To say we’ve put the Lauf Úthald through its paces would be an understatement. Three of us have been riding them for a bit more than a year now, across everything from rolling east coast hills to Idaho’s dry backroads. From Japan’s coastal highways to their forgotten mountain passes.
And across all of those surfaces, through all of those terrains, all three of us love it.
Put simply, the Úthald might just be the perfect road bike for nearly every rider. Here’s why…
The Úthald flat out performs
To be fair, most of our riding has been on normal roads, under mostly normal conditions. In group rides and solo escapes. We got our bikes just before our trip to Japan last spring, and initially prepped them for eight days of supported road cycling across Japan’s Shikoku Islands and their nearly flawless asphalt.
Out of the box, built, and then shipped half way around the world to break them in. A great start, and for Steve, basically the first time he really got to ride it.
No matter, he felt right at home immediately, and immediately crushed me up every climb (adding insult to injury by never once shifting into the little chainring on the entire tire. Thanks, buddy.).
Similarly, Harrison joined on his new Úthald for the second leg (more on this below) of my Japan cycling odyssey with very few introductory miles on it. And he did fine, too.
Which is to say, the Lauf Úthald is both traditional in fit, yet extremely forgiving in function. Steve and I are both very experienced riders, but even so, with many bikes, there’s always some amount of learning curve to feel at home. Rarely would you want to bring a brand-new-to-you bike on a week-long cycling tour, especially if that tour is punctuated by another week of bikepacking on the same bike.
Yet, the Lauf made us all feel immediately at home, with no surprises or quirks, cruising along comfortably and smoothly, mile after mile.
And when it came time to hammer to keep up with the faster folks on our tour, it delivered the punchy, responsive acceleration we expect from a modern performance road bike.
In the year since that tour, the three of us have put untold miles on our bikes. Steve’s wife loves it so much she’s basically claimed it as her own. And Harrison has become more and more of a cyclist in no small part because of how much he enjoys the bike.
As for me, it’s become my go-to road bike among a way-too-big fleet of options I’ve accrued over the years. Why? Because…
It handles like a dream
It’s one thing to make a bike handle well for a certain set of conditions. It’s quite another to make it a true all-round performer that also stands out in a crowded field of very good bikes currently on the market.
I’ve reviewed my fair share of road bikes, from racing bikes to endurance bikes to all-road bikes, and I can honestly say none excels across all three categories like the Úthald.
That said (and this is literally my only caveat to choosing this bike), if you’re looking for a crit racing bike, this isn’t it.
But that’s exactly why I love my Úthald, because it’s not a twitchy little beast that demands constant attention.
There’s a lot of design consideration that went into making the Úthald what it is, from a bent seat tube that creates intentional vertical flex for improved comfort to clearance for huge tires (up to 35mm).
But the biggest thing that sets it apart is the front end geometry. Lauf gave it a slack 71.5º head angle with longer-than-normal fork trail, yielding an incredibly stable bike.
This bike is unshakable. Cruise along with no hands, or just a couple of fingers if the road is rough, and it’ll keep going where it’s aimed. And when it’s time to carve a corner, it’ll hold the intended line so well that it’s basically begging you to take it faster.
Same for descending, particularly at high speeds on curvy roads…never have I felt more confident on mountain descents, and never have I gone faster than I have on this bike.
It also climbs like a machine. Short chainstays kept my weight over the rear tire for great traction and a snappy, impulsive lurch forward from every pedal stroke. In the photo above, we started low in the trees, much lower than you can see, and climbed and climbed and climbed.
Fully loaded, with a definite rearward bias to the packing, this combination of slack front end and short rear did reveal the one time when you wanted to pay a little more attention to steering, but I give the Lauf a hall pass on this because let’s be fair: This bike was never designed with loaded touring or bikepacking in mind, which is exactly why I give it such high marks for being able to pull it off so well.
Decked out with the Old Man Mountain Divide rack and North St. bags, our bikes carried clothes, tent, sleeping pad & bag, repair kits, first aid, snacks, lights, and more. I reviewed that bikepacking gear here if you’re keen on learning more about how and what we packed and how this stuff performed.
It’s here where I value Lauf’s philosophy on frame construction. They skip the lighter (and more brittle) high-mod carbon fibers in favor of tougher “standard” modulus fibers. This makes their bikes more durable, less prone to impact damage, and, I think, generally more apt for real-world use from riders who don’t baby their equipment.
While you may hear the phrase “ride it hard and put it away dirty” more often in the mountain bike scene, if that’s your mentality, then a bike like this is exactly what you need.
The Úthald’s frame was not designed with racks and bikepacking in mind. But OMM’s Divide rack has a nice workaround – it mounts to a thru axle to support the weight, and has universal mounts that secure around the seatstays. Thick protective tape sits between the frame and the stay mounts to save the paint.
That’s great, but I still wouldn’t put it on a featherweight road bike whose marketing revolves around how many grams they saved by thinning every tube and stiffening it with hi-mod fibers.
But on the Úthald? I’ll do it all day long. In fact, we did do it, for seven full days, with loaded rear packs and a trunk bag. And the frame is still perfectly fine. And this, this exactly, is why I really like that Lauf made this frame bombproof.
Oh, and it’s still light. My size Large bike with the latest SRAM Red, Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels, Maxxis 700×32 Re-Fuse tires (which are tough, puncture resistant treads), pedals, saddle bag with tool kit and tube, top tube bag with snacks, front and rear lights, K-Edge computer mount, Hammerhead Karoo, and two bottle cages weighs just 18lb 15oz (8.6kg).
So, a fully capable, ready-to-roll-anywhere road bike with all the right accessories (and snacks!) and still under 19 pounds. Respect.
Now’s a good time to admit that I’m a Lauf fanboy. I love their team, and I’ve loved their bikes since the beginning. My Seigla is one of my top picks for gravel rides, too. But I still maintain that I’m objective with regards to their products, it’s just that I can’t find anything wrong with this bike.
Neither can Harrison. Or Steve. Or Steve’s wife. And I’ve talked a few friends into getting one, too, and they love them.
Basically, if you’re in the marketing for a road bike and want one that’s ready for anything (except, maybe, a crit race), give the Lauf Úthald a good, hard look. It’s a bike that makes so much sense for so many riders. It’s done everything we’ve asked of it, and we’ve asked a lot, and keeps coming back for more.
If, after all of that glowing praise, you’re still on the fence, how ’bout this: Complete bikes range from $3,390 to $6,090, making them a great deal, too. Framesets are $1,890 (prices accurate at date of publication).
