What’s your definition of an entry level bike? Probably something that is fairly cheap – a low risk purchase that won’t break the bank if you decide you don’t like it.
3T seems to have a slightly different view – in comparison to most of the rest of its range, the new SRAM Rival specced Exploro gravel bike is relatively good value, but we aren’t sure we can really describe it as “entry level”.
The Exploro
We’ve talked about 3T’s gravel bike before – most recently it was to talk about a top end, SRAM AXS version. At the heart of each of these bikes is the Exploro frameset. It was “the worlds first aero gravel frameset” when it was launched, and has now gone through a couple of rounds of tweaks to settle on the current offering. We’ve covered this in more detail here.
The frameset was available in two carbon lay ups – the Team and LTD version. This has now been joined by the Pro. There aren’t frame weights available on the 3T spec sheet, but we would assume it’s a little heavier and uses a less complicated carbon lay up.
At the moment, there’s only one full bike available with this frame. The Exploro Pro Rival uses a full SRAM Rival 1x groupset, and is the only bike in the Exploro line up to use 700c wheels (it still has clearance for high volume 650b wheels if you’d rather).
Back to the price
€3599 is not entry level (we are checking the £ pricing at the moment, but expect something close to the euro numbers). It’s more than many will ever spend on a bike. It is in line with some brands most expensive models. What it does mean though, is if you have a hankering for a 3T, but haven’t previously been able to justify the even bigger numbers for its highest end models, now might be the time to take another look.
If that’s you, the full spec is available here.