With another season of indecision in the pro road peloton this year about the fate of disc brakes, BH’s pro team Direct Energie needed a new rim brake aero road bike to pick up where the G7 Disc took off. At the start of the Tour de France this year, we took a peek at the custom bike BH painted up for Sylvain Chavanel who was taking his 17th Tour de France start on the new G7 Pro. Plus we took a look at the completely updated Quartz Disc endurance road bike, and the alloy Gravel X gravel endurance road bike…
G7 Pro aero road bike
BH incorporated a lot of new and improved aero dynamics on the most recent introduction of their pro-level disc brake aero road bike – the G7 Disc – and now that tech gets ported to rim brakes to satisfy a peloton slow to adopt disc brakes.
Frame shape carries over from the disc bike with a narrow tapered triangular toptube that slopes down to the integrated seat mast, and a set of dropped seatstays. The fork of the G7 Pro gets completely updated as well, with lower frontal area and a smoother transition into the bike, with a claimed 12% aero improvement at the new headtube.
The bike was designed just for the Direct Energie team, and gets race ready geometry, plus a claimed weight as low as 840g for a medium frame, with a combination of T80, T50 & now Pitch Fibers.
Chainstays are kept to a very tight 402mm, which together with the BB386 bottom bracket promise solid power transfer to the rear wheel.
Like the disc bike though, there is still plenty of tire clearance, fitting up to 28mm tires, making the bike suitable for everything from sprint stages to the drier Spring Classics. That is also made possible with the move to direct mount rim brake calipers, sticking to their conventional location.
The G7 Pro will be available in a 5 size range, each of which gets size specific tubing diameters and layup to maximize both aero dynamics and rider efficiency.
Quartz Evo Disc endurance road bike
It has been a couple of years since the introduction of BH’s endurance road/gran fondo Quartz road bike with disc brakes. While the previous version had been a bit of a carry over from the rim brake bike sharing some elements out of the same molds, the 2018 Quartz Evo Disc is all new, getting many updates.
A big update is dropping weight. Using the same top-level Hollow Core Internal Molding tech, BH gets the new bike down to a claimed 950g for a medium of the monocoque carbon frame.
The Quartz Disc gets a lot of revised tube shaping, mostly dominated by a new straight bladed & aero shaped tapered fork and a set of thin & gently curved seatstays designed with a Flex Zone. Geometry looks to stay the same with a more comfortable and upright fit designed for long days in the saddle.
Beyond that the bike gets revised shaping and layup throughout to better take advantage of the drivetrain stiffness and overall comfort developed even on their high-end road bikes. The bike sticks with a PressFit BB386 bottom bracket and gets updated modular internal cable routing for compatibility with any road drivetrain setup. It also uses a 27.2mm seatpost and is said to clear 28mm tires with plenty of space around at the stays.
At both ends the new Quartz Disc gets updated to the now industry standard 12mm thru-axles and flat mount brakes. BH is setting up the Quartz with 140mm rotors, and of course you can opt for 160s as well.
Gravel X aluminum gravel road bike
The aluminum Gravel X isn’t actually that new of a bike, having been introduced mid-season, but as an alloy bike with a full carbon fork and 105 or Tiagra build options it makes for an affordable way to get off the tarmac.
Simple and straight forward the alloy Gravel X sticks with semi-external routing on the chainstays, uses the 12mm thru-axle standards, and gets a full complement of fender mounts.
Up front a tapered steerer offers precise handling and internal routing gets everything cleanly through the downtube.
The fork gets internal routing as well, and the rear brake gets a special adaptable routing port that makes it easier to route hydraulic lines or a full length mechanical setup.
The bike does get updated to flat mount disc brake standards, so again you can set your new Gravel X up with 140mm or 160mm rotors.
