SQUIRREL_13137579
The Kinesis Tripster AT is the South Downs-based brand's all-round gravel bike built for British (wet and mucky) conditions. With the new AT+, Kinesis has taken the template of its versatile all-roader, added huge tyre clearance and made some geometry tweaks.
Kinsesis could have made the AT+ simply a mountain bike with drop bars, but it was keen to maintain the Tripster’s road-going manners and endurance-bike influenced handling.
Kinesis doesn’t offer any stock builds of the AT+ just yet – instead, it views the bike's versatility as better suited to custom builds.
We asked Kinesis’ owner, Upgrade Bikes, to put together a bike well suited to year-round UK conditions, making use of the 50mm tyre clearance. It also gave Upgrade the chance to showcase components from the wide range of brands it represents.
That means a selection of great-quality and great-value kit from brands such as Thomson, Stan’s, DMR and Praxis.
Upgrade’s price of just over £3,400 for this complete build represents what you’d pay if you put it together yourself, or asked your friendly local bike shop to do so.
Kinesis Tripster AT+ frame details
The Kinesis frame is made of aluminium, rather than carbon. The aluminium used is 6069 heat-treated alloy, butted tubing and features a tapered, machined head tube.
It features triple bottle bosses, top tube mounts and seatstay mounts for racks or mudguards.
The frame has a claimed weight of 1.83kg (in a size large) and is adorned with plenty of fixtures and fittings.
This is matched to a new all-carbon 540g all-terrain fork with extra tyre clearance, cargo mounts on the legs and mudguard eyelets. The bike comes with internal routing for both the front brake and a dynamo.
Kinesis Tripster AT+ geometry
The geometry is based around a relaxed 70.5-degree head angle, paired with a steep 73.5-degree seat angle.
The fork comes with a 50mm rake that, combined with the long 450mm chainstays, gives my large test bike a generous 1,090mm wheelbase.
The AT+ has a lower bottom bracket height than the standard AT, correcting the geometry for larger tyres. Kinesis has also given the frame a more sloping top tube to aid manoeuvrability and, unlike the standard AT, the AT+ is designed for 1x drivetrains only.
My large-sized test bike features a 632mm stack and a long 410mm reach. That’s very much endurance bike territory for the ride position, although the longer reach enables you to run a shorter stem to keep the steering sharp, even with a wide gravel bar.
| | XXS (48cm) | XS (50cm) | S (52cm) | M (54cm) | L (56cm) | XL (58cm) | XXL (60cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat tube angle (degrees) | 74 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 73.75 | 73.5 | 73.25 |
| Head tube angle (degrees) | 70 | 70.5 | 70.5 | 70.5 | 70.5 | 71 | 71 |
| Chainstay (mm) | 450 | 450 | 450 | 450 | 450 | 450 | 450 |
| Front centre (mm) | 600 | 607 | 621 | 636 | 650 | 660 | 674 |
| Seat tube (mm) | 430 | 460 | 490 | 530 | 550 | 570 | 590 |
| Top tube (mm) | 528 | 539 | 551 | 565 | 581 | 597 | 613 |
| Head tube (mm) | 100 | 110 | 130 | 150 | 170 | 190 | 210 |
| Fork offset (mm) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Bottom bracket drop (mm) | 80 | 77 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 70 |
| Wheelbase (mm) | 1038 | 1045 | 1060 | 1075 | 1090 | 1100 | 1115 |
| Stack (mm) | 552 | 560 | 577 | 596 | 614 | 632 | 649 |
| Reach (mm) | 370 | 378 | 386 | 394 | 402 | 410 | 418 |
Kinesis Tripster AT+ build
My AT+ has a well thought-out specification with plenty of highlights and an eye on the robust rather than keeping weight down.
At the core of the bike is Shimano’s 12-speed mechanical GRX RX820 groupset. This is combined with a carbon Praxis Zayante crankset, with a 40-tooth chainring driving a 10-45t cassette from Shimano’s mid-range SLX mountain bike line.
It all works together well. Like the GRX 12-speed cassette, this requires the use of Shimano’s Microspline freehub (rather than HG), which is worth remembering if you already have wheels you want to use on a build.
GRX hydraulic brakes are matched to RT10S rotors in a large 160mm diameter.
The wheels come from Stan’s, with its 29-inch Arch S2 alloy wheelset. The rim has a 28mm internal width that comes fitted with tubeless tape.
The brand's E-Sync hubs are built for the rigours of mountain biking, with chromoly axles, Enduro bearings and heat-treated steel ratchet rings.
The rear hub has a pawl system designed to reduce stress on the bearings and the four-pawl design gives a quick 8.18-degree engagement angle.
These are wrapped with Goodyear’s Connector Ultimate tyres in their largest 50mm size. These tyres have the same closely spaced central tread pattern as narrower versions for low rolling resistance, but bring larger and wider-spaced side knobs designed to enhance cornering grip.
The tyre's 120 TPI (threads-per-inch) casing uses less rubber in the sidewalls, in theory making the tyre more supple and faster-rolling.
Up-front, there’s a Thomson Elite X4 stem clamping Thomson’s alloy Dirt Drop bar. The X4 stem comes with a well-earned reputation for quality and finishing, while the Dirt Drop bar is both wide at 44cm and flared with a 25-degree outward angle.
The 90mm reach and 130mm drop mean the bar flares out to a very wide 55.7cm at the drops.
The bar is wrapped with Lizard Skins' DSP tape, which is a vibration-killing 4.6mm thick. Finishing off the contact points is a combination of an X-Fusion Manic dropper post (with 50mm of drop), drop-bar remote and DMR’s OiOi saddle.
The saddle has a textured, hard-wearing cover that completes a build that majors on robustness.
This Kinesis Tripster AT+ weighed in at 10.22kg.
