This journal is about my Sarto Raso Gravel bike. I’ll keep it simple for those with short attention spans. I really love this f’ing bike. Read more to get an idea why.
It’s been just over a year since we introduced our prototype Sarto Raso Gravel. While I don’t have a ton of miles on it, around 600, we’ve already seen a good number of successes and progress on the initial platform. I have covered a lot of differing terrain on this bike; tarmac, smooth gravel, mud, nice singletrack, bad singletrack and double track. It's robust,
light enough, fits perfectly and is built by amazing people. It won UCI gravel races and landed 2nd place at the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, a very hard gravel stage race, by last year's main test rider and Marin local Skyler Taylor.
So, why get the Sarto over something else? The Sarto is most likely going to be more expensive than off the shelf bikes, it’s going to take a bit longer to get and it doesn’t get the recognition that some of the more brand conscious cyclists take into consideration when selecting their next bike.
For starters, I’m glad that it’s not known by the masses. I personally like something a bit different. But that is just a teeny part of why you should look at something like this. Based out of Treviso, Italy, the frame and seat post are made entirely by Enrico Sarto's team, in house. This bike is made for you, at the time of order it does not exist. It’s not sitting on a showroom floor, or in a box in a warehouse, or on a sale rack with someone desperately trying to sell it to make room for the next best-trendy-thing. For those of us with somewhat non-standard body dimensions, the fit will be perfect. Enrico can also tweak the geometry to better fit desired riding style.
Sarto also has a knack for innovation. They’ve developed a few things that are common on all bikes now, and some not so common like the tri composite option, where copper or titanium filament are woven into the top layer of carbon and enhances comfort (through better vibration damping) and durability of the frame. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, you can make it look exactly the way you like.
For my particular Sarto Raso Gravel, we built it with the tri-composite in green and kept everything else raw with a gloss clear coat on top. It has been ridden in some pretty rough conditions, lots of mud, wet sand, super rutted out trails and fire roads which has led to more than a few tumbles. The finish still looks like new except for a small rub spot on the chainstays that is pretty unavoidable when trudging through the slop. We also upgraded to the titanium bottom bracket shell for long term durability.
I forget the total weight, but I think it was in the low 18 pound range. Since these photos were taken we have swapped wheels to a set of prototypes that were testing from an unnamed source (launch date in mid April). They shed a good number of grams and also feel amazing so we’re counting the days to let you all know what they are. Regardless of the final weight, the bike rides really light. Feels super springy and explosive which is great on the short, rocky and rutted out steep inclines on my routes, but even better is how the bike feels on the paved sections. Due to the fact that the fit is almost the same as my Sarto Raso road bike, it feels at home on the smooth stuff. Some credit also has to go to the Tufo tires we were using. These are very fast and have enough grip to use in most situations, barring a full on mud fest, where honestly, they are pretty useless. Luckily, that is not so common around here so these can be a year around option.
This is a long term project for us (and Sarto) so there will likely be more thoughts to come. These bikes are not based on model years as this is going to be relevant for a long time. If you need even wider tires than the 47mm tires, get the Sarto Raso Gravel Wide. A new iteration of the Raso that will literally handle anything you throw at it.
If you like bikes that are built to last, win big races, make you smile and maybe make the less informed to scratch their heads wondering what a Sarto is exactly, then give us a shout and we’ll assist in enhancing your cycling experience.
- Chad
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