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3T RaceMax WPNT Finally Integrates Internal Cable Routing For Popular Gravel Bike

3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale aero carbon gravel bike gets integrated, finally free of toptube cable routing
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Highlighting their new painted-in-Italy WPNT colors inspired by classic car paintjobs, 3T almost glossed over a really big update to their core RaceMax gravel bike… an Integrale shift finally gives the bike fully internal cable routing. Sure, 3T already adopted fully internal routing on their aero road bike a couple of years ago, and then incrementally on each of their premium made-in-Italy Italia models since. But now, the more affordable standard 3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale drops the annoying toptube routing port. And it’s also available as a frameset for 1/2 the cost of the Italia edition!

3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale carbon gravel bike is integrated!

3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale aero carbon gravel bike gets integrated, new colors
(Photos/3T)

For four years, the 3T RaceMax has been 3T’s best-selling gravel bike – aerodynamic, versatile with faster and wide 700c tires or even wider 650b tires for bigger adventures, and plenty of mounts for bikepacking and adventure. Now, 3T gives the RaceMax a “fresh coat of paint” by adding it to their new WPNT program, with 5 special edition metallic & iridescent colors said to be inspired by classic cars. That “We Paint” label meaning that 3T paints the bikes themselves in Italy, letting them run more special edition colors.

3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale aero carbon gravel bike gets integrated, clean cockpit

At the same time, the 3T RaceMax WPNT also becomes “Integrale” like their top-tier made-in-Italy Italia edition carbon road & gravel bikes…

Why does an integrated gravel bike update matter?

2020 3T Exploro RaceMax aero gravel bike, aerodynamic carbon gravel bike review, Exploro Race GRX 2x complete
(Photos/Cory Benson)

The 3T Exploro has been around as an aero gravel bike since 2016. And, I’ve ridden every generation since – at least 5 or 6 different Exploros with one inelegant cable routing solution. The RaceMax platform itself, has been around for 4 years, now. I reviewed this latest bike back in the summer of 2020. And all-in-all I think it’s still one of the best, most versatile but still race-ready gravel bikes out there. Well, except for one major nit I had to pick…

2020 3T Exploro RaceMax aero gravel bike, aerodynamic carbon gravel bike review, Exploro Race GRX 2x complete
2020 Exploro RaceMax’s worst feature (Photo/Cory Benson)

The cable routing into the frame just behind the headset was simply bad. Always in the way, whether mounting devices over the stem or using any toptube bag. It was annoying enough that I wasn’t bothered when it was time to return that test bike to 3T.

2023 3T Exploro Extrema Italia First Rides Review, new carbon 29er XC 29x2.25" MTB tire aero adventure bikepacking gravel bike, top tube bag mount
2023 3T Exploro Extrema Italia solved the internal routing problem, but was expensive (Photo/Cory Benson)

And I was genuinely psyched when I first rode the made-in-Italy Exploro Extrema Italia which fixed the internal cable routing issue (even if the toptube bolts didn’t exactly seem to be in the correct spot).

Sure, it meant that the new made-in-Italy bikes were only compatible with electronic shift drivetrains. And they were a lot more expensive. But, it was so much better a solution that this was a gravel bike I would like to keep around for a bit longer.

3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale aero carbon gravel bike gets integrated, We Paint frames on a rack
(Photo/3T)

Now, that’s no longer holding it back, I can say this made-in-Taiwan RaceMax is one of the best all-rounder gravel bikes out there. It does everything the RaceMax Italia does – the same shaping, tire sizes, component standards, and geometry – just with a frameset that costs half as much built with pre-preg carbon instead of filament winding.

2025 3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale – Pricing, options & availability

The newly integrated RaceMax WPNT is now available directly from 3T in 5 special edition paint colors: Camo gray, Indaco blue, Mara blue, Malva purple & Avorio off-white. And it is offered both as a 2975€ frameset, or a complete bike build for 6150€ with a new GRX Di2 2x build and aero carbon 3T Discus 40/30 wheels. Either way featuring the 3T Fango RaceMax Integrale compact crown fork & Apto Integrale Stealth stem to route all cables (electronic shift only) through the headet.

3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale aero carbon gravel bike gets integrated, complete

Both new iterations of the new 3T RaceMax WPNT Integrale are painted and built-to-order, with a 6-8 week lead time.

3T.bike

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34 Comments
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nooner
nooner
20 days ago

Awesome! Looks like a juiced up version of my Revolt, I’m jealous.

Spencer Delaluna
Spencer Delaluna
20 days ago

Stop it! No one wants headset routing. It’s pure garbage. Stop pushing a bad trend.

Ben
Ben
20 days ago

I agree!!

David M Lewis
David M Lewis
20 days ago

Or at least point out that the customer is looking at a US$300 shop bill to replace the headset bearings.

Marcel
Marcel
20 days ago
Reply to  David M Lewis

And their headsets were (are?) garbage. A friend of mine had a 3T and had to replace his headset bearings quite a few times.

Mike
Mike
20 days ago

Headset routing is fine when we talk about expensive, high end road/gravel bikes…

But stop putting those on cheaper models and all MTB ones!!!

seraph
seraph
19 days ago

Speak for yourself. Headset routing is awesome. It’s clean, aerodynamic, quiet, and highly aesthetically pleasing. Better get used to it, because it’s here to stay.

Mike
Mike
19 days ago
Reply to  seraph

“Aesthetically pleasing”… Especially those cheap plastic spacers under the stem on almost every single bike with headset routing. I’d rather have the brake hoses on in the open.

seraph
seraph
18 days ago
Reply to  Mike

As opposed to the “carbon” spacers that people usually run under their stems? At least the “cheap plastic” spacers follow the lines of the stem and headset cap unlike the boring standard cylinder that is a normal headset spacer that doesn’t match anything.

DaveJ
DaveJ
19 days ago
Reply to  seraph

Vibration and friction will cause the cables to abrade through the steerer tube over time.

seraph
seraph
18 days ago
Reply to  DaveJ

“Over time”? How long? Hundreds of years?

Jason DW
Jason DW
16 days ago
Reply to  seraph

It is here to stay. That is certainly correct.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
14 days ago

No idea why people whine about it so much. Pull a tandem cable through with new housing and it’s replaced very quickly. Absolutely nothing to fight against.

Jan
Jan
20 days ago

Rubbish. They’re literally painting in Italy with their Chinese made frames and slapping on a new fork.

Ever since Mr. Wiertz left the company, 3T has gone down hill drastically.

No vision, and no panache.

Mark Beaver
20 days ago

Yay! Internal routing!! Says no pro bike mechanic ever….

pizzaboii
pizzaboii
19 days ago
Reply to  Mark Beaver

luckily it’s not the bike mechanics who buy the bikes… tbh honest i’ve never understood this perspective. it’s almost like you don’t want to make money. i understand lazy mechanics would say something like this. everybody else sees an opportunity to provide a decent service to the customer by learning something new, figuring out how to make the swap as efficient as possible but still charging accordingly to the time spend doing the service.come on..

grumpymech
grumpymech
19 days ago
Reply to  pizzaboii

@pizzaboii The issue here is often around charging accordingly. Unfortunately it seems that many customers are used to the prices of more serviceable systems and/or don’t do the research to understand why new services will cost more.

I’d say it’s less likely that mechanics are lazy and that they’re more tired of justifying their prices for labor. This added to inflated prices in everything is bound to lead to conflicts

Blablabla
Blablabla
19 days ago
Reply to  pizzaboii

It also depends on the bike or stem+bar combo – some are a nightmare to work with.

luddite
luddite
20 days ago

the list of options for those of us running mechanical 2X and want to fit our bikes in travel cases is every-diminishing. Shout out to Pivot and Rodeo Labs for maintaining the option of external routing

Luke
Luke
20 days ago
Reply to  luddite

Flaanimal and Trail Donkey are both internal routing

mud
mud
20 days ago

Can’t get excited about cables passing through a stem. What if the stem is too short/long or you just want something different?

seraph
seraph
19 days ago
Reply to  mud

You disconnect the hoses, pull them out while you take off the stem, reinstall the hoses with the new stem, boom done. Using a handlebar like the new Zipp SL-80 and SL-70 would be beneficial for something like this.

mud
mud
20 days ago

Why would they keep those top tube bolts so far back? The tight mud clearance, fat down tube (got to be a bone-jarring ride) and cable routing through the stem disqualify it for me.

Last edited 20 days ago by mud
Blablabla
Blablabla
19 days ago
Reply to  mud

The far-back bento box mounting is problably something left from the old frame version, where they had to leave some space for the cable routing – should’ve moved them forward…

As for the mud clearance and aero frame tubes – it’s a full-fledged racing bike, so, not an adventure/bikepacking one.

mgs
mgs
20 days ago

How many of you whining about integrated cables/hoses actually have bikes with them? This isn’t the 1990’s and headset bearings don’t need nearly the maintenance they used to. Speaking from experience, I have 4 bikes with integrated hoses and service the headsets once per year and am yet to have an failures over three seasons. This includes XC and CX bikes that see racing abuse weekly. Give it a rest….

Tom
Tom
20 days ago
Reply to  mgs

I’m with you. While i may not be an extreme use case, I’ve NEVER replaced a headset bearing since I stopped storing my bikes by hanging from the rear wheel – it would send any water on the lower half of the bike straight into the lower bearing. Since that time, 10 years ago, I haven’t cracked open a headset.

pizzaboii
pizzaboii
19 days ago
Reply to  Tom

totally agree. this is such a nonsense debate

Jerry
Jerry
19 days ago
Reply to  mgs

I’m no sure I’ve ever serviced a headset.

Blablabla
Blablabla
14 days ago
Reply to  Jerry

I’m not sure I want to see how Your headset looks inside. 😛

denis0082
denis0082
18 days ago
Reply to  mgs

Why would I buy a bike with a feature I hate? Moot point.

Tom
Tom
20 days ago

I guess it’s progress. May also explain why 3T wouldn’t sell me an integrated fork for one of their older bikes. Are they still going to prevent owners from updating to integrated with their old bikes? Beyond that, no downtube storage and BB arrangements for 2x seem like missed opportunities. But I guess now isn’t the time for a manufacturer to invest big $ in a completely new bike line.

Moritz
Moritz
16 days ago
Reply to  Tom

Well I asked through my dealer and the answer was no… Emailed 3T aswell yesterday but I expect the same response. So disappointing. Seems like customer retention is nothing 3T cares about

Moritz
Moritz
15 days ago
Reply to  Tom

I also once again reached out to 3T separately.. they still do not sell forks separately. So disappointing! They could make 1000€+ with new fork, headset, handlebar, stem. Still they chose not to sell it and (I think) hope the customer buys a new frame at some point.

Ian
Ian
14 days ago

A Vielo V+1 any day….. no compromise

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