Chinese bikes have long been seen as cheaper alternatives to those from the big Western brands, often promising similar performance for far less money. Now, Chinese manufacturers are pushing seriously premium bike territory, so when Yoeleo offered us its latest Altera G21 frameset, it seemed like the perfect chance to find out what modern Chinese carbon is really capable of.
The brief was simple: build a fast, top-end gravel race bike for Emily ahead of this year’s Welsh Gravel Championships. After a breakthrough season last year, with several impressive stage wins, the aim was to create something light, capable and properly race-ready for Emily to build on last season’s success.
The result is a striking gravel build centred around SRAM’s flagship Force XPLR groupset and Yoeleo’s latest race-focused frameset.
Frame
At the heart of the bike is the Yoeleo Altera G21, a gravel race frame with proven pedigree, having already been raced at World Championship level.
Designed to handle everything from hard-packed gravel to rougher, rockier terrain, the latest version gets a longer wheelbase and a bottom bracket bash guard to improve stability and durability when the trails get technical.
Tyre clearance is impressive too, with room for up to 53mm rubber on 700c wheels in a 1x setup. That opens the door to fast-rolling MTB tyres for riders who want maximum grip and comfort on rougher courses.
Practicality hasn’t been ignored either. The frame uses a standard round seatpost, making upgrades and replacements straightforward, although the supplied Pro-Flex seatpost should add a welcome degree of comfort over long distances. There are mudguard mounts for winter duties, while a UDH-compatible rear dropout keeps the bike future-proofed for next-generation drivetrains.
A neat touch is the internal frame storage, offering space for tools, spares or ride essentials without cluttering the bike with extra bags.
Cockpit
Up front sits Yoeleo’s H21 integrated cockpit. Emily’s first impression was the pronounced flare on the drops, something she hadn’t used before but immediately appreciated for the extra control it offers on steep or loose descents.
Despite the wide stance in the drops, the bars still maintain a relatively aero profile on the hoods and proved comfortable during the first shakedown ride.
Integrated cockpits can sometimes be a nightmare to install, but this one proved refreshingly straightforward thanks to well-designed cable routing and sensible access points.
The finishing touch is a fresh wrap of Fizik bar tape, adding a premium feel and plenty of grip.
Groupset
The groupset is SRAM’s second-tier Force XPLR setup, bringing lightweight construction, crisp wireless shifting and plenty of gravel-ready capability.
The standout feature is the polished silver accents, which gives the bike a properly premium appearance, but performance is equally impressive with smooth gear changes and a setup designed specifically around modern gravel racing.
Finishing off the drivetrain are Shimano XTR pedals. While road pedals might save a handful of grams, Emily opted for mountain bike pedals for a simple reason: reliability in bad conditions. Mud-clogged road cleats can quickly ruin a race, whereas SPD-style pedals continue working no matter how filthy things get.
Wheels
The bike rolls on Yoeleo’s own C45 Pro wheelset, featuring 45mm-deep carbon rims and a generous 27mm internal width.
That wide profile is ideal for modern gravel tyres, helping support larger rubber at lower pressures while improving stability through corners.
Despite the depth, the wheelset still comes in at under 1,400g, making it competitive for climbing while retaining aerodynamic benefits for faster, rolling courses.
Tyres
One of the Altera G21’s biggest strengths is its tyre clearance. With room for 53mm tyres on 700c wheels and up to 2.1in tyres with a 650b setup, riders have huge flexibility depending on terrain and race conditions.
For this build, Emily chose Vittoria Terreno T50 tyres in a 50mm width. The mixed tread pattern is designed to balance rolling speed with enough grip for loose surfaces and unpredictable conditions, although tyre choice will likely change depending on the course and weather.
Price
So, what does a premium Chinese gravel race bike actually cost?
This complete build comes in at roughly £3,819. That is still a substantial amount of money, but considering it includes a fully customised setup and SRAM Force XPLR groupset, it undercuts many equivalent bikes from mainstream Western brands by a good margin.
Importantly, the Altera frameset also comes with a six-year warranty, showing just how far Chinese carbon brands have come from the days of anonymous frames bought from questionable corners of the internet.
With the bike complete, all that remains is to see how it performs under race conditions at the Welsh Gravel Championships.
If early impressions are anything to go by, this premium Chinese gravel machine should be more than capable of delivering some serious results, over to you Emily…
8 thoughts on “We built an elite Chinese bike for Emily to race at the Welsh gravel champs… for under £4,000”
I’m sure it’s a lovely bike as is but you’re taking the easy way out sticking Sram on it. Go all in Chinese and put a Chinese drivetrain on there, Ltwoo and Wheeltop have options. Be brave!
@Miller check out the review of the Wheeltop groupset on here.
@Miller As soon as China stops bullying Taiwan, Japan, and others in that region, maybe I will go back to buying Chinese made and branded products, but as it stands now, I’m not donating my money to help build their military IF it can be helped, just so they can cream the US and control the entire Pacific which they have gone on record as wanting to do, including Australia, Hawaii, Alaska and eventually California.
Unlike the US, whose current administration asserts a right to control a ‘hemisphere’ that includes Venezuela, Greenland, Diego Garcia…
@mdavidford don’t forget Cuba… plus they also have declared some … strong opinions about the character of the government of several European countries.
Although it was still much better when we remained “happy vassals” of the US than being flattened by China (many previous US administrations, though the bullying and indeed violence was still there). We’re free to complain; in China’s colonies you may not be free even to think those thoughts.
Still – good luck to anyone trying to avoid all Chinese products. Pretty much everything has some Chinese components. Presumably they’ll be abstaining from any tech…
@mdavidford Come on now, on the one hand you’ve got a country that openly abuses human rights, detaining and incarcerating people for long periods without trial, shooting protesting citizens dead on the streets, depriving many of the right to full citizenship on the grounds of ethnicity, corruptly allowing leaders to live a life of luxury whilst many millions work in close-to-slave-labour conditions for pennies, that executes people with mental illnesses often on flimsy evidence after what amount to show trials and that forments war and unrest across the globe to further its own ends…and on the other hand the People’s Republic of China.
Or you could get a Fairlight Secan for a lot less. Which is probably a better bike for 90 percent of us.
Shimano, Hope, Hunt, Brooks and Fairlight still cheaper.
She’s a lot faster than me though, horses for courses.
@Motdoc the Secan is a lovely bike, no doubt. but it’s not really a “pointy end of a world champs race” bike