Just a couple of weeks ago we saw a new 27.5+ hardtail from the fat bike specialists at Framed as they got a bit skinnier. Now they have taken that tire trimming to the extreme, and have just dropped a carbon road bike. Details remain thin on the new bike, but it looks to take a bit of a cue from their trail riding bikes, with an affordable take on a mid-level performance carbon bike. Get a closer look with us after the break…
While Framed already had an aluminum multi-surface gravel/cross bike in the catalog (and a couple of fixies and hybrids), they never yet offered a proper road bike. The carbon framed Rodez is their first foray, starting off with a disc brake bike aimed at the type of rider who might already have a fat bike, but is looking to get around a bit quicker on the hard surfaces.
This first iteration of the Rodez gets spec’d with a SRAM 2×11 Rival group, with a compact FSA Gossamer crank. Mechanical Avid BB7R discs handle braking. For wheels they spec the same 25.6mm wide outer/21mm inner width Draw 2.1P rims from Alex that they put on their cross bike, wrapped in durable Maxxis Re-Fuse rubber. Those should lend a pretty decent ride, and could work with some fatter tires (it looks like 28s should still fit, but not much more), although it would have maybe sweetened the deal even more if it had thru-axles.
Pretty much the rest of the spec is house-branded components (except for a steel-railed Selle Italia saddle) which goes a long way to keeping the overall cost of the bike low. Like they have on most of their other bikes, Framed says they offer additional customization that should let you swap in some upgrades as needed on the complete bike. As it stands here though, the Rodez will set you back just $1700, making it a pretty solid deal for the fat biker looking to hit the asphalt.
