Cinelli King Zydeco 2 Apex review: a great gravel all-rounder at a great price, but the braking could be better

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Cinelli’s second-generation King Zydeco takes the go-fast-everywhere design principle behind the original and strips back the mounts to drop weight. The new bike gets a UDH rear dropout, aerodynamic tube shapes and an aero seatpost.

An all-new frame construction and dedicated one-piece gravel cockpit result in a 15% reduction in overall weight.

The King Zydeco 2 is, in Cinelli’s words, "perfect for UCI gravel races, ultra-distance racing, fast mixed terrain rides, and winter training".

That sounds like a one-bike-for-all solution to me. If it lives up to its billing, it could be one of 2025’s best buys.

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Cinelli King Zydeco 2 frame details

The frame and fork are built around Cinelli’s ‘double response system’, designed to increase stiffness in the lower half of the frame. 

If you draw a line from the top of the head tube down to the rear dropout, everything below the line is optimised for stiffness. Everything above the line is constructed to bring more compliance, according to the brand.

It’s most obvious when you compare the above-the-line skinny flattened seatstays with the thick, boxy chainstays below the line.

Up front, it's designed around FSA’s ACR 1x1.5in headset, which enables the brake hoses to be routed through the frame and fork, greatly aiding aerodynamic efficiency, even more so when combined with the King Zydeco 2’s dedicated one-piece carbon bar and stem.

The bottom bracket shell is press-fit 86.5x41mm compatible, and the frame is compatible with both 1x and 2x drivetrains. Our 1x setup comes with a blanking plate over the front derailleur mount.

The frame has twin bottle mounts and bento box mounts on the top tube. These are hidden behind a plate when not in use.

Tyre clearance is 45mm, and the disc brake flat mounts are compatible with rotor sizes up to 160mm. The seatpost is a dedicated aero post with a hidden clamp that can be flipped for a 10 or 20mm offset.

The minimal fittings mean there’s no in-frame storage. Cinelli has chosen weight reduction over a storage port.

With a claimed weight of 1,000g for the frame (medium) and 456g for the fork, and adding the new proprietary all-road cockpit, the King Zydeco 2 is 400g lighter than the original King Zydeco.

Cinelli King Zydeco 2 geometry

For the King Zydeco 2, Cinelli has added an XS size, with a 45cm seat tube and an effective 52cm top tube.

My large test bike is the equivalent of a 58cm, with a 72-degree head angle and a 72.5-degree seat tube angle.

The 45mm tyre clearance is modest by modern gravel bike standards.

The 1,042mm wheelbase and 430mm chainstays are designed to add stability at speed, and the 52mm fork offset, when combined with the 38mm-wide tyres, makes for a 57mm trail figure, not something we’d expect on a gravel bike. It’s much more akin to a road race bike.

It should make for a quick-handling bike, both on the road and off.

Cinelli King Zydeco 2 build

The King Zydeco 2 is priced modestly compared to most pure-bred gravel race bikes, with a SRAM Apex XPLR AXS drivetrain.

Apex XPLR differs from its more expensive stablemates in that it uses a Shimano HG freehub-compatible cassette with a 12-speed 11-44 tooth range.

The rear derailleur is a standard fitment, rather than the full-mount found on higher-level groupsets, although Cinelli’s choice of a UDH dropout means it's compatible with a later upgrade should you wish.

It opens more wheel/hub options, especially at the lower end. The SRAM Apex brakes are combined with Tektro rotors – 160mm at the front and 140mm at the rear.

Up front, Cinelli’s own Allroad one-piece bar and stem comes with a 42cm width (measured centre-to-centre) and an effective 100mm stem. The top section is straight, deep and flat, combined with a shallow drop with a very subtle flare.

Mavic’s aluminium Allroad wheels weigh in at 1,890g a pair (claimed) and come tubeless-ready with a hooked 23mm internal width. The Mavic hubs feature Mavic’s Instant Drive 360 freehub for a quick 9-degree engagement angle.

The wheels are shod with Schwalbe’s G-One tyres, which have a tightly packed tread. The 38mm width is slim by current gravel specifications, although it's a width that will work well on the road as well as off it.

Finishing the build is Cinelli’s own dedicated aero seatpost with adjustable offset (10 or 20mm), topped with Prologo’s Dimension saddle and matching Prologo bar tape.

Cinelli King Zydeco 2 ride impressions

The King Zydeco 2 is a blast to ride over the right terrain. Its performance on the road when heading for the trails is road-bike rapid; the frame and fork are firm yet forgiving, and the relatively slender tyres feel fast on tarmac, with no lack of grip or squirming in the corners. 

When it comes to gravel riding, the King Zydeco 2 revels in being ridden on dry, hard-packed, wide gravel roads. The frameset's firm yet forgiving character on tarmac is amplified here. 

It’s remarkably smooth on unmetalled surfaces for a bike with ‘only’ 38mm-wide tyres.

My testing was carried out through one of the driest and warmest summers on record here in the UK. That meant hard-packed dirt; great if the trail dried out when smooth, but not quite so much if I was riding on a bridleway with deep horse tracks. 

It was on this kind of choppy surface that the King Zydeco 2 struggled. The fast handling and light-feeling front end that works so well on tarmac and smoother gravel roads translates here to a front wheel that gets bounced around.

It becomes quite the challenge to maintain pace and keep tracking straight.

When the trails turned technical, I expected the King Zydeco 2 to again become something of a handful. I was pleasantly surprised that it was better than I expected. Yes, the steeper front end and short trail mean the steering is quick and can be smacked off-line, but the bike can keep a decent flow when riding twisting, turning singletrack. 

The compliance in the frame where it’s needed helps maintain a good balance. It needs some encouragement to get through heavily rooted and rocky sections, but the bike feels flickable; it’s easy to whip the back end up and over obstacles, as well as lean heavily into corners and natural berms without fear of the back end breaking traction.

The 40x 11-44t gearing is a solid choice, with a wide range, and a lightest gear delivering less than a 1:1 ratio, which is ideal to keep you pedalling when the trail ahead gets seriously steep. 

The Apex XPLR AXS shifting is solid and accurate, and only on occasion did I get a slight delay on upshifts or a bit of chain noise as the gear settled.

While it’s certainly not as slick as the direct-mount shifting from new Red XPLR AXS found on its more expensive rivals, it's still streets ahead of mechanical gravel drivetrains when it comes to consistent, accurate shifts.

Where the King Zydeco struggled was in braking. On some fast descents, I found the power wanting, and a slightly soft feel all the way through the lever travel. That wasn't something I expected, because I have Apex hydraulics on my bike and have always been impressed by the power and feel. 

Here, however, the SRAM brakes are paired with Tektro disc rotors, and they don’t gel as well as they should. I can’t help but think an upgrade to SRAM rotors would be the easiest fix.

Cinelli King Zydeco 2 bottom line

I originally tested the King Zydeco II in a three-way head-to-head with Cervélo's latest Áspero 5 and Wilier's refined Rave SLR ID2. The biggest compliment I can pay the Zydeco is that it wasn't outclassed in this company, despite having a price tag that’s less than half of its nearest rival.

It’s a fun bike to ride fast; it is great on the road and on smoother gravel. The frameset is refined, very well finished and looks good, too. As a race option, I can see it working well for less technical, longer-distance events. As your only bike, it’d be a superb all-rounder.

It deserves better braking performance, and its modest 45mm tyre clearance could be an issue if you ride in muddy conditions or head way off-road.

If you’ve space for only one bike in your life, this could be it – especially if you're more inclined to ride off-road than on.

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