New gravel bike from Bird Cycleworks

Do you know length of chain stay on Aerelon frame?

Looks good, keen price…but gravel covers a large spectrum and I want something on the new Camino / fustle causeway side of things ie more geared towards the off road, rather than this which appears to be more road end of the spectrum. Wish Bird well though and sure it will sell well.

All models feature Ergon carbon flex posts for enhanced rider comfort

Does this allude to the frame being stiff as hell?

Please can you do a build without electric gears…

Pricing looks to be for committed gravellers. I was half expecting it to tempt gravel curious MTBers getting their first drop bar bike.

Not a Bird specific matter, but the mid build is £4k and with a few clicks to complete an Aeris AM that’s the same price. The latter has a suspension linkage, suspension fork, and shock. Where’s the money going in gravel and road bikes?

Does this allude to the frame being stiff as hell?

No it’s pretty comfy with a regular post, but I think the ergon is worth it as it’s not only comfier, but it helps smooth the pedal action on rougher ground too. We’re only the second company to offer it as standard spec I believe.

Where’s the money going in gravel and road bikes?

Drive and wheels mainly. The mid range has the equivalent of very high end carbon wheels and x0 transmission drive… But with a power meter in the crank too. In equivalent terms the aeris am would need to have our top end carbon wheels and x0 transmission, with everything else maxxed out. That would be high 5s, so £1750 maybe for a more complex frame, shock and fork, seems about right. Don’t underestimate how high spec that mid price model is. You’d not struggle to find big name bikes with lesser specs for many thousands more. Then you’d be right to question where does the money go…

Fair, absolved. The question remains for big name brands.

There’s my bit of customer insight for you – MTB customer doesn’t know what the heck is the Deore and XTR/X0 of the road/gravel world.

At some point I want a winter road / light gravel bike to replace my trusty Genesis CDA. I’ll be after something on the more road oriented end of the gravel spectrum that won’t be too much of a slouch on the tarmac, that I can fit guards too rather than a rigid Mtb with flared drops, this looks ideal.

The price to spec ratio is indisputably phenomenal.

If this has a reasonably generous Stack in XL then all boxes ticked and I’d buy it now.

Looks absolutely top notch. And as for headset cable routing it’s a complete non-issue, I really can’t understand the fuss. It’s no more of a faff than setting up tubless compared to using tubes – i.e. what was once a 10 minute job is now a 30 minute job, except you only need to change your headset bearings once in a blue moon.

It’s no more of a faff than setting up tubless compared to using tubes –

You make an interesting point. I would argue tubeless with the right tools is easier than tubed (no pinching the tube, struggling to keep it in the rim bed etc.) and likewise headset routing is very easy compared to ported – just shove the hose in the back of the bike and push it up until it pops out the headset, slip on the bearings spacers and pop the stem on to hold it all together stem and viola; your hoses are routed and held into exactly the place that you want them to be for taping to the bars. No worrying about is the hose long enough/too long, you just put on a single holding wrap of electrical tape, cut to the correct length and fit the brakes before taping.

Headset bearing changes are more of a faff of course. Hence why every bike/frame comes with headset bearings costing £50 each with a lifetime corrosion warranty. We don’t expect many bearing changes.

No plans for an Apex Axs or an a la carte option like the mtbs?

No plans for an Apex Axs or an a la carte option like the mtbs?

No – Apex AXS won’t drop enough from the price to warrant it on its own, and we didn’t want to compromise on the other parts, so it would mean more stock but actually very little differentiation.

We’re not offering a lot of customisation on this model because we’re not planning on bringing in too much stock to keep the price right down. Sized things (bars/stem/cranks/saddle/grip) and tyres will be options as we feel those are the things that must be right on a bike for it to be just right for you, the rest is fixed.

Potentially a very expensive bike for me, the bike price is fine it’s the divorce it might trigger that would really push the price up.