Market: With the OPEN UPPER, a new, super-light and universal gravel bike sees the light of day. Thanks to its versatile geometry and ample tire clearance, the UPPER can be ridden with 700c Cross or Gravel tires up to 40mm, but 27,5″ tires with a width of up to 2.1″ also fit in the frame. The new carbon bike is based on the well-known OPEN UP, but has been further developed and improved in some details. Among other things, the weight drops to less than 900g.
The Swiss from OPEN are known for bold concepts far from the mainstream and have been able to set off one or the other trend in the past. For example, when the UP was presented, the idea of an extremely universal "GravelPlus" bike was still completely new: Thanks to ample tire clearance, you can ride everything from cross tires to narrow MTB tires and have a two-wheeled jack of all trades in your fleet. There are now a few such bikes for sale and OPEN is also following suit: With the UPPER, the next evolutionary stage of the all-rounder has now been introduced, so to speak.
In addition to the geometry, there is of course also freedom from tires and thus the universal character of the gravel bike. What is new, however, is the carbon layup, with which the weight in size M could be reduced to an impressive 870g. However, the slimming diet is not at the expense of stability - on the contrary: according to OPEN, the rigidity could even be slightly increased. The paintwork is also new - here the focus is on understatement instead of shrill colors and offers a timeless variant with a plain black design.
The fork is also completely new. This is called OPEN U-turn and, like the frame itself, is a lot lighter than its predecessor. It's still 375 grams; but as with the frame, the rigidity could be further increased despite the lower weight. Another interesting thing about the fork is the brake mount: Although its basic features correspond to the Flatmount standard, the details have been adapted to the basic concept of the UPPER. The brake caliper is screwed directly onto the fork from the front without an adapter. So you have to do without the option for a 140mm disc on the front, which is pointless anyway on gravel bikes, but you still get an incomparably clean look.
Of course, so much high-tech comes at a price: the OPEN UPPER frame set costs €4.500 and will be available later this month.