHONY

8 years ago

@ Eric, my brother picked up a 56 Tread 1.0 last month and I don’t think he has weighed it yet. I have ridden the 1.0, 1.1 and 1.5 and can say that the 1.0 is definitely lighter mainly because it’s fully equipped with 105 components. I do know there not the lightest bikes out there because they are gravel adventure bikes so some of the major part’s of the bike are bigger. I also can say he likes ridding it more than his Specialized Tarmac Pro which in my opinion says a lot about the bike. I liked the bike so much I went and ordered a 1.5 for myself and couldn’t be any happier.