Mondraker claims its new Arid Carbon gravel bike is equally at home racing, adventuring, bikepacking and trail riding, utilising a new twin-spar design at the rear and 'Stealth carbon' tubes.
The Alicante-based mountain bike specialist brand first entered the gravel world with the Mondraker Dusty electric gravel bike, equipped with a Mahle motor.
The new Arid takes some inspiration from that assisted all-roader, but boasts a host of its own features, designed to make it a capable all-rounder at the forefront of current gravel bike trends.
The new Mondraker Arid Carbon RR SL is priced at £8,499 / $9,799 / €9,499.
Forgiving frameset
The Arid frame uses what Mondraker calls its ‘Stealth carbon’ process, where each tube is optimised to do a specific job.
For instance, the head tube, down tube and bottom bracket area are all optimised for maximum stiffness to make the most of your power.
However, the seatstays, seat tube and top tube are fabricated with compliance built in. This is designed to offer comfort-giving, bump-smoothing ride qualities – all of which Mondraker claims will keep you riding faster for longer.
Twin-spar seatstays
The low-slung seatstay design is similar to that of the Dusty ebike. It has been upgraded from 47mm to 50mm tyre clearance and now has a twin-spar design, attaching to the tapering and flattening seat tube.
It’s a similar design trick to that seen on some of the best contemporary gravel bikes. For example, the diamond-shaped back end of the Rondo Ruut and the Kingpin pivot back end of the Cannondale Topstone. Similarly, the glass-fibre infused stays of the GT Grade Carbon and the floating seat mast of the Pivot Vault.
Mondraker’s specs for the Arid's frame include a threaded T47 bottom bracket shell. There's also frame storage, a Universal Derailleur Hanger, internal cable guides, multi-bottle mounts and a good range of sizes.
The down tube features an enclosure with custom-made double-lapped zipper bags included.
One bag is designed to carry a spare inner tube and tyre levers. The second is for a mini-pump or CO2 canisters, and the third is for a multi-tool. The Arid can also accommodate the same frame bag range as the Dusty, as a result of Mondraker’s collaboration with bag specialists Apidura.
The Arid’s claimed frame weight is 1,250g for a size medium, painted with all hardware in place.
Frame geometry
The Arid Carbon comes in five sizes, adding an M/L to the standard S, M, L, XL norm. Mondraker claims that by introducing another size, it reduces the jump between those sizes, making it easier to find your ideal fit.
The shape of the Arid certainly shows MTB influences in line with the trend of more mountain bike brands getting into gravel. There's a deeply sloping top tube, long reach and short fork offset.
The frameset is designed to work with shorter stems too. The size small is designed with a 60mm stem in mind and a 70mm on the medium and M/L. The large gets an 80mm and it's 90mm on the XL.
The 70-degree head angle is relaxed compared to a road bike – albeit not so much as to put it into the realms of pseudo mountain-bike territory, like Nukeproof’s Digger. The seat angle is 73 degrees, but because of the long front-centre and seat tube shape, it's effectively a steeper 74 degrees. Again, this is somewhat influenced by Mondraker’s history in mountain bike design.
This approach to gravel geometry is intended to hit the middle ground and give the Arid Carbon a wider appeal than a pure gravel race bike such as Factor’s Ostro Gravel, or a trail and gravity-focused machine such as the Nukeproof Digger V3 – or the bikepacking-focused Surly Grappler.
It’s a smart approach, favoured by the likes of Canyon with the latest-generation Grail and Argon 18 with the versatile Dark Matter.
| Size | S | M | M/L | L | XL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat tube length | 410 mm | 450 mm | 480 mm | 510 mm | 540 mm |
| Top tube length | 520 mm | 550 mm | 580 mm | 600 mm | 630 mm |
| Bottom bracket drop | -75 | -75 | -75 | -75 | -75 |
| Bottom bracket height | 269 mm | 269 mm | 269 mm | 269 mm | 269 mm |
| Chainstay length | 425 mm | 425 mm | 425 mm | 425 mm | 425 mm |
| Seat tube angle, actual | 73° | 73° | 73° | 73° | 73° |
| Seat tube angle, effective | 74° | 74° | 74° | 74° | 74° |
| Head tube angle | 70° | 70° | 70° | 70° | 70° |
| Fork offset | 45 mm | 45 mm | 45 mm | 45 mm | 45 mm |
| Wheelbase | 1003 mm | 1035 mm | 1067 mm | 1089 mm | 1121 mm |
| Head Tube Length | 100 mm | 125 mm | 145 mm | 175 mm | 200 mm |
| Reach | 363 mm | 386 mm | 411 mm | 423 mm | 446 mm |
| Stack | 548 mm | 572 mm | 591 mm | 619 mm | 642 mm |
| Stem Length | 60 mm | 70 mm | 70 mm | 80 mm | 90 mm |
| Fork Height | 420 mm | 420 mm | 420 mm | 420 mm | 420 mm |
Build options
Mondraker also supplies the finishing kit for the Arid range in the shape of its OnOff Components brand.
The base model gets an alloy OnOff S3 bar, while the other three bikes come with the carbon S9 bar. Both bars have an ergonomically profiled drop with a 16-degree sweep; the width is 440mm on the S, M and M/L bikes, rising to 460mm on the L and XL.
All models get an aluminium stem, which routes brake hoses and cables underneath, and into a channel at the foot of the stem steerer clamp.
It’s a simpler system than fully integrated bar/stem combos, and should make the Arid easier to maintain and travel with.
All models get OnOff’s carbon seatpost and all bar the range-topping SL bike roll on Maxxis’ highly regarded Reaver tyres. The flagship RR SL gets the fruits of Goodyear’s collaboration with Zipp – the XPLR tyres are designed to work with the 303 XPLR rim's large 32mm internal width.
Range and pricing details
The Arid is available in four models, along with a frameset option.
The flagship RR SL is priced at £8,499 / $9,799. It comes with SRAM’s latest RED AXS XPLR power-meter equipped groupset, with its UDH-specific rear derailleur.
The range starts with the Arid Carbon, the only bike in the range to step away from wireless SRAM XPLR AXS. It runs Shimano’s GRX 1x12-speed mechanical drivetrain. The Arid Carbon is priced at £3,199 / $3,299.
Mondraker Arid Carbon RR SL
- Groupset: SRAM Red AXS XPLR with power meter
- Wheelset: ZIPP 303 XPLR SW
- Tyres: Goodyear XPLR, 45mm
- Saddle: FiZik Vento Argo 00 carbon
- Components: OnOff carbon
- Price: £8,499 / $9,799 / €9,499
Mondraker Arid Carbon RR
- Groupset: SRAM Force AXS XPLR with power meter
- Wheelset: Mavic Allroad Pro Carbon SL
- Tyres: Maxxis Reaver, 45mm
- Components: OnOff carbon
- Saddle: FiZik Vento Argo X5
- Price: £5,799 / $6,499 / €6,499
Mondraker Arid Carbon R
- Groupset: SRAM Rival AXS
- Wheelset: Mavic Allroad SL
- Tyres: Maxxis Reaver, 45mm
- Components: OnOff carbon
- Saddle: FiZik Vento Argo X5
- £4,199 / $4,699 / €4,499
Mondraker Arid Carbon
- Groupset: Shimano GRX RX-610
- Wheelset: Mavic Allroad
- Tyres: Maxxis Reaver, 45mm
- Components: OnOff alloy bar/stem, OnOff carbon seatpost
- Saddle: FiZik Vento Argo X5
- Price: £4,199 / $4,699 / €4,499
Mondraker Arid Carbon frameset
- Price: £1,799 / $2,199 / €1,999
