Brother Cycles has several 2021 updates in store, including a new take on this Mehteh steel adventure gravel bike that is going to be a bit tough to get ahold of. Known for affordable and capable steel bikes from road to trail, there are also some key updates coming soon to their adventure mountain Big Bro hardtail. And last but not least, new carbon and steel gravel forks introduced last winter could be the option you are looking for…
Brother Cycles Mehteh steel adventure gravel bikepacking bike
Brother’s Mehteh adventure gravel bike has already been around for two seasons, but this year lightens up with their new full carbon gravel fork as standard, a nice new UK-machined alloy seat clamp, and a new burnt orange “Ochre” paint job.
The heat-treated Reynolds 725 steel gravel bike frame is high on versatility with adventure-friendly, off-road-ready tire clearance and all the mounting options you should need for bikepacking trips, as well. You can fit 700x45mm or 650x 2.2″ tires, and mount racks & fenders, three sets of bottle cages, plus more anything cages on the fork.
The 2200g frame (size M claim) features a 44mm headtube for tapered or straight fork steerers, 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes, a 68mm threaded BB, and no-nonsense external cable routing, even stealth dropper routing.
It is 1x, 2x, and 3x ready – up to 52/39/30T triples, 50/34T doubles, or a 48T 1x.
Five sizes are available (XS-XL) in the £850 frameset, including the carbon fork. A steel fork with even more clearance can be swapped out if you get in touch with Brother directly.
Since Brother doesn’t sell complete builds of the Taiwanese-welded Mehteh steel gravel bike, it’s entirely up to you how to complete your adventure dream build.
The trick is mostly that even the frames themselves tend to be in short supply. The new 2021 ochre update went on pre-order sale this week to Brother Cycle’s newsletter mailing list, and officially sold out within a day. With that said, there is still possibly a way to get ahold of yours once they start shipping next month. Just read on to figure out how…
Updated Big Bro steel MTB hardtail
The Brother Cycles Big Bro is their long-running 4130 adventure mountain bike hardtail. New for 2021, the Big Bro gets upgraded to Boost spacing – both out back in the 12x148mm sliding dropouts, and upfront in the new steel uni-crown 15x110mm tapered steerer fork.
Developed for off-road versatility, the Big Bro already had massive 29×2.6″ or 27.5×3.0″ tire clearance. It gets simple external brake & derailleur routing (yes, it’s 2x compatible), a BSA threaded bottom bracket, reinforced 44mm headtube for tapered steerers, headtube gussets, full rack & fender mounts, three sets of bottle bosses (3-pack anything cage mounts on top & bottom of the downtube), and stealth dropper post routing.
Really, the Big Bro is ready for anything you can imagine.
The boosted 2021 Big Bro will be available starting in March, in the same old forest green, plus a new yellow. The beauty in the £700 frameset is the ability to build it however you want. Some riders go rigid singlespeed, others opt for a drop bar monstercrosser. Or keep it simple for trail riding with a classic modern 1x mountain bike build.
New Brother steel & carbon Gravel Forks
The two new standalone gravel forks actually launched last fall, but since they are a good part of the Mehteh’s versatility, they’re worth a mention here. At £150 in steel (straight 1.125″, 408mm a-c, 1200g) or £250 in carbon (tapered 1.5″, 398mm a-c, 550g) they offer options for lot of gravel bike builds.
Both are meant for big tire clearance, with the steel one fitting massive 650×2.4″ tires. Both are flat mount disc, 12x100mm thru-axle, and have 3-pack anything cage mounts & fender tabs, plus rack mounts on the steel fork.
Brother Cycles Mehteh, Big Bro & fork availability
The overarching theme of 2021 is those same availability issues we’ve been talking about for several weeks. So getting on Brother’s mailing list and jumping fast when frames or forks come back in stock is going to need to be your plan.
The new Mehteh & forks are currently listed as out of stock direct from Brother. The new Big Bro won’t officially be available until March. But Brother Cycles do say that their dealers listed on their website were included in snatching up the first run of Mehteh bikes which will be available next month. So, reach out to one of those participating stockists, and you’ll likely still be able to get ahold of one. Good luck.
