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Pre-order your Thesis OB1 gravel bike now to ride in the New Year

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If you’ve been waiting patiently since the Thesis OB1 first appeared on our pages, the time is now. As of today, the company has opened up pre-order sales for their impressively priced gravel bike the OB1. In the usual cut-out-the-middle-man, consumer-direct story, Thesis claims to have created a bike that will compete with those double in price, and will ship it straight to your door at the same time.

Pre-order your Thesis OB1 gravel bike now to ride in the New Year

However, like all good things, it will come to those who wait. Even if you order the bike today, you’ll have to wait at least 12-16 weeks for delivery which puts it at least in October before the bike will first arrive. As pre-orders typically go, the earlier you get in on the order, the faster you’ll get your bike.

But if you’re a little unsure about ordering a bike from a new company sight unseen, Thesis is also setting up a few different ways that you can test ride the bike before ordering. This month, the Thesis team will be hosting launch parties in San Francisco, Boston, and New York City where you’ll be able to meet the founders, ride the bike, and get help in deciding your specific build.

Now there are four different build kits named the Dirt Shredder, the Roadie, the Adventurer, and the Founder’s Edition which start at $2,999 and go up to $4,298 for a complete bike. You can also design your own build which starts at $2,999. If you’re not sure, Thesis is offering personal build consultations through email, call, or video chat to help you choose.

While those who already joined the waitlist will be the first to receive their bikes, future orders will be on a first come first serve basis, so if you want one, you know what to do.

thesis.bike

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Randall R. Jacobs
6 years ago

Thank you for the mention Zach.

Just wanted to let your readers know that our $4,298 Founders Edition comes with both the aero-wide 700C and the fat 650B wheel packages, and that each package comes pre-assembled with tires, cassette, rotors, tape, and valve stems. The wheels themselves are built to last and feature DT350 hubs, 28 Pillar 1420 J-Bend spokes with exposed brass nipples per wheel, and premium carbon rims with an advanced new resin that improves their already high strength-to-weight by 20%. We just completed testing of the updated rims and will be sharing more details later this month. There is also a shifter-actuated dropper post option for those riders who really want to take their dirt riding to the next level. It runs $199 as an add-on (meaning you still receive a standard post) and truly is a game-changer on a drop-bar bike. We’ve included detailed descriptions of all components and why we chose them on our OB1 product page.

To everyone reading this, please feel welcome to drop us a line with any questions or feedback. I hope you’ll join us for a test-ride or at one of our upcoming events.

Warmly,

Randall R. Jacobs, THESIS

Heffe
Heffe
6 years ago

What is the frame and fork weight?

Dolan Halbrook
Dolan Halbrook
6 years ago
Reply to  Heffe

Says in the site details. ~1150g frame, 485g fork. Not sure light, but pretty standard for something that can handle a bikepacking load.

Randall R. Jacobs
6 years ago
Reply to  Dolan Halbrook

Thanks for chiming in Dolan.

Heffe – Good question. I weighed our medium blue painted frame w/o hardware at just under 1150g, and one of our painted forks with uncut steerer (prior to bonding in of our SteerSafe insert, which weighs ~45g and eliminates the compression plug) at just under 500g.

If you’re looking to minimize weight, I suggest going with the matte black carbon finish. Since this finish consists of a thin protective coating rather than several coats of paint, it weighs ~70g less per frameset relative to painted options. For example, our large in matte black carbon weighed in at ~1,100g (again, sans hardware) and its fork at ~485g (530g with SteerSafe) as Dolan mentions.

You might also be interested to know that some brands will take the lightest frames off the line and market them as “superlight”, often with the aforementioned matte black carbon finish to further accentuate any weight differences. This is not something we do, so please keep in mind that the figures above are for individual examples and thus subject to standard production tolerances of +/-5%.

Thanks again,

– Randall R. Jacobs, THESIS

hleogr
6 years ago

Unfortunately, they do not offer a XXL version. Otherwise I would do a pre-order instantly.

hleogr
6 years ago
Reply to  hleogr

In addition, they do not offer frame and fork only package. That’s a show stopper for me.

Randall R. Jacobs
6 years ago
Reply to  hleogr

Hey hleogr – Appreciate your interest. I’ve fit riders up to 6’5″ on the XL OB1. How tall are you, and what are the stack and reach you’re looking for? Keep in mind that arm, leg, and torso lengths can vary quite widely between riders of a given height, and that you may want a more upright position (allowing you to more easily get into the drops) for the dirt relative to what you may be running on your road bike. Needless to say, a proper fit is absolutely essential to a great ride experience, and we want to make sure you’re dialed regardless of whether or not it’s on one of our bikes.

As for frame/fork sales, it is something we are considering for after we’ve caught up with demand for the complete bike. If you have other questions about fit or feedback on what you’d change about our standard build options, I’d be happy to discuss. Feel free to reach out to me directly at https://thesis.bike/pages/contact.

Cheers,

– Randall R. Jacobs, THESIS

Randall R. Jacobs
6 years ago
Reply to  Matt

Hey Matt,

Thanks for chiming in. The OB1 frameset is indeed based on a heavily modified version of the CFR-505.

Here are some more details (cut and paste from my response to a similar comment in BR’s first article about us) that I hope you’ll find helpful:

– One pillar of our thesis is that we should invest only in genuine innovation, not differentiation for the sake of marketing. In the case of the OB1 frameset, I evaluated over 50 options and found one (the CFR-505) from a quality vendor (FlyBike) that met our all of my primary criteria. I then worked on-site with their engineering and production teams to implement over 100 changes through several prototype iterations to bring it up to my obsessive standards. These include a full suite of mounting points, reinforcement at every boss and cut-out, direct caliper mounting on the fork (i.e. no adaptor), more chainring clearance, improved cable and hose routing, updated hardware, and a bonded-in steerer tube reinforcement system with integrated star nut we call SteerSafe. All of these are exclusive to the OB1.
– We consolidate and ship directly from Mainland China and Taiwan and are stocking service parts in the US.
– There are challenges with going direct as an individual that go beyond warranty, service, and (in some cases) safety. Component curation and compatibility are two major headaches. Safety validation is another, as it requires that components be tested as an assembly and not simply as individual parts. Many parts are available direct only at high volumes (for example, manufacturers generally won’t sell you a single handlebar or stem), and where they are available (frames, wheels), pricing will be much higher on single units even. Then there are the considerable shipping costs incurred when ordering each part separately.
– Our model is predicated on working directly with the same quality vendors who supply the leading brands, and using the same premium materials and manufacturing techniques, to offer riders a better bicycle, experience, and value. We are also working with several parties to offer local assembly and fit options. We’ll be sharing updates via our mailing list as these programs are finalized.

Thanks again for your input, as it helps us build a better company. Please feel welcome to contact me directly via https://thesis.bike/pages/contact with any other questions, ideas, or feedback you may have. Warmly, – R.

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