The sportiness and dynamics of Benotti, Conway and Canyon were praised, then came the Storck. The uncompromising carbon racer tops the test field by one or two metres in terms of acceleration, riding dynamics and high-quality parts. The handlebars and stem come as a so-called cockpit, which you can feel when you pull hard on the horn - super stiff and direct, yet the front of the bike is even lighter than the rear, making it easy to "hop" the front wheel over roots. It has to be, because the tyres are also designed for speed and, like the frameset, hardly absorb any impacts.
With the sporty riding position and weight distribution, the riding stability is excellent in dry conditions, good on sand, but you really have to be able to steer very quickly and well in mud. Hard to explain: Despite the average head tube angle and super agile handling, the straight-line stability of the Storck GRIX.2 is very poor. great, even with a few panniers on the bike. Touring is therefore perfectly conceivable if you're reasonably used to the hip angle and don't mind the classy, matt paintwork; the same applies to city riding, which is also quite maintenance-intensive. With the wide spread of the cassette, the bike is much more variable than you might think; with different tyres, the overall package would shift in favour of comfort and off-road skills. The in-house "Zeitjäger" carbon wheels, recommended by Storck and a lot lighter, would be a tuning in favour of a supersports bike.
Conclusion on the Storck GRIX.2 Comp
The setup would be our first choice for a gravel race in dry conditions, even as a pure sports bike. For cruising and travelling, perhaps not quite as compatible with the masses, but for quick short trips it is.
The most important information about the gravel bike
- Price: 3999 Euro
- Weight of complete wheel: 8.9 kg
- Frameset: Weight n.a. / max. system weight 130 kg
- Frame sizes: 46 cm, 49 cm, 52 cm, 55 cm, 58 cm
- Seat tube / top tube: 493 mm / 551 mm
- Stack / Reach / SR quotient: 547 mm / 378 mm / 1,446
- Wheelbase: 1018 mm
- Drive: Sram Rival XPLR eTap AXS, 2 x 12 gears, Rival crank 40 teeth, Sram Rival cassette 10-44 teeth
- Brakes: Sram Rival, hydr. disc brake, 160 / 160 mm
- Wheels / tyres: DT Swiss G-1800 Spline, 24 bladed spokes 1.2 - 2.3 mm / Schwalbe G-One Allround, 700 x 40 mm
- Guarantee: 2 years (plus crash replacement offer)
MYBIKE tip: Speedbike 6/2023
