Review: 2024 Ridley Astr RS mixes aero gains, ultralight weight & wide adventure tires in a versatile gravel race bike if you can afford it…
Ridley’s Astr RS is a lighter, faster, fatter-tired gravel race bike than the Belgian bike builder has ever made. It’s a premium race-ready carbon gravel bike that I’d also be happy to ride as my go-to for casual gravel riding, too. I’ve tested a lot of gravel bikes, including the 3 Ridley gravel models that this one mashes up – theIt’s significantly lighter, much more versatile, and the most comfortable of the bunch – on par with the ADV on that last one.
The bonus counterpoint to the increased bottom bracket height, the Astr RS has 13mm lower frame Stack than the Kanzo Fast, which brings weight distribution back down, and decreases the rider’s profile into the wind. Fit-wise, I’m quite flexible, so I appreciated that lower Stack, and probably would have cut another cm off the steerer tube if it was my personal bike.A lot of bikes focused on racing seem to require constant attention to keep them in control and going fast.
➕ Fatter tires simply offer better traction, improved control, and more all-day comfort. A couple of years ago I would have said that 50mm tires were unnecessarily heavy and stiff feeling, but there simply are so many great high-volume tires available now that going wider is a much easier decision to make.
➖ But, the high price is really hard to bear here. With a frameset selling for 5000€ and the cheapest complete bikes from 7300€, there simply are many much more affordable gravel bikes that are still race-ready. ➖ One of the things I don’t really like about my Ridley Astr RS test bike was the long 110mm x 400mm wide unflared cockpit, with a kinda deep 130mm drop & 75mm reach. I still get the feeling that Ridley is a bit old school in their fitting long stems and longer bars to their dropbar bikes. But this doesn’t really have to be a minus, because…
➕ Custom colors are a great way to make your bike unique, too! If you keep the standard design, picking your favorite from 37 single colors doesn’t even cost any more. Or for 400-700€ more you can get even more creative. The only downside being that it will slightly delay how fast you get your new bike.
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