OPEN WI.DE. and take in an even wider carbon gravel bike adventure

OPEN is back at it again with an all-new WI.DE. carbon gravel bike – bigger, wider & more capable for mixed surface adventure riding than ever before. Based on their original U.P, the new Winding Detours bike is meant to venture further afield with clearance for up to massive 2.4″ tires in a lightweight performance dropbar bike meant to go fast.

Open Wi.De carbon fat tire, off-road adventure gravel bike

Their UP & UPPER set the early bar for what a high-end carbon gravel bike could be with wide 650b x 2.1″ tires – and jumpstarted a whole niche of similar (and at time imitative) carbon gravel bikes. But Open Cycles kept seeing their light gravel bikes pushed beyond that original Unbeaten Paths they were designed for, blurring the lines between gravel & mountain bikes. So, that’s what sent Open back to the drawing board – to build an even more off-road capable gravel bike.

It almost seems odd to call the new Wi.De a gravel bike, because this thing can fit bigger tires than most XC hardtails. But it is still meant to be a fast moving dropbar bike that can quickly jump from asphalt to gravel to trails, so gravel bike is as good a moniker as any.

The hallmarks of the original UP family remain, just opening up that mixed-surface versatility & predictable road bike rooted handling to an even wider range of terrain.

The new Wi.De doesn’t replace the U.P. or U.P.P.E.R. which will carry on with their more road & gravel road focus and the possibility for 2x drivetrains. The Wi.De just becomes the gravel road & trail option. But Open also sees many cyclists buy their bikes to personalize them, so feel free to build up a new Wi.De however you please – as an all-road bike or a monstercrosser.

The new, wider gravel bike is 1x specific, but still is designed to fit narrow, low Q-factor road cranksets for efficient pedaling. It does that by dropping the asymmetric chainstays design, actually just dropping both chainstays to create a wide, boxy extension of the downtube behind the BB that Open calls the monostay.

That gives a mix of bottom bracket (read: drivetrain) stiffness, lower weight & helps achieve the extra tire clearance.

It also ends up being a place that Open says is perfect to mount a tool box, protected by the chainring, but also giving a lower center of gravity.

Tall Road Geometry

Open calls the new geometry for the Wi.De ‘Tall Road’ which is essentially the same as on the UP, with ~2cm taller headtubes for a more upright riding position to tackle more technical terrain. Interestingly (while off-road bikes keep getting longer), the Wi.De also is at least 5mm shorter on all sizes, again support the idea of a more upright, slightly more controlled position on the bike.

Head angles do get 0.5° or 1° slacker for some sizes, but it seems like that is more to deliver more consistent ride feel across the new wider size range than a desire to slacken or slow its handling. Open says that moving from designing around a 35mm tire for the UP, to up to a 61mm tire now necessitated the tweak for a nimble feel.

That extra size is quite a big step too. Even with larger tires on offer, Open decided to make an XS in the new Wi.De to fit smaller riders itching for gravel adventure. They apparently had been asked for ages, and they say the shorter reach on that new XS makes this one of the smallest gravel bikes on the market.

New tech details

The biggest driver of the new Wi.De frameset was clearance for wider tires, so how wide?

With 700c wheels you can fit 35-46mm tires (up from 28-40mm on the U.P.) and on 650b wheels you can go 1.9-2.4″ (up from 1.9-2.1″ for the U.P.)

Open is known for sweating the details, and this new 1x bike is no exception. It features modular internal routing (and foam internal liners to keep cable quiet) with just a hunt of color. Open also will make the frameset available in raw carbon for those looking to go the custom paint avenue.

While we haven’t seen it yet, Open also promised that the will have a new De-Fender  mudguard system that will soon offer full coverage fenders for the new monster gravel bike.

The Wi.De. uses Open’s Smartmount direct flat mounts for 160mm disc brake calipers on the frame & fork. Both are mounted directly to the bike without adapters for both a more secure & lighter setup.

Pricing & availability

In the end, you get a 3200€ frameset with a claimed weight of 1040g (plus a 390g fork) that Open says will go anywhere, fast. Co-founder Andy Kessler says the bike “can conquer almost any terrain, without slowing you down on the easier roads and trails”. We didn’t get exact word on availability, but the new bike just popped up on Open’s website, and expect it to go on sale soon. So start thinking about ordering yours direct from Open, and just start to imagine how you’ll build it up, and what adventures you will have.

I spent some time riding the pleasantly comfy trail-slaying gravel bike in Italy, and will share our first impressions next week. Keep your eyes peeled.

OpenCycle.com