The 2026 Traka is proving to be a hotbed for fresh gravel bike tech, with Ridley debuting a new aero-optimised gravel race bike at the event in Girona.
The new bike’s key distinctive feature is the deep, slab-sided head tube, which is reminiscent of that seen on the Noah Fast 3.0 aero road race bike.
Generally, the front of a bike is considered the most important element to optimise for aerodynamics, given it plays a key role in how the air behaves over the rest of the bike (and the rider).
Doubling down on neat airflow, the seat tube of the new bike hugs the rear tyre, unlike the unreleased Canyon Grail CFR, which sports a cut-out lower section. Like the Canyon, though, the seatpost features a deep-D design.
That said, tyre clearance is clearly high and in keeping with the general trend for running wider tyres in gravel.
Belgian Bert Kenens’ ‘RS2’ we pictured was sporting 2.25in (57mm) Vittoria Peyote XC tyres on the also-wide Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheels, with a small amount of clearance to spare.
It’s a stretch to imagine the new bike could sport around 60mm tyres given the space left over, although it remains to be seen what Ridley says the official limit is.
The chainstays are shaped to fit around wider XC tyres as they meet the bottom-bracket area.
Interestingly, the fork crown and leg width appear less prominent than the forks we’ve spotted on the unreleased Grail CFR – clearly, Ridley feels this isn’t an avenue to exploit for aero gain.
The underside of the fork crown is flattened (as is the underside of the dropped seatstay ‘bridge’), which could be an attempt to optimise for the knobbled profile of gravel and MTB tyres.
We’re not seeing any mounting points for mudguards or racks here, but the frame sports a down-tube storage port accessible without removing the bottle cage.
The bike is also 'missing' luggage mount points on the top tube or on the interior of the tubes. Kenens had strap-on storage bags fitted – it's feasible Ridley has sought to keep the frame weight down by not including mounting points.
Up top, this bike is running an in-house Forza one-piece aero cockpit, with a significant in-toe to the levers.
Speaking to our tech editor Simon von Bromley in Girona, Ridley said the new bike had no prescribed launch date confirmed, but would become available eventually. Stay tuned for that news when it lands.
