GT

Grade Alloy 105 Complete Road Bike - 2016

It's becoming easier and easier to buy a bike that isn't just designed for one specific discipline within cycling, and the fact that aluminum has remained relevant through the rise of carbon has only served to make these new, versatile frames more accessible. When GT uses the lightweight, responsive material with its endurance road designs, you get a bike that's dependable and ready to go anywhere with plenty of snappy power transfer when you need it. GT's Grade Alloy 105 Complete Road Bike combines the best of road-ready geometry with the off-road spirit GT is known for to create a bike that's comfortable on a wide range of terrain.

GT uses its iconic Triple Triangle design to take advantage of aluminum's innate stiffness, and it alleviates the harshness aluminum is known for by using its Grade carbon fork to dampen chatter. The peculiar seatstay design serves to keep road vibrations from traveling directly up the seat post. Stiffer seatstays also improve the Grade Alloy's acceleration whether you're navigating stoplights in town or pedaling hard uphill through gravel. GT expects you to take this bike off-road, so it designed the frame with extra tire clearance to accommodate knobby tires for exploring trails and light singletrack, as well as a low bottom bracket height to add stability on uncertain surfaces.

Staying with the frame's theme of rock-solid, affordable materials, GT outfits the Grade Alloy with an 11-speed Shimano 105 drivetrain to provide clean, consistent shifting. The Shimano 105 brake levers control the reliable TRP Hyrd mechanical/hydraulic disc brakes, which are becoming increasingly common on road bikes, and the blend of mechanical and hydraulic controls makes them easier to maintain yourself. GT includes an FSA Omega Mega Mega EXO Semi-Compact crankset on the Grade Alloy, which offers a compromise between a standard and compact crankset at 50/34t. It's designed to adapt quickly whether you're riding at tempo on the flats or trying to keep your cadence up on a steep grade. GT rounds out the design of the Grade Alloy 105 with Alex's ATD470 disc-specific wheels paired with durable Continental Ultra Sport II tires.