3T Exploro Racemax
Gets your mind, and legs, racing with possibilities
IMatthew Pioro
headed to the trails of the local ravines with the 3T Exploro Racemax. They follow creeks and rivers and thin ribbons of nature that my sprawling city has left mostly alone. After a summer of longer, harder road rides, I wanted a switch for fall. I was all about jaunts, up and down short, steep inclines on as much uneven terrain that I could find. Call it gnar-light if you will. The Exploro Racemax was the perfect bike for the jaunts.
The bike, which debuted i n June 2020, i s a versatile one. Like its category-making sibling, the Exploro, the Exploro Racemax is an aero gravel bike. The new frame has clearance to run wider tires than i ts predecessor. How wide? That depends on the wam of the tire and ram of the wheel/tire combination, 3T says.
I’m usually suspicious when a bike manufacturer feels the need to introduce new terminology. In cycling, we already have enough jargon. But 3T’s wam, width as measured, is quite useful. A manufacturer’s stated tire width is nominal because a wheel’s rim and tire pressure both affect the width. With 3T’s terminology, the company is hoping to be totally clear. A bike that can run a tire with a 61-mm wam means the tire actually measures 61-mm wide.
So what’s the widest tire Exploro Racemax can hold? Depends. It can run a 61-mm wam tire on a 650b rim, if you have a 1-by drivetrain. With a 2-by setup, your maximum tire wam is around 42 mm. The frame can manage the airflow that comes around these large treads. The down tube is massive: 46-mm wide near the head tube and 75-mm wide at the base, which can keep your water bottle out of the wind. The seat tube has a cut-out to boost aerodynamics. It can accommodate a wheel/tire combination with a ram, radius as measured, ranging from 347 to 353 mm.
So will the terms wam and ram catch on? I can’t see the future, but Gerard Vroomen’s past might have some clues. Back when Vroomen, 3T’s head of design, was working at Cervélo – which he founded with Phil White – he helped to develop the terms stack and reach. These are now common frame measurements used to determine a bike’s fit. Maybe wam and ram will become equivalents for tires and wheels.
For my test, 3T supplied me with the company’s 650b Discusplus i28 ltd wheel and 700c Discus 45|40. The smaller wheels came with beefy 2.25-inch Schwalbe G-one Allround tires, while the larger ones had slick 35c Pirelli Cinturato Velo treads. What surprised me was not the traction and control of the wide tires or the speed of the narrow ones, but that both pairs handled stunningly well. On some gravel bikes, wide treads can feel tubby. That wasn’t the case with i28 ltd wheels on the Exploro. According to 3T, the Schwalbe tires have a 352-mm ram and the Pirelli tires have a 348-mm ram on their respective rims. I have ridden gravel bikes that do behave differently even when I’ve changed tire sizes. That the Exploro feels fast and fairly fleet on both sets tells me the bike’s geometry is dialed for a range of ram figures.
The Exploro I tested came with 3T’s Torno crank. It sported a 44-tooth chainring by Wolf Tooth. The setup is aero and stiff. The narrow crankarms that are designed to slip through the wind are quite the contrast to the massive tubes of the Exploro frame, which have the same duty.
While I kept my test rides local, the Exploro had my thoughts ranging far and wide. Bikepacking? Yes, this bike could be rigged up for overnight adventures. Racing? Yup. I could easily get myself into an aggressive position for hammering on the pedals. This is the kind of bike that you’ll love in the moment, whatever the ride, and that will inspire you to do more.