State 6061 Black Label All-Road
£1,691.66 (inc tax and shipping to UK) USA-designed graveller with its own groupset
Weight 11.1kg (L) Frame 6061 Aluminium Fork Carbon Gears State Bicycle Co. All-Road 1x 11-speed (11-42t, 42t) Brakes Black Label Hydro-Mechanical (cable actuated hydraulic) 160mm rotors Wheels 700c tubeless-compatible Finishing kit 110mm Alu 4-bolt stem, All-Road 1 Alu 18° flare handlebar, Alu 31.6mm seatpost, saddle, all Black Label; Vittoria Terreno Zero 38c tyres
State bikes earned a good reputation with their simple, affordable, urban and road steel bikes. They now also make all-road and gravel and offer aluminium and carbon frames too. The State 6061 is built around a well-finished 6061 aluminium frame and carbon fork.
With its slightly relaxed 72° head angle and 72.5° seat plus a stack of 608mm and reach of 383mm, the ride position is like a classic endurance bike. The longer 1,037mm wheelbase, adding tyre clearance and stability, makes the biggest difference.
Tyre clearance is an ample 45mm with 700c wheels (you can choose 650b with 50mm clearance, or order both sets of wheels for an extra $349.99 for more versatility). In fact, you can upgrade the wheels, groupset and forks and add suspension too.
As it comes, the fork legs have a single boss for a rack or mudguards while the frame has two bottle-cage mounts and mudguard bosses and that’s it. There’s semi-internal cable routing and the frame will take a 2x drivetrain.
Obscure groupset
This base model comes with an obscure and eclectic mix of parts including a Statebranded groupset from Sensah. Here, its
1 x 11 Empire drivetrain comprises a longcage rear mech with a ‘clutch’ (more like an internal adjustable spring tensioner so the ‘clutch’ is effectively always on) to calm chain chatter.
The 11-speed gearing is a wide 11-42 cassette and single 42-tooth chainring. It lacks a little at the fast end, especially on the road, but the 1:1 lightest gear is welcome on stiff off-road climbs. The 11 gears give a better spread than its 9- and 10-speed rivals here. There’s one lever for gear shifting, like SRAM’s mechanical double-tap system, but the whole lever swings to shift here.
State-branded brakes (with large 160mm rotors) are different to your average mechanical disc brake. They are a chunky cable-actuated flat-mount calliper with a single piston, which is a sealed hydraulic unit. State alloy rims are tubeless compatible and wrapped with classy Vittoria Terreno Zero 38c tubelessready tyres, the lowest tread pattern for hard-packed, dry conditions.
Up front it’s a State-branded 6061 alloy all-road bar which, at 42cm on the Large, is quite narrow, though the subtle flare
“The ride position is like a classic endurance bike, but it’s a good performer on gravel roads”
gives a wider spread on the drops. The 3D forged 6061 stem is neatly finished though the 110mm length on the Large gives a sportier, road-riding position. Out back, an old-school alloy seatpost is topped by State’s long, narrow Black Label saddle.
The Black Label is a solid performer. It rides quickly and carries its 11kg weight well on the road thanks to its endurancebike ride position and relatively slender (for a gravel bike) 38mm tyres with semislick treads. The low gear range meant pedalling at a higher cadence than usual for me, but I got used to it. When the road starts to rise, the 11-speed spread offers a good progression of gears right down to the steep-slope-friendly 1:1 42/42.
Adjustment needed
The State-branded drivetrain works well, but I had to adjust the cable tension as things settled in. Since then, the shifting has been easily a match for its rivals here. Similarly, the brakes had an on-off feel and required quite a lot of effort at the lever, but after some adjustment and bedding in, they worked well.
On gravel roads and byways the Black Label’s a good performer, but get into more rugged terrain and you can feel it through the narrow bar and thin bar tape. The carbon fork is good at reducing vibrations and the tyre volume helps, though. At the back, the seatpost is very stiff and combined with a long, flat race saddle it can’t mute vibrations very well. The tyres also struggle on rougher terrain when you need them to grip.
As an All-Road bike for poor roads and wide gravel roads, the State does a good job (it’s arguably the best of this bunch on the road). It’s well priced (at under £1,100 before shipping and tax, so here’s hoping they’ll start to ship it to their UK dealers) and has a competent specification.
Verdict This one’s much more of an All-Road option rather than a pure gravel bike