Fresh off winning the Highlight of the Show title at DT Swiss’s recent Craft Bike Days, Mason unveils a new Exposure Primitiva adventure gravel bike prototype. Created together with their Italian framebuilding partner Cicli Barco, this Exposure Primitiva prototype is the first-ever steel Mason bike to get fully integrated internal cable routing. And while it’s not the first Mason adventure bike to get a suspension fork, Barco managed to incorporate the 40mm DT gravel fork without impacting the Exposure’s frame Stack.
Oh, and that F132 One suspension fork itself… It’s been exclusive to Canyon, who worked with DT to develop it. But its spec here is a reminder that as of January 2026, it should be available from DT Swiss – first to other bike builders, then maybe to end consumers, too!
Mason Exposure prototype gravel adventure bike x Cicli Barco
This Mason x Barco Exposure Primitiva concept bike won the top award at DT Swiss Craft Bike Days by combining the latest in gravel bike tech with classic handmade steel construction, even showing off its welded & brazed construction with a partially raw finish. What you get is huge tire clearance, a 40mm travel gravel-specific suspension fork, fully integrated cable routing hidden inside the headset, all the mounting points to carry all of your gear, and trusted standards like T47, UDH, and a classic round seatpost.
Plus, thanks to Cicli Barco’s CNC-machined ‘Zero’ reinforced headtube design, they are able to weld the toptube almost level with the top of the headtube. By reducing (almost eliminating) headtube extension above the toptube and below the downtube, Barco was able to keep the same frame Stack height as the standard Exposure, even with the longer 435mm axle-to-crown height of the 40mm DT gravel fork. That goes a long way to maintaining the quick and agile feel of Mason’s popular do-it-all gravel and adventure bikepacking bike.
DT Swiss F132 One gravel fork, coming soon to more bikes near you?
Let’s talk some more about that 40mm travel DT Swiss F132 One gravel fork – which is pretty great, by the way. This is officially the first bike outside of a Canyon that we have seen fitted with the DT gravel fork. That’s because it was co-developed with Canyon & DT collaborating, and Canyon has exclusivity on it, but just through the end of this year.
I rode it this year at The Traka on a Canyon Grail, and it transformed that bike from what I would have previously described as race-only, into a much more versatile, more fun bike to ride over rougher terrain, too. It features quite a different feel than most other gravel forks, which usually just scale-down mountain bike style damping. The DT fork seems to better manage the quick vibration you feel while gravel riding, without feeling like it is bouncing up and down. It also has the best-feeling remote lockout I’ve tested on any dropbar suspension fork setup.
This also happens to be one of the first times I’ve seen the optional bikepacking adaptors mounted to the fork AND actually be used to attach bags. It doesn’t hurt that they’ve been painted to match the frame in brass, which helps them stand out, as opposed to the black-on-black ones that were on the Grizl Rift Escape that I test rode last spring.
Prototype Tech Details
- custom ‘progressive’ butted Dedacciai steel frame welded in Italy
- custom CNC-machined Zero headset for low Stack height with gravel suspension
- standard Exposure geometry adapted for 40mm travel suspension fork
- not quite yet available DT Swiss F132 One 40mm suspension fork with painted-to-match details
- fully integrated internal cable routing through a straight 1.5″ headset
- special edition ‘Primitiva’ finish, fading from brass gold up front to raw clearcoat out back
- special edition brazed Cicli Barco badge on the dropout & Mason badge on the seattube
- mega 50-55mm tire clearance: up to 29 x 2.0 or 27.5 x 2.35″
- 27.2mm seatpost, only compatible with wireless droppers
- threaded T47 bottom bracket
- now UDH
- internal routing for wired-in lighting
- all the rack, fender, and both 2- & 3-pack cage mounts you could wish for
Mason Exposure Primitiva prototype – Future availability?
Mason’s official statement is that the Exposure Primitiva prototype is “strictly an experimental project“. So, even though Cicli Barco is clearly capable of building the Mason Exposure for a short travel gravel suspension fork, and with fully integrated routing, you can’t buy one just yet. But Mason certainly didn’t build this bike without the thought of making it into production either.
They say they’re “keen to see what riders think of this kind of approach“. It seems pretty certain that integrated routing will find its way onto some future Mason bikes.
But I think traditionalists shouldn’t be too worried, either. Dom Mason is certainly a fan of creating no-nonsense adventure-ready metal bikes. So if Mason does make internal routing an option on some bikes to meet market demand, they’ll probably still keep plenty more conventional routing options in the line-up for cyclists who don’t want to deal with cables snaking through their headsets.
Sound off below what you think about combining a Mason with integrated routing or a short-travel suspension fork…
