BIKE SPECS

Frame Open UP

Groupset Shimano Ultegra Di2

Wheelset Mavic Equipe Pro SL Tubeless

Tyres WTB Riddler 42 mm

Price € 5 490,00

Weight ?

OPEN UP in Girona.

So what do you do when you are in the gravel capital of the world for a week end and you dont have your own bike with you… You ride what you never tried out before. In this case it was an OPEN UP.

I am not going to get into the parts that are on this bike. Open has only now started with complete bikes. This set up has a lot of no goes, but like I said, we are testing the frame and how it rides, not the parts. I was happy to find a bike in my size for the week end anyway.

The bike was speced with an Ultegra GRX Di2 mix 1 x 11 with was perfect for the sometimes tricky single tracks in Girona. The wheel set was Mavic UST  Tubeless ready, also a must with Gironas stony terrain.

On the first day we headed out towards the coast. First over a couple of steep hills to get out of Girona, followed by wide gravel highways through rolling hills. I was super excited about this bike, wondering what is so special about an Open for 3,5k, expecting that wow, this is cool or awesome this is ridig on the climbs, must have a super power transmission.. but none of that came back to me. I tried riding the climbs in a bigger gear, pressing into the frame so see if I can feel a difference. Took the decends a bit quicker to check the handling, but nothing came back. No wow, no cool, no… “what a ride!”. The comfort was good but that was about it. I could not check the weight, but I am guessing it must have been about 8,5kg.

The second day was special. Single tracks around Girona, steep, rocky and fast downhill sections. The comfort on the downhill sections came in handy over the rocky sections and I was glad that I had tubeless tyres on my ride. After the first decent I let out a bit of pressure which helped but I was expecting a bit of added stiffness on the sharp climbs..nothing. All quite normal.

The Open Up was painted in a very cool colour way and helped me get over or down everything, but it performed like a regular carbon frame. I cant tell you how many bike I have ridden in the past 35 years as a cyclist. It does´nt take much to feel the comfort, stability or lightness. The frame offered more comfort that an alloy frame, which it should and less stability which it should´nt.

We all owe Open a lot, they are the Godfathers of Gravel, but a frame with fairly unique design should offer a more advanced riding experience.