Nordest Cycles has now released a more affordable steel version of their Albarda adventure gravel bike in 4130 chromoly steel. Designed for tough mixed-surface bikepacking journeys, the reinforced Albarda frame fits big 700c or 650b tires, has enough braze-ons to take on any load, and is available with steel or full carbon fork options.
Nordest Albarda 4130 steel adventure gravel bike
Named for the packsaddles that outfitted travelers for centuries, the Albarda was first teased late last year, and since earlier this spring has already been available in titanium. The steel gravel bike is welded in Taiwan from a double-butted 4130 chromoly steel tubeset, with stock modern geometry developed by framebuilder Pedro Jerónimo based on his custom frames.
Geometry
Geometry of the steel bike is only slightly different than the titanium version – available in four stock sizes S-L). The steel Albarda gets 2cm longer seattubes for each size, with a slightly less sloping toptube and a bit more room in the main triangle for larger bottles & bikepacking bags.
Tech details
It keeps the same 420mm chainstays, that together with a machined chainstay yoke allow for up to 650b x 2.1″ (53mm) or 700x50mm tires, and a max 46T 1x or road compact 50/34T double chainset.
The steel Albarda frame features external cable routing for continuous housing on the downtube, a threaded BB, 44mm headtube, 27.2mm seatpost, and a replaceable 12x142mm rear dropout.
The bike includes 3-bolt cage mounts above & below the downtube, plus a standard set of bosses on the seattube and on the toptube for a bento-style bag.
The Albarda is built for a standard 400mm fork with 52mm offset, and Nordest offers two fork options – steel or carbon (or a frame only that lets you pick another fork.)
The Horquilla Albarda Steel fork is a painted-to-match TIG-welded 4130 unicrown fork with a straight 1.125″ steerer tube. It is 410mm long to be used with an internal lower headset cup on the 44mm headtube. It features a 12mm thru-axle, flat mount disc brake tabs with external cable routing, and standard fender mounts (but no lowrider or anything cage mounts.)
The black-only Albarda Carbon Taper fork is a full carbon 1.5″ tapered steerer gravel fork with a 400mm axle-to-crown for use with an external lower cup. It also gets the same 700x50mm max tire clearance, flat mount & 12mm axle. The carbon fork is meant to be a more lightweight setup and includes internal brake routing, and does include hidden fender mounting points, but no other mounts.
Pricing & availability
The steel Nordest Albarda sells for 550€ for the frame-only in glossy sky blue or matte black (including free EU delivery). If you want to get one of the matching forks, Albarda frame kits are available including the steel frame, a Cane Creek 40 headset, fork & 12mm thru-axles for 720€ with the steel fork or 900€ with the carbon fork.
A single complete bike build is also available for 1950€ with the carbon fork, a SRAM Rival 1x groupset, Easton alloy cockpit & Black Jack AirLine alloy 650b wheels, with a claimed complete weight of 9.25kg (20.4lb). The Albarda steel is in stock now in all sizes & colors.
