Whether riding road or gravel, we love speed. So everything on the RaceMax frame is engineered for that. The end result is a fast gravel bike that:
Best of all, the very same RaceMax frame can be built up with a focus on pure speed with 35-46mm WAM tires in 700c or it can also be turned into an unstoppable machine with very wide 650b tires up to 61mm WAM. Handy for that epic ride or trip abroad. And with two wheelsets, you can switch between the two setups easily. That’s RaceMax.
Running cables internally can be nice and potentially reduce aero drag, but what is the point if you end up with a very wide and bulky headtube with oversized bearings to house the cables?
Our goal was to hide the cables but keep the headtube narrow. Quite the puzzle but the result is stunning.
To top it off, the cables hide inside the 3T Apto Integrale, using the original minimalist Apto shape but with cable guidance. Beauty meets functionality as this gives you full adjustability of the carbon bar (or even the possibility to change the bar with another 3T carbon bar) to find the perfect fit. Because aerodynamics are meaningless if you cannot comfortably hold your aero position.
RaceMax (Integrale) is compatible with SRAM and Shimano electronic drivetrains, both 2x and 1x.
For more information see MANUAL
IT ALL STARTS WITH THE TIRES
To make the fastest possible gravel bike, you need to start with the tire. Tire choice determines comfort & grip. But it also determines how you can shape the frame to redirect the airflow.
To aerodynamically engineer the frame around the tires, you need to know what their REAL measurements are. Not what’s on the label, but how they really fit. That’s REALFAST aerodynamics. But it’s not easy, as the tire dimension depends on the rim you use, the pressure and of course how accurate the manufacturer’s claimed size is.
So we took hundreds of measurements to know the real tire widths (which we call WAM - Width As Measured and RAM - Radius As Measured) and use that to engineer the frame around.
Please note that running a front derailleur (especially an electronic version) will limit the tire width you can fit.
REALFAST AERODYNAMICS
Starting from our favorite tires, we then engineered a perfectly fitting rear wheel cutout (with mud clearance of course) and a closely trailing downtube to catch the airflow coming off the front tire. We added a super-narrow headtube (yet with a big steerer inside it), a multi-shape fork and aero details from seatstay to seatpost and from the shielded water bottle to the direct-attachment brake mounts.
Most importantly, we engineered this for realistic riding speeds, wind speeds, tire widths, bottle positions and even for mud. We don’t care if it is theoretically fast in the windtunnel with a fantasy spec. We care if it is fast the way you ride it in real world conditions.
