If you're looking for a bike for adventures, then Kinesis make some smashing ones. The Kinesis AT was our gravel bike of the year last year, and the titanium Tripster ATR has been all over the awards in the past too. Now there's a third option: the G2.
"Building on the huge success of our Tripster AT and ATR models, the G2 offers a well thought out complete bike", says Kinesis. "Sitting as the third model in our Adventure category, the G2 is a bike that delivers versatility in spades coupled with the same DNA of the even more adventurous Tripster models."
Compared to the AT and the ATR, the G2 is a bit more road-oriented: the head tube has been shortened, as have the chainstays. That means it's a slightly more aggressive position and the bike should feel a bit more nimble on the road. That being said, there's still room for a 700x40c tyre (or a 38mm with mudguards), so you can easily fit some multi-surface rubber for bikepacking, or some cyclocross tyres for winter racing.
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The smallest model has a semi-sloping top tube; this lowers the standover height and also means more seatpost extension. Kinesis says that this brings comfort in line with the bigger frames. Smaller riders tend to be lighter, so bikes can feel stiffer and consequently less comfortable, and the sloping top tube should help.
The G2 is disc-only, with flat-mount brakes and 12mm through axles front and rear. The bike is built up with SRAM's excellent Apex 1x11 groupset, using a 40T chainring and an 11-42 cassette as the standard build. That's a good setup for adventure and touring; if you're planning to use the bike more as a road-based commuter then you could swap out the front ring for something bigger.
The G2 comes set up as an all-purpose machine, with Schwalbe's excellent G-One allround 40mm tyres. They're fast on a wide range of surfaces.
Like the other adventure framesets, the G2 uses a standard threaded bottom bracket for easy maintenance. As you can see there's a cable stop for a front mech, should you decide at a later point that you need a double chainset up front.
The handlebars are a flared drop; they're Kinesis own brand and they look like they're a good compromise between a road position and getting some good control when the tarmac runs out. It looks pretty similar in shape to the Ritchey VentureMax bar, which we liked. Kinesis has paired the flared bar with a shorter stem (80-100mm depending on frame size) for a more direct steering feel.
Adventure bikes are about versatility, so of course there's mounts for mudguards and a rear rack. There's no low-rider mounts, or a third bottle mount under the downtube, again signposting the fact that the G2 is a bit more road-adventure than gravel-bikepacking
It looks like a very sensible addition to the range, and we'll get our hands on one as soon as we can for a review. Currently the G2 is on pre-order on the Kinesis website, with stock arriving in October.
Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.