New Zealand’s Chapter 2 debuts an all-new Rira all-road race bike designed to open up not just more roads to ride, but perhaps also to open your mind. This isn’t an aero road bike, and it certainly isn’t a light-gravel race bike. Instead, the new Chapter 2 Rira is a modern, fast & light all-rounder road bike, getting back to the basics so you can simply enjoy the ride.
Plus, it comes at the same time as a new, even more narrow 1-piece aero carbon Mana5 handlebar cockpit that will help almost any road rider get more aero to go faster…
2025 Chapter 2 Rira carbon all-rounder (all-)road bike
Chapter 2 founder Michael Pryde describes the new Rira as a “brand-new All-Road Racing chassis designed to elevate your riding experience“. But ‘all-road’ might be a bit of a stretch, considering many modern aero road race bikes have the same tire clearance these days. That’s not really a dig at this new Rira, though. It’s more a comment on the fact that many new road bikes have become more versatile thanks to bigger tires – bringing lower rolling resistance, improved rider comfort, and even enhanced grip on all surfaces.
In fact, the new Rira looks like a great all-rounder road bike with plenty of tire clearance. With room for up to a 32mm rear tire and up to a 34mm front tire (claimed practical clearance), you certainly can ride this bike beyond classic smooth tarmac.
What’s new?
The new Rira replaces Chapter 2’s Toa, as their ‘all-road’ all-rounder. Tire clearance is touted as a big versatility boost over the Toa, but technically only the fork actually offers more clearance according to ISO definitions. In reality though, lighter weight is also a real benefit. At 945g for a size M, the new Chapter 2 Rira isn’t incredibly light. But it does save 150g off its predecessor, plus 30g saved on the new fork, as well.
While the Rira returns to a conventional seatstay layout & classic round 27.2mm seatpost, the new bike does feature a few aerodynamic optimizations. A new hourglass aero headtube and flat-backed seattube help minimize drag, while adding both stiffness and rider comfort.
And Chapter 2 says they focused on making the Rira stiffer, boosting headtube stiffness 22% & bottom bracket stiffness by 12% over the Toa for improved pedaling & handling.
All-new geometry
The new Chapter 2 Rira gets completely revamped geometry, developed to provide quick but consistent all-surface handling for all rider sizes, even with bigger tire clearance. What that means is that the new bikes now feature size-specific bottom bracket drop, and 2 size-specific fork offsets. The range of frame Stack increases, especially to better fit smaller riders. And even though chainstay length increased a couple of millimeters for more tire clearance, the bikes get incrementally shorter overall wheelbase lengths to keep the agility & maneuverability of the Rira’s predecessor.
New Mana5 narrow integrated cockpit
The Rira’s Toa predecessor actually debuted Chapter 2’s 1-piece carbon Mana integrated cockpit. And now in its fifth iteration, the new Mana5 is lighter, more aero, more integrated, and a lot narrower. Plus, now Chapter 2 offers the Mana5 in quite a bit more sizes, so more cyclists can get exactly the cockpit fit they want to get more aero and more comfortable to go faster.
The new aero dimpled handlebar+stem combo again features ~25mm of flare to each side to make room for your arms in the drops, while keeping the bar narrow at the hoods. Chapter 2 goes even narrower with the Mana5, now having 5 bar widths as narrow as 35.5cm at your brake hoods (355, 366, 377, 388 & 399mm center-center). They are officially sized by width at the drops – 405, 416, 427, 438 & 449mm center-center. There are also 5 effective stem lengths, depending on bar width (80, 90, 100, 110 & 120mm). Ultimately 12 size combos are on offer, with weights claimed around 330g (100x427mm) for the Toray UD carbon cockpit.
And of course, the Mana5 cockpit features fully integrated cable routing, and underside mounting points for a direct mount out-front GPS holder (not included). But it is also backward compatible with all round 1 1/8″ steerer forks.
Tech details
- 925g Toray T1100 carbon frame
- 395g carbon fork, with size-specific rake
- fully integrated internal cable routing
- electronic shifting ONLY
- T47 85.5mmthreaded bottom bracket
- 27.2mm round seatpost, with hidden seatpost clamp
- 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes
- UDH, and also includes a Shimano Direct Mount derailleur hanger
- practical max 34mm front & 32mm rear tire clearance (only 32/30mm according to ISO)
- UCI-approved
- available in 5 stock sizes (XS-XL)
Chapter 2 Rira – Pricing & availability
“While Chapter 2’s engineers meticulously optimized the bike’s weight, stiffness, and aerodynamics, the RIRA is designed to inspire your passion for riding. It’s a bike that not only performs at the highest level but also speaks to your soul.”
The new Chapter 2 Rira is officially available now as a pre-order for the frameset – always in one-time-only limited edition paint jobs. Chapter 2 produces each look in small quantities, and then moves onto a new design for the next production run. Order a Rira frame, fork & headset for $2550 / 3500€ in either ltd. White Fade with Swirls or Blue Digital + UD carbon, with deliveries slated to ship out from the last week of January 2025.
As for the new Mana5 cockpit, its 12 sizes sell for $550 / 600€, while the previous generation Mana2 now has been reduced to $350 / 450€ in its 6 sizes.
