We already got a good up-close preview of the new Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 aero gravel bike at Eurobike. It was fitted there with 55mm tires, already a significant increase since its first generation six years ago. But now that it has officially launched, we see that max tire clearance is a whopping 58mm wide, or 2.3″ in mountain bike tire terms. And it manages that with race-ready geometry and full 2x drivetrain compatibility. Could this bike redefine what gravel bike racers choose on the startline?
2026 Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 fat-tire aero gravel race bike
Gravel racing is certainly getting faster. And while some of the courses (like recent Worlds tracks) seem rather tame from a technical perspective, many other events are getting rougher and more demanding. As the competition ratchets up, racers need faster bikes. But they really have to be more technically capable, too.
Ridley’s solution is to combine road race-inspired aerodynamics and drivetrain capability with massive tire clearance that wouldn’t have been out of place on an XC race bike a few years ago. Now riders can easily pick from all the tires out there, optimizing for the conditions of each racecourse. Because literally any gravel tire will fit in this bike. And a lot of XC mountain bike tires, too!
Fat tire aerodynamics & speed
From a tech perspective, we already hit most of the highlights back in July with our Eurobike sneak peek of the new bike. Ridley took everything they learned about making last year’s Noah Fast 3.0 faster by pushing the limits of the most recent UCI frame design boxes, and applied it to the Kanzo Fast 2.0 with much bigger tire clearance.
Their in-house wind tunnel testing even confirms that with the same wheels & tires, v2.0 is 2W faster than the first-gen for the bike only, and 13W faster with a rider. Then, they tested the new bike with 38mm vs. 55 mm tires. The narrower tires were just 6W more aerodynamic. But Ridley assures that on rough gravel, the lower rolling resistance would more than offset that difference.
Plus, just combine the new 2.0 bike with 55mm tires and a rider vs. the first-gen bike with 38mm tires, and the new setup is clearly more aerodynamic. And will be even faster when rolling resistance comes into play.
What all is new?
The same deep aero headtube extension connecting top & down tubes, and the same dropped seatstay design that spreads wide around the rear tire like the new Noah Fast. Even the same huge connection above the bottom bracket, from the aero downtube to the rear wheel cutout in the seattube. And yet the new bike’s frame is also 150g lighter, presumably making a medium frame ~1040g.
The big tires also necessitated a geometry update to retain agile handling. The new bike gets more bottom bracket drop and revised fork offset to account for the change in height by moving to tires that got taller at the same time they got wider. But surprisingly, Ridley was still able to keep the same 425mm short chainstays.
We originally thought the new bike would return to 2x compatibility, thanks to what looked like a braze-on-style mount for the adjustable Wolf Tooth chainguide. But Ridley confirms that the new Kanzo Fast 2.0 is still 1x-only. And a Classified hub is going to be your only option if you need tighter gearing steps.
The new Kanzo Fast 2.0 also moves away from a D-shaped design to a deep full-aero wing seatpost inherited from the Noah Fast 3.0. But the gravel race bike uses a pair of grub screws from the back to hold the post in place, not an internal wedge-style clamp for a more robust clamp solution.
And the new frame now also gets internal frame storage, via a nice wide opening very low in the downtube where it doesn’t affect the mounting point for the main downtube bottle cage.
Why such big tires for gravel racing in the first place?
58mm tire clearance is a pretty huge step up from the 42mm of the original Kanzo Fast. But really, that’s more than just a technical update. It’s a fundamental shift in how gravel racing is continuing to evolve. When the first Kanzo Fast debuted in 2020, high-speed gravel racing was still pretty much reserved to smoother gravel roads and road-style peloton racing. There were, of course, already plenty of technically difficult gravel races at the time. And many rough ultra-distance gravel races. But the average speeds on those events were generally a lot lower, and fewer top-level athletes were fighting for those wins.
But now, even the rough gravel races are attracting more talent, more competition, and the speeds are going up. So much so that aerodynamics now plays a much bigger role. Until recently, for this type of racing – think Traka or Unbound as examples – racers have had to pick either a faster aero setup or a more forgiving fat-tire or suspension setup. Either suffer for aerodynamic gains, or sacrifice a few Watts to improve grip, control & comfort. This new Kanzo Fast 2.0 says you don’t need to make that trade-off.
Tech details
- Ultra Hi Mod carbon aero gravel frame
- massive 58mm / 29 × 2.3” gravel or MTB tire clearance
- fully integrated internal cable routing through the headtube
- lifetime CeramicSpeed SLT headset bearings
- internal frame storage, with two padded tool/spares bags included
- recessed toptube bag mounts, plus conventional bottle cage mounts inside the main triangle only
- proprietary deep aero seatpost
- ONLY 1x drivetrain compatible, but electronic-only
- 56T max chainring clearance
- UDH at the rear; removable braze-on mount up front – swappable for a mini chainguide
- 12mm thru-axles & flat mount disc brakes
- PressFit BB86 bottom bracket
- custom-fit Curana full-coverage fenders available aftermarket
- 4 sizes (XS-L)
2026 Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 – Pricing, options & availability
Ridley offers their new Kanzo Fast 2.0 now in just four frame sizes (XS-L). Although, it really is a much wider fit range than the previous generation, based on frame Reach & Stack.
The new gravel race bike is available in three stock builds, or can be fully customized in their online bike builder tool.
Framesets start from around 4500€, and can even be semi-custom-painted in Ridley’s online custom configurator.
Complete bikes start at 5500€ With SRAM Rival Xplr 1×13, standard Forza Skiron CG40 carbon wheels and the older Cirrus Pro cockpit. At 7000€ you get a Force Xplr drivetrain, and upgrade to the 1350g carbon-spoke Skiron RS wheels (27mm internal x 50mm deep) and a new Nimbus Pro cockpit. Or go all-in with the 11,700€ SRAM Red Xplr build with deep DT Swiss GRC 1400 wheels and the Nimbus Pro bar.
Or customize your bike and build online now – with plenty more drivetrain and component options – and pick it up at a local Ridley dealer within 8 weeks.
