Ridley releases the Kanzo Fast, bringing its aero engineering prowess to off-road rides
As gravel bikes continue to be further segmented, Ridley today released its Kanzo Fast - a specialist, competitive gravel bike with integrated cabling, aero tubes and comfort seat stays in what the company is calling the “fastest gravel bike in the world.”
Conceived specifically for people who want to race over chunky, mixed surfaces, the bike borrows tubing technology developed for Ridley’s race-proven Noah Fast and downloads it into the Kanzo Fast with several notable features, including: F-Wings at the bottom of the front fork, integrated cables and a very stealthy set of aero bars, probably the bike’s most striking feature (see gallery). Several small tweaks have been made to existing Kanzo frame geometry to give the Fast bike reduced drag, even off-road.
"Gravel was immediately linked to comfort and bike packing, but more and more cyclists want to participate in Gravel Fondos. With the Kanzo Fast, cyclists have the ideal bike for their adventure," says Bert Kenens, product manager at Ridley. "The bike is reactive, amazing on technical courses. It's aerodynamic of an unseen level in the gravel world and it makes gravel rides of over 200km comfortable".
"Our tests in the wind tunnel show that you can easily save 17 Watts compared to an ordinary gravel bike. That's a lot of power you can use elsewhere in the race," Kenens explains.
Specs:
Available from 1 September
Frame Fork Set: 1190 gram (frame size MEDIUM, lacquered) and 490 grams (fork, lacquered)
Kanzo Fast with Forza Vardar wheels and Shimano GRX Di2: 8,55kg
Available in sizes XS to XL, with gravel geometry where the reach is shorter and stack higher
Handlebar - stem combinations from 38cm to 44cm and 9cm to 14cm available
Available for electronic and mechanical groups. One-By Only
Designed to fully integrate the innovative Classified shifting system without additional adjustments.
Standard collection available in SRAM Rival1, Shimano GRX 800 and Shimano GRX Di2 but also other sizes can be configured in the Dream Builder.
Tire clearance up to 42mm
Hopefully a ride review in the near future.