Commencal says their new alloy 365 is not just another gravel bike – and we can probably agree with that. Instead, it looks like what Commencal does best – creating solid performance aluminum bikes built to be ridden hard over any terrain at affordable prices. Commencal doesn’t build exotic or superlight bikes, but they aren’t slow, heavy, or out of date either. Their bikes are progressive and built to be ridden day in and day out – delivering value that’s hard to argue with.
Commencal 365 aluminum do-it-all gravel bike
That’s just what the 365 looks like – a light and carefully optimized triple-butted 6069 alloy frame paired to a matching 6069 aluminum fork, inspired by mountain bikers and built for everyday riding… hence the 365 name. This is a bike that wants to serve as your regular commute-to-work bike, crank out fast-paced hour-long lunch rides, explore gravel tracks after work in the evenings, then head out on big adventure rides for the weekend.
And complete bike build start at only 2000€… just not this one.
Tech details
Commencal says since everyone says that a gravel bike is simply “a mountain bike from the early 90s, just with the addition of modern technologies“, they took that literally and built the 365 like a modernized premium alloy hardtail.
As much as we know alloy continues to evolve, it’s still hard to wrap my brains around it, but Commencal assures that the 365 was really developed for comfort. Careful premium alloy tubing selection, butting, and shaping ensure that bumps aren’t all transmitted up to the rider. Specifically, the frame gets thin, round & dropped seatstays to absorb vibration with a bit of flex.
Pair that with tall chainstays and a boxy downtube with a concave bottom that’s both stiffer and designed to deflect road spray off the rider.
Even the 365’s matching alloy fork is said to filter out vibration. But just to be sure, Commencal do give the gravel bikes some cushy bar tape wrap, too.
Into the details, the frame and tapered steerer fork feature fully internal cable routing through the Acros headset, even for a dropper post, with the front brake routed inside down through the left fork leg. The frame also includes a custom crown-mounted fork fender, an integrated downtube protector, and a molded chainstay protector. The 365 includes a standard pair of bottle cage bosses inside the main triangle, a mount under the downtube, and direct frame bag mounts under the top tube. But no fork leg mounts, no toptube bag mount, and no rack or full-coverage fender mounts.
Standards-wise, it gets flat mount disc brakes with 180mm rotors for max stopping power (FM160 + standard adapter plates), 12mm thru-axles, a 27.2mm round seatpost, a PressFit 86.5mm bottom bracket, 1x-only setups, plus short stems & wide bars. Max tire clearance is 700 x 47mm. And claimed combined weight for the alloy frame AND fork is 2800g.
Off-road focused geometry
Commencal says they reached back to their mountain bike roots to make sure the 365 was capable not only of city commutes and easy gravel road rides, but also the odd singletrack, too. It’s not especially slack with a 71° head angle (varying with size), instead geared more for long-distance riding. But with short chainstays, a bit longer wheelbase, longer Reach, and a more upright position, they see it as a versatile middle ground that can serve mountain bikers as a chill all-road bike, and still be fun to slide through loose dirt road turns at speed.
Plus, Commencal gives the smallest XS frame 650b wheels to preserve those handling characteristics for smaller riders without toe overlap or any other negative head angle & fork trail impacts.
Commencal 365 – Pricing, options & availability
The Commencal 365 is offered in three spec levels to suit all sorts of riders. The 2000€ 365 Ride is by far the most affordable in Chalk white with a mixed-spec GRX 11speed 11-42T group, a Spank Flare bar, tubeless-ready DT/Formula wheels with 45mm Maxxis Rambler tires.
For another half more, you can pick up the 365 Race for 3000€ in Frozen Brown with a higher-spec GRX RX810-sereis drivetrain but the same 11sp gearing, the same Spank bar, but a KS Lev Si dropper and alloy DT Swiss GR1600 wheels.
And at the top of the spectrum, if the 4500€ Commencal 365 Signature with a shiny SRAM Force AXS XPLR groupset, a wireless Reverb XPLR dropper post, and alloy DT Swiss GR1600 gravel wheels wrapped in 45mm Rambler tires.
All three bikes are available to pre-order today in 5 sizes (XS-XL) with deliveries slated for September 2023.
