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TECH NEWS
Kinesis GF_Ti Disc - full bike 2.jpgJust In: Kinesis GF_Ti Disc frameset
Here’s the new titanium Kinesis GF_Ti Disc frameset that’s currently in for review here at road.cc, designed for long rides year-round and plenty of versatility besides, and priced at £1,799.99 (it’s available only as a frameset).
We’ve tested the Kinesis Gran Fondo Titanium ( non-disc) before and it’s safe to say that it did very well. We described it as one of the best all-rounders on the market and said it possessed “near superbike capabilities in a frame that is just as at home on the commute, audaxing, sportives and much more.”
Like the standard brake version, the GF_Ti Disc is made from custom drawn 3AL/2.5V titanium in an easy-to-look-after brushed finish. If you get a scratch, you just give it a quick brush and it’s as good as new. Magic!
Kinesis says that the tubing is cold worked stress relieved. What does that mean?
“The tubing is shaped cold and then goes through a process to remove the stresses built up within the tube during forming,” says Kinesis. So now you know.
The head tube is milled and tapered, taking a 1 1/8in bearing at the top and a 1 1/2in bearing at the bottom. You couldn’t say that has become the dominant standard these days, but it’s a common way of adding stiffness on higher level bikes. An FSA No.42/ACB headset is included with frame. The K UK logos engraved into the head tube add a touch of class up front, while the down tube logos are laser etched.
The bottom bracket, on the other hand, isn’t oversized. It’s a conventional 68mm threaded (British) standard, super-easy to install and replace.
The new fork is Kinesis’ own Tracer Disc, full carbon and, like the frame, it’s ready for Shimano Flat Mount standard disc brakes.
The frame is routed for internal cabling and it’s Di2 compatible if you want to build it up with electronic shifting. It comes equipped with mounts for a rear pannier rack and mudguards, and the fork comes with mudguard eyelets too. This bodes well for the GF_Ti Disc’s use as an all-weather workhorse, if that’s how you want to employ it.
All the eyelets are welded in place, rather than riveted, so that they can’t come loose.
The frame takes a 31.6mm-diameter seatpost when many manufacturers of this type of bike are shifting back to 27.2mm for more comfort. It’ll be interesting hear what our reviewer thinks about the quality of the ride.
The titanium seat clamp has been rotated so the bolt, like the frame slot, is at the front. The idea is to keep it out of the firing line of spray thrown up by the rear wheel if you’re not running mudguards.
There's a generous amount of tyre clearance. It'll accommodate up to 30mm width with mudguards, 32mm without.
The GF_Ti Disc is built to exactly the same geometry as the existing GF_Ti. Seven sizes are available from 48cm right up to a huge 63cm. We have the 57cm model which comes with a 550mm seat tube, a 568mm top tube, and a 175mm head tube. The stack (the vertical distance from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube) is 585.1mm and the reach (the horizontal distance between those points) is 394.7mm. Those figures suggest a ride position that sits somewhere between a traditional road race bike and an endurance-style road bike.
The last titanium bike we reviewed here on road.cc was the £2,458 Van Nicholas Chinook, although that’s more of a race bike.
The Sabbath September that we reviewed last year is more similar to the Kinesis GF_Ti in that it’s disc equipped. We described it as “an audax machine that's just at home on the commute, sportive or for light touring”. In other words, it’s a bit of an all-rounder, as is the Kinesis. Ours came with a Whisky Parts Co carbon fork, a Shimano 105 groupset, TRP Hy/Rd disc brakes and wheels comprising Stan's NoTubes Alpha 400 rims and Hope Pro2 Evo hubs. That build was priced at £2,799.
The Kinesis GF_Ti’s £1,799.99 price includes the frame and fork, headset, seat clamp, post mount brake adaptors and all Di2/mechanical cable guides.
Mike has been thrashing this bike around his local roads for a while so you can expect a full review on road.cc soon. In the meantime, get more information from www.kinesisbikes.co.uk.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
Latest Comments
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As someone who drives a diesel, I was looking at that and thinking "that's been the normal price for ages!" 😭
- ErnieC 7 min 6 sec ago
Glad I got mine before that change in ownership.
- quadtodd 5 hours 34 min ago
And 3 of the 'workers' are just leaning!
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Same sketch everywhere, or so it seems. Take Whitelegg Way in Bournemouth. Wide cycle lanes put in both sides of a (formerly very wide) two lane...
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Sounds cool. I haven't taken an "unnecessary flight" since 1992. Flown many times since then for work, but you can't patrol the Iraqi desert, or...
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My first thought on reading the headline was "ooh, has Clevedon put in covered bike parking now?".
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I rented a car a few weeks ago, a Skoda Octavia (needed a big car for a weekend), and the ride was astonishingly good compared to my own 10 year...
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Shimano were castigated for not bringing on new factories to meet pandemic demand, thus gumming up the supply chain. Their argument at the time was...
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22 comments
Another vote for Cielo Rosso, ours do look very similar are your brakes hydraulic ?
IMG_0985.JPG
Wondered how long it would be for you to show up with yet another pic of your bike.
Not long eh !
Lovely bike. Yeah similar to mine with my clearances being the most obvious difference. You also have 11 speed Di2 vs my 10 (I have the same 6800 chainset now). Your wheels look nice. What are they?
I have TRP Hy-Rd brakes and they are very good. I actually have a second identical frame (long story) which I'm building up with Shimano hydraulics (6800 mechanical group). This will be my winter/wet weather bike!!
Lovely bike. Yeah similar to mine with my clearances being the most obvious difference. You also have 11 speed Di2 vs my 10 (I have the same 6800 chainset now). Your wheels look nice. What are they?
I have TRP Hy-Rd brakes and they are very good. I actually have a second identical frame (long story) which I'm building up with Shimano hydraulics (6800 mechanical group). This will be my winter/wet weather bike!!
The wheels are no name Chinese carbon that Neil sourced. I toyed with the Hy-Rd brakes but thought I'd go fully hydraulic and Neil did a great price on the groupset, although bleeding them isn't the piece of cake that Youtube would have you believe !
Im going for the J.Laverack J.ACK. They've all got similar features but I just love the style of the Laverack
It's spooky how similar this is to my custom-built Cielo Rosso Ti frame I got earlier this year. I specified the geometry and double butted tubing along with a tapered head tube (housing a Kinesis fork as it happens), a traditional 68mm shell bb, disc brakes, internal routing (including Di2), rack and mudguard mounts and even my seat tube slot faces forwards (at my request)!
I cannot tell you how nice mine is to ride (I'm a very experienced club rider/racer of some 25 years). I did 400 miles on it in 3 days as well as my regular commutes so it has been well tested. It's extremely comfortable, yet no slouch either (I've beaten some of my uphill KOMs set on my carbon bike this year). It's great being able to stop properly too. It was supposed to be a very nice N+1 but it was firmly supplanted my carbon bike, which really doesn't get a look in anymore. I run the excellent Continental GP4000 II 28mm tyres. I have more clearance than this frame (it's based on a cyclocross geometry) but of course you could design what you want with the custom build options.
Oh and mine only cost £800 (frame only). The only extra I paid for was for double-butted tubing - all the mounts and custom options came free! I would recommend their service if you don't mind the 12 weeks lead-time for the build.
I love this Kinesis, by the way, and I'm sure it would make the basis for a great bike. It looks well thought out and you wouldn't have that lead-time of course. I guess you may get superiour customer service, although Cielo Rosso is UK-based (frames made in China) and I have been extremely well looked after when I did run into problems with my first frame.
IMG_5650.JPG
Got one ordered, just waiting for it to arrive in just under 2 weeks, all ready to build
Another bike you might want to test some time is the Litespeed T5 Gravel. Slightly racier geometry compared to the Tripster ATR, similar tyre clearances, but through-axles front and back rather than QR. Just the one set of eyelets on the frame (and none on the standard fork) the only issue for some- not ideal for me but nothing that can't be worked around , and internal Di2 ready (external cable stops for mechanical groups). Frameset currently the same price as the ATR too. Just got one and I'm absolutely delighted with it.
I too have to ask why spend that dollar when you could buy the On One Pick And Flick for considerably less as I have just done. I appreciate that it doesnt have the rack mounts and some nay sayers out there will decry it as it's from Planet X but having ridden mine last weekend I have to say I bloody love it. It is rapid climbs like a goat and the comfort is on another level compared to my last bike.
I had the opportunity to test the Kinesis ATR prior to purchasing this and I rate the on one its equal easily.
I do like the Kinesis Ti bikes its a shame that this one is priced so high.....struggling to see where the extra £300 is over my ATR shame wouldnt mind one..
If they could make this frame to accept 40 mm tyres and ATR geometry then I would order tomorrow
There's 5mm of clearance either side on frame and fork for 30C on the new Racelite rims - I don't have some 40's to try, but they may well fit.
Because you don't want a carbon bike. Not that there's anything wrong with carbon but price doesnt equate to value and carbon isn't top of the league of frame materials for everyone.
This frameset has a carbon fork... I think you're right 'though, it's down to having an afinity to your steed and some people chose one material over another..even if they're prepared to hand an extra £800 over for it.. Personally I think Ti is for the lug(ite)s and L'Eroica crew. If this framset gets half the praise the non disc version has I'm sure every owner will be cycling with a huge grin on their face.. and you could argue that's worth £800...
Why pay £1800 for this when the carbon Genesis Datum framset retails at £800 less?
Does the tripster atr have full internal routing with di2 compatibility. ?
No, routing is external. I have run Di2 on it though with those sticky cable guide things.
been running internal di2 since january where upon i drilled it to accomodate much cleaner lines. the bikes been to hell and back seems as good as the day i did it.
How does it compare to the Tripster ATR Ti? That's the big question.
http://road.cc/content/review/123233-kinesis-tripster-atr-frameset
£300 more expensive frame. Very similar levels of versatility (rack and mudguard mounts).
the tripster ATR has a good deal more clearance and it's much more upright. the comparable 57cm Tripster has a 384mm reach, so 10mm shorter, and its 23mm taller at the front with a 608mm stack. I've got 38mm tyres on my Tripster at the moment but I've had 42s on there and I reckon it'd take a 45mm without any problems. So it's a different beast, really.
I will be interested to see how this compares agains the Enigma Etape Disc, Reilly T325A, and Jack Laverack J.Ack - all of which are verrrry similar (and on my shopping list)