{"id":36365,"date":"2022-05-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=36365"},"modified":"2022-05-17T10:36:20","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T08:36:20","slug":"bombtrack-audax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/2022\/05\/13\/bombtrack-audax\/","title":{"rendered":"Bombtrack Audax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
ENDURANCE<\/span><\/h5>\n\n

Bombtrack Audax<\/h2>\n\n

\u00a32,750<\/span> And now for something completely different…<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Weight <\/strong>11.13kg (L) Frame <\/strong>Columbus Cromor steel Fork <\/strong>Carbon Gears <\/strong>Shimano 105\/Ultegra RX 48\/32, 11-34 Brakes <\/strong>Shimano 105 disc Wheels <\/strong>WTB ST i25 650b Finishing <\/strong>kit <\/strong>Ritchey stem, bar and seatpost, Bombtrack Comp saddle, 650×47 WTB Horizon\/Byway tyres<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
<\/div>
\n

The Good <\/strong>
Luxurious ride quality; thrilling downhiller; very different<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bad<\/strong>
Not light; roadie purists won\u2019t approve; very different <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

47<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The width in millimetres of the Audax\u2019s WTB 650b tyres. The front Byway is lightly treaded, while the rear Horizon is virtually slick<\/p>\n\n

105<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Shimano 105 dominates, but there\u2019s an Ultegra RX rear mech and the crankset is Bombtrack\u2019s own with 48\/32 chainrings<\/p>\n\n

11.13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The weight of the Bombtrack Audax in kilograms. A steel frame is never going to be as light as a carbon \u2013 or an aluminium \u2013 frame<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

THE BOMBTRACK AUDAX, <\/strong>with its big-clearance steel frame, 650b wheels and huge, 47mm-wide road tyres, seems at odds with its long-distance \u2018Audax\u2019 moniker. However, it transpires it\u2019s a bike that lives up to its roadie roots, but from a different perspective\u2026<\/p>\n\n

The heart of the bike is a tidy TIGwelded Columbus Cromor double-butted chromoly steel frame. It\u2019s complemented by a full-carbon fork, which features twin mounts and mudguard mounts on the fork legs. It tapers down nicely from the chimney-shaped tapered head tube. The skinny steel tubes route cables and hoses externally, and the frame has both toptube \u2018bento box\u2019 mounts and twin downtube bottle placement, as you\u2019d expect of a bikepacking machine. It also has a \u2018proper\u2019 bridge for rear guards and rack mounts.<\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s completed with a great mix of parts.<\/p>\n\n

The Comp-level Ritchey 4-Axis stem and Streem II handlebar form a smart cockpit.<\/p>\n\n

The bar has an ergo-shaped compact drop and nicely flattened top sections with a rearward sweep that puts your wrists in a comfortable position. I found it ideal for endurance riding.<\/p>\n\n

The drivetrain\u2019s also well thought-out, featuring a mix of Shimano 105, Ultegra RX and Bombtrack. The brakes, front derailleur and shifters are 105, and there\u2019s a rarely seen clutchequipped Ultegra RX rear derailleur sliding up and down a broad 11-34 cassette. It\u2019s driven by Bombtrack\u2019s own well-finished crankset with an \u2018adventure\u2019-sized 48\/32 chainring pairing. Gear changes were crisp and clean and the brakes smooth and progressive \u2013 and silent \u2013 even in some truly horrid weather conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The wheels are based around WTB\u2019s broad St i25 rims in a 650b size, built onto Bombtrack\u2019s own cartridge-bearing hubs.<\/p>\n\n

The tyres are also from WTB, in the form of its 47mm lightly treaded front-specific Byway tyre and virtually slick Horizon rear. The rims and tyres are tubeless-ready.<\/p>\n\n

Yes, the Audax is practical, with its wealth of fittings, comfortable yet tough tyres and buoyant steel frame. It is, however, also an absolute blast to ride. The big-volume tyres make mincemeat of poor surfaces and the 650b wheels accelerate quickly in combination with the compact gearing. On climbs, those big tyres and smaller wheels require more of an aerobic effort than out-of-the-saddle dash. But that combo makes every downhill exhilarating, the tyres affording excellent grip and making every descent a test of courage rather than equipment. On the downside, the Bombtrack saddle, with its long, narrow and very firm shape, is at odds with the rest of the bike\u2019s character.<\/p>\n\n

If I was riding an epic, time-windowed event, Bombtrack\u2019s leftfield approach would put the Audax high up on my list of bikes. It smooths horrid riding surfaces, is more than quick enough on rolling terrain and what you lose with its plodding climbing you\u2019ll more than make up on the descents. If you\u2019re the sort of endurance rider who\u2019s interested in PBs and Strava KOMs, the Audax isn\u2019t for you. But if you\u2019re interested in every ride being fun-filled and in fine comfort, then look no further.<\/p>\n\n

Warren Rossiter <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

Verdict <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

A study in endurancebike design from those not constrained by expectations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a32,750 And now for something completely different…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"64","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"64","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_64-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_64-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"July-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"July-2022","purple_external_id":"July-2022-64-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"July-2022-64-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000111757||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000111757||","purple_android_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_ios_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"d6ad2395-23ab-4326-a10d-940b8b948490","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-05-17T08:36:24Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"a422ef05-a975-4ff9-8827-80c8b48669eb","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-05-17T08:36:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ApCLvBal1T_mIJ4DItIZp6w","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[146],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM.jpg",1870,2048,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM-274x300.jpg",274,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM-768x841.jpg",768,841,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM-935x1024.jpg",800,876,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM-1403x1536.jpg",1403,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/A49O61T052KA505782DV40Y6W8MM.jpg",1870,2048,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\u00a32,750 And now for something completely different...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36365"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49155,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36365\/revisions\/49155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}