Test: With the Drössiger RSA Street 1, we tested a high-quality urban bike. Thanks to the wide range of assembly options, it proved to be amazingly versatile, the agile handling and the customizable paint finish are other positive aspects.
Drössiger RSA Street 1: frame and geometry
As usual in this bike class, Drössiger also uses aluminum as the frame material for the RSA Street. The last gram doesn't matter here anyway, and anyone who uses the bike regularly in city traffic will definitely appreciate the insensitive material. Especially since bikes like the RSA Street show that you can still build really light frames with aluminium: a little over 1.800g is a very good value for a bike like the RSA Street.
If you take a look at Drössiger's website, you will see that the RSA Street is classified as an urban bike with a focus on street. Although the design and features are geared towards this area of application, they still offer significantly more leeway. The bike comes in all equipment variants with permanently mounted mudguards, lighting including hub dynamo and the QL2 holder for bicycle bags, which is elegantly integrated into the design and can carry up to 16kg per side. This means that the Drössiger RSA Street can easily be used as a daily driver for commuters, despite its clean and minimalist appearance. Thanks to threaded eyelets on the fork and seat stays, a 'full' luggage rack can be mounted at the rear as well as at the front and the RSA Street becomes a randonneur. Mounting options for two bottle holders round off the universal overall picture.
A special feature at Drössiger is the individual color design: The colors for the frame/fork, for the lettering and, in the case of the RSA Street, even for the mudguards can be selected in the online configurator. From this, the website generates a code with which you can then order exactly this configuration from the Drössiger dealer. This service is free of charge, with the exception of the powder coating of the fenders - this has an additional cost of €49,00.
The geometry of the Drössiger RSA Street 1 strikes a healthy balance between sportiness and comfort. The top tube is certainly a bit longer than on most other urban bikes, but the long head tube ensures that the riding position is not too stretched out. The choice of a relatively short stem is interesting: This contributes to the agility of the RSA Street, but reduces the smoothness a little; Anyone who has always been on the road with long stems >80mm will have to get used to it for a while.
Geometry Drössiger RSA Street 1
| Wide base | Wide base | Wide base | Wide base | Wide base | |
| seat tube (in mm) | 450 | 490 | 530 | 570 | 610 |
| Top tube horizontal (in mm) | 570 | 580 | 590 | 595 | 605 |
| head tube (in mm) | 155 | 175 | 175 | 195 | 195 |
| chainstay (in mm) | 440 | 440 | 440 | 440 | 440 |
| Wheelbase (in mm) | 1055 | 1065 | 1075 | 1085 | 1095 |
| Steering angle (in °) | 70.5 | 70.5 | 70.5 | 70.5 | 70.5 |
| Seat angle (in °) | 73 | 73 | 73 | 73 | 73 |
Drössiger RSA Street 1: Amenities
| Frame | RS Lite tapered |
| Fork | RS Lite tapered aluminum |
| Wheels | Mach1 Neo Disc / Shimano XT |
| Tires | Schwalbe Marathon Supreme Evo 37mm |
| Derailleur | Shimano XT RD-T8000 |
| Shifter | Shimano XT SL-T8000 |
| Crank | Shimano XT FC-T8000 26/36/48 |
| Front derailleur | Shimano XT FD-T8000 |
| Brake | Shimano BR-M615 |
| Lighting | Supernova E3 |
| Seatpost | Zeroe Comp |
| Saddle | Selle Italia ZOO |
| Stem | Zeroe Comp |
| Handlebar | Zeroe Comp 690mm |
In the test we had the top model Drössiger RSA Street 1, which convinces with consistently high-quality equipment at an RRP of €1.699. The drive, for example, relies entirely on Shimano's XT T8000 trekking group. The triple crank still has its right to exist in a wide range of applications such as that of the RSA Street and in combination with the 11-34 10-speed cassette you get a very large range and small gear steps. We find it commendable that the shifters and the front derailleur also come from Shimano's XT group - other manufacturers often save here and the shifters in particular have a significant influence on the shifting quality.
The brakes are also made by Shimano. All models of the RSA Street series use hydraulic disc brakes, in the case of the RSA Street 1 the BR-M615 from the Deore series. With 180/160mm discs (front/rear) they bring more than enough braking power and are also among the most low-maintenance disc brakes currently available. We find it interesting that Drössiger has opted for the sporty 1-finger version for the brake levers. This could take some time to get used to for those who are switching to rim brakes.
The wheels consist of Mach1 Neo rims and XT hubs. On the front wheel, the new DH-T8000 hub dynamo produces the electricity for the Supernova lighting system. The E3 Pro2 headlight at the front is unobtrusively mounted in the middle of the handlebars, the wiring is hidden inside the frame. The very compact E3 Tail Light 2 rear light is mounted directly on the mudguard and is therefore hardly noticeable during the day, even if in our case it stands out clearly from the rest of the bike in terms of color. Speaking of mudguards: The Racktime Wingee are made of aluminium, are robust, don't rattle and do their job unobtrusively. With the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme with a width of 37mm (more is not possible in combination with the mudguards), you also rely on one of the best urban tires available.
In the cockpit, the rather short stem is noticeable for such a bike, the 690mm wide riser handlebars, like the seat post, come from Zeroe and are visually and technically rather inconspicuous. At first glance, the ergo grips from Herrmans appear a bit angular and not very ergonomic - an impression that should be confirmed in the test.
Drössiger RSA Street 1: Driving Report
We rode the Drössiger RSA Street for several weeks, mainly in city traffic, but we also tackled a longer tour on forest highways and gravel paths once in a while. The seating position is – as the geometry data already suggested – sporty and touring. For our taste, everything has been done right here, because a sitting position that was too upright and comfortable would not have done justice to the sporty orientation of the bike. But don't worry: Thanks to the long head tube and the short stem, you don't feel like you're on the rack at all, despite the rather long top tube.
There is really very little to say about the equipment, except: it works! The XT drive and the Shimano brakes did their job reliably and without complaint at all times. The triple crank at the front is a matter of taste. Although this offers a significantly larger bandwidth compared to 3-way or 2-way circuits, the switching effort also increases. For the broad area of application of the RSA Street, however, the decision for 1-fold is understandable and should satisfy (almost) everyone. The Supernova lighting ensures safe driving even in the dark. For our taste, the small rear light should be a little more visible to the side. There were no surprises when it came to the tyres: the Marathon Supreme Evo once again confirmed their reputation as very good all-rounders. With the minimalist profile, they feel most comfortable on asphalt, but with an adapted driving style, gravel roads are also no problem.
Despite all the positive impressions, we still found a hair in the soup: The handles didn't convince us. On the one hand, we felt the shape was not very ergonomic and very restrictive in terms of hand position, on the other hand, they quickly became slippery when wet and offered little grip.
