Italian bike maker Basso has launched an all-new gravel bike called the Tera. Its frame combines an aluminium front triangle with a carbon rear, while a ‘fixed-pivot’ design adds rear-end flex or, as Basso puts it, ‘semi-suspension’.
This unusual design is claimed to combine the best attributes of carbon and aluminium frames for comfort on gravel.
We don’t have a lot of detail yet, but it looks like Basso will be offering both drop-bar and flat-bar builds, and the drop-bar model shown in press photos is equipped with a dropper seatpost.
Basso has confirmed that the SRAM Apex build shown here will retail at £1,949.99 in the UK.
Semi-suspension and mixed materials
The Tera name is apparently not a misspelling, but rather a Veneto dialect version of the Italian word for “earth/dirt/ground”.
The new bike looks to be a rowdier machine than the more roadie-esque Palta gravel bike already offered by Basso.
The Tera’s ‘fixed-pivot’ design appears to have pivots at the rear dropout and the seatstay to seat tube junction, with the chainstays allowed to flex up and down.
This apparently allows for 8mm of rear travel and it’s a system that strongly resembles the Kingpin design employed on Cannondale’s Topstone gravel bike.
It’s also somewhat like the ‘flex stay’ designs used on some mountain bikes, but as it's not connected to a shock and linkage, and the pivots are fixed, the amount of travel is limited to that provided by the flex of the stays.
Basso says this approach is “extremely efficient in terms of power transfer”.
The use of mixed materials is perhaps the Tera’s most distinctive feature. Basso says it aimed “to create a platform that celebrates the performance qualities and advantages [of] both materials”.
The aluminium front triangle is meant to be “lightweight yet sturdy” while the carbon back-end creates “both an efficient structure as well as extremely compliant vertical flex”.
While the seatstays are bolted to the seat tube at the upper fixed pivot, the carbon chainstays are bonded directly to the aluminium shell.
The frame is matched to a fork Basso describes as “Palta-derived” for front-end compliance, and there’s clearance for 45mm tyres.
Practicality and versatility have been considered too. Basso says the Tera accepts a dropper post, both 1× and 2× drivetrains, up to four bottle cages, and mudguards (fenders) or racks.
Aside from the front brake hose, which runs directly from the bar to the fork, cable routing is internal, entering the upper headset cover in a manner similar to other recently launched bikes such as the Merida Scultura Endurance and Rose Pro SL Disc.
We don't have full details of the range on offer, but Basso has confirmed that a Tera with SRAM Apex components will retail at £1,949.99, with availability to be confirmed.
