Ridley

X-Trail C30 Ultegra/105 Complete Bike - 2016

Ridley's X-Trail C30 wants you to know: it's not a gravel bike. In fact, it would prefer it if you didn't call it that. The recently-released X-Trail line instead occupies a category Ridley has dubbed "All Road," named such to convey this bike's goal of making more terrain accessible to more riders. Towards the top of the line sits the X-Trail C30 Ultegra/105 Complete Bike, built for racing 'cross, riding cross-country hardpack, and making rural chip-sealed roads a new part of your road rides.

With racing in mind, Ridley shapes the X-Trail C30's frame using ultralight unidirectional carbon, equipping the frame to offer quick accelerations and a stiff, responsive ride. Subtly asymmetrical, the Oryx Disc fork was carefully reinforced on the left leg to allow it to more efficiently bear twisting forces applied by disc brakes, and with a 15 x 100mm thru axle in front and a 12 x 142mm in the rear, the frame achieves confidence-inspiring stiffness throughout.

Ridley uses the X-Trail C30 as a melting pot to mix the geometries of its road racing and traditional, Euro 'cross frames. The end result resembles a road bike more than a classic cyclocross bike like the X-Night, with a lower bottom bracket, shorter chainstays, and a stack/reach combination that leaves riders in less of a shoulder-intensive, slammed racing position. In contrast to its road racing frames, Ridley extended the X-Trail C30's head tube by 10mm, bringing riders into a more upright position to accommodate longer training rides rather than racing exclusively. It's only slightly more aggressive than the Fenix, in fact, but unlike its endurance road cousin, the X-Trail is designed to be run with tires up to 40mm wide on more rugged terrain.

On this build kit, Ridley spec'd the X-Trail C30 with a combined Shimano 105 and Ultegra drivetrain, with a 105 front derailleur paired with an 11-speed Ultegra rear derailleur. Both demonstrate Shimano's unwavering durability and consistency, which you'll appreciate while shifting out of muddy, slick corners and powering up climbs in less-than-ideal conditions. Ridley wraps go-anywhere Challenge GravelGrinder tires around DTSwiss wheels to ferry you over ruts and bumps, while Shimano's flat mount, 105-tier hydraulic disc brakes stand by to provide rapid, dependable stopping power on the rare occasions you find yourself wanting to slow down.