The affordable 8bar Kronprinz road bike is officially 10 years old this spring, and to celebrate their original affordable aluminum road bike, it gets a fully modern v3 overhaul. With proven snappy handling, full cable integration, balanced stiffness, and modern 32mm tire clearance, this affordable alloy disc brake road bike will rival many much more expensive carbon bikes with its sleek good looks…
8bar Kronprinz Aluminum v3 affordable integrated road bike
The big new thing for the aluminum Kronprinz is of course the sleek styling of fully integrated cable routing. Making it look almost exactly like the Kronprinz Carbon that 8bar overhauled last winter. You can pick from completely hidden cables if you get 8bar’s Ultra Carbon stem and Ultra Carbon bar, or other aftermarket internally routed cockpits if you build it up yourself. Or you can opt for conventional routing that becomes semi-internal by directing cable into the optional headset’s top cap. Just remember to be nice to your bicycle mechanic who has to deal with it.
As always, the new Kronprinz Aluminum is highly customizable with 8bar’s online bike builder tool. That often makes it even more affordable for cyclists looking to step up from their current ride, but reusing some of their favorite components.
What else is new?
The alloy Kronprinz is 8bar’s longest running geared road bike, developed to make long, fast rides more affordable and accessible. But the 6-year-old Kronprinz Aluminum v2 still featured rim brakes, so this new disc brake 8bar Kronprinz Aluminum v3 packs in a lot of new tricks.
It even sheds about 150g off the frame vs. that rim brake iteration. And it now gives you bigger tire clearance, up to 32mm tires.
Tech details
The new 8bar Kronprinz Aluminum v3 frame is welded from lightweight triple-butted 6061 aero-shaped alloy tubing. 8bar claims a frame weight of 1500g, plus 300g for the carbon fork.
The new bike routes all cables through its IS 52/40 tapered headset. It is built for electronic groupsets only, with no cable guides for mechanical shift cables. But it does of course include internal routing paths for wired & semi-wireless groupsets. You can run a 1x (max 46T) or 2x (max 53/39T) electronic drivetrain. (The latest Kronprinz Carbon is fully internal too, but can run a mechanical 1x.)
Update: Of note, 8bar is offering complete bike builds with Shimano 105 mechanical 2x drivetrains where they will rivet on external cable guides for conventional drivetrains. This will significantly lower the cost of entry to a sleek new modern alloy road bike!
The bike features 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes (160mm front, 140mm rear), a 27.2mm seatpost, a BSA threaded bottom bracket, and 2 standard bottle cages but no rack or fender mounts. It has a max 700 x 32mm tire clearance, and comes in four stock sizes (S-XL).
8bar Kronprinz Aluminum v3 – Pricing, options & availability
Newly update Kronprinz electronic-only framesets start from ~1110€ for the aluminum v3 frame in a polished raw finish. That includes its full carbon fork, and the headset you need for your preferred internal routing option. This team-edition 8bar Club paintjob adds an extra 60€. Or if you want a one-off color, 8bar will paint up your new Kronprinz Aluminum v3 frame in any RAL color for 205€ extra or custom Prismatic color for 305€ over the base raw frame.
Plenty of complete bike builds are also possible, starting from around 3150€ with a SRAM AXS 2×12 groupset.
Update: 8bar has confirmed with us that they are offering a complete bike build option with Shimano 105 mechanical 2×11, that will be available to shift “soon“. “We are going to rivet some cable guides on the down tube and seat stay.” So you will get external shift routing, internal brake routing, and complete bike build pricing from as low as 2375€.
Curiously, that price is for either Force or Rival. That suggests you should act fast to get the nicer groupsets for the same price, before 8bar runs out of stock.
