The Spanner Bike Haute Gravel is a titanium drop bar bike that’s something of an exercise in ‘because you can’, demonstrating what you could do with the help of Spanner Bike if you let your brain run free.
- Price: £1800 frame and fork
- From: Spanner Bike
Spanner Bike is the brainchild of Andrew Maddison who is an engineer and has set up as a go-between to bridge the gap between wild ideas and the titanium manufacturers of China. He created the Haute Gravel titanium drop bar bike as a mind melting ‘is it a mountain bike or is it a gravel bike?’ to show what you could do if you really wanted to. The twin tubes and truss fork demonstrate that complexity of what he can deliver for you, as well as being sure to grab some attention – a great thing for anyone trying to give their business a bit of free marketing.
I’m a sucker for titanium, and also for the different. The twin top tube is definitely a thing that floats my boat. I’d never ridden a truss fork before, so that was a curiosity I was keen to experience. And I love a bit of monster gravel. So when this titanium gravel bike turned up at the office I was keen to have a ride.
The Build
It has a titanium frame with twin top tubes, twin down tubes and truss fork. The rear stays are not twin tubed – which could be seen as missing a trick on the ‘what can you do if…’ side of things. Aesthetically I’m still divided. Is it gorgeous, or does the lack of twin anything at the back make it look a little imbalanced?
While you’d only be getting a frame and fork if you went for this bike, it’s worth noting some of the components. A PlanetX stem seemed a little incongruous next to the carbon Salsa Cowchipper bars. These bars were wide, flared, and add another ‘is that lovely or horrible’ element to the visual appearance of this bike.
SRAM Force hydraulic brakes, a SRAM Force CX rear mech and SRAM Eagle XX1 cranks and cassette bring the ‘is it road, gravel or MTB’ mashup to the components as well as the frame. Tyres are Schwalbe G1’s in 2.25in, paired to Nextie carbon gravel rims. Boost Hope hubs add further MTB genetics, as does the 72mm MTB Wheels Manufacturing bottom bracket.
I confess I didn’t even attempt to ride the bike with the Brooks leather saddle. Partly because the likelihood of me only riding the dry weather were remote, and partly because I value the wellbeing of my unmentionables. I swapped it out to my regular favourite, added my (MTB) spds, and hit the road. And the trail, and the mud, and the fields…
The Ride
The rest of Hannah’s review is only available to members.
On the road I was pleasantly surprised to find this skipping along swiftly. Not so fast that I’d want to take it on a chain gang sufferfest, but fast enough to accommodate a slightly tardy approach to timekeeping when there’s a school run to catch. Between the tyre, the frame and the fork, it was super comfortable to ride – with the confidence and comfort over all those tarmac defects quite possibly making up for the small loss of speed they incur over a road bike.
On the trail I found that I was experiencing none of the nerve irritation and resulting arm and shoulder pain that I’m been having on gravel bikes that last few years. I’ve ridden plenty of flared bars, so I’m inclined to think that this lack of pain is down to the comfort of the fork – less micro bashing and jiggling doing my nerves some favours. Of course the tyres also add some cushioning and comfort, but again I’ve ridden some monster crosser bikes too, but still suffered the ill effects. On light trails I found this fork fast and comfortable, and on more rock bashing descents I found it to be much more confident and less ‘erk will it snap?’ than standard forks. I’m really rather sold on this style of fork – I’d definitely consider having one on any future rigid gravel, commuter or general kicking around bike.
There’s oodles of clearance for the tyres, which were good for summer conditions but left me feeling a little anxious whenever I spied mud ahead. I’d like to go for something a little more knobbly for the moorland rides that this encouraged me to play with. Getting all that clearance – without some extra fancy tube bending needs – comes at the cost of some rather wide seat stays. I did notice that in some shoes this resulted in a touch of heel clipping, and if I were looking at ordering one of these I’d be looking to get that tweaked.
The 56 was a touch too long for me, but standover was no problem. 
I’d also be looking for a slightly shortened top tube – it was just fractionally long for me, which is to be expected for a 56cm frame – I’d choose a 54cm for gravel. Yes, I could have put a shorter stem on, but then that would have altered the handling, and I already felt that perhaps the front wheel was just a little too far out in front of me, giving it a slightly flip-floppy handling sensation unless I was stood up and getting my weight right over those big flared bars. Perhaps also the fork puts the front wheel out a touch further in front?
Incidentally, I never noticed any undue flex, and the Spanner Bike felt nice and nippy – the bridges on the twin tubes apparently providing the bracing needed to provide stiffness where needed.
On descents I frequently found myself riding at speeds more appropriate to a full suspension bike. Which is a lot of fun until you start to think about consequences. At the point at which I felt my nerves fraying a little too much, and my enthusiasm for bunny hopping obstacles fading after a few too many slightly skid-y landings, the combination of brakes and tyres tended to induce further feelings of fear. Thoughts of ‘maybe I’ll just back off a bit’ turned to ‘erk, I couldn’t really stop if I needed to’. The speed that this bike is capable of – and the comfort at which it delivers that – needs to be remembered…you’re not riding 4-pot brakes and big knobbly tyres. The SRAM brakes are effective enough, but slam them on and you’ll skid on those Schwalbe tyres – but dragging them felt less effective than on equivalent mountain bike brakes. That didn’t stop me flying, scaring myself, braking, scaring myself more, and repeating the process – between the scares, there were many smiles, plenty of laughs, and quite a few whoops.
It really is a great ride almost everywhere bike, which might lead you to think it would be great for some bike packing. And I suspect it would, except that you’d have to find a way round that small triangle in the frame. The low standover might make for a great mountainbike-like feel when riding it – handy for those emergency dismounts – but it doesn’t leave a lot of room for a bag. Similarly, the twin tubing will likely require some creative attachment adaption with some bag fixings.
That said, I would happily ride this bike almost everywhere. If I had money to spend on any bike – never mind a titanium drop bar bike – I’d be sorely tempted. The only downside really is that it’s rather too eye catching. It’s rather like going for a walk with a lama. You don’t need to know anything about lamas to stop and stare at a lama walker, pass comment, and ask questions. And people will. You should allow extra time on rides to account for this. Riding it everywhere would also result in me wanting to leave it everywhere – chain up outside shops, pubs, doctors’ surgeries and suchlike. However, its rather obvious ‘look at me’ appearance left me very paranoid about leaving it anywhere. Perhaps if I wrapped a bit of duct tape round the forks it might look a little less ‘hello, steal me’. But then the rest of the frame is all shiny too… apart from the decals, which Andrew admits he didn’t get quite right on this bike – the seat collar obscures part of the seat tube decals.
3 things I’d change
- The saddle. I did change it. I struggle enough with breaking in shoes, and my tush is more precious and sensitive than my feet.
- The seat stays. I’d like them a touch narrower for heel clearance.
- Can I have a stealth version, but still a titanium gravel bike, that I could leave outside everywhere I want to ride to?
3 things I loved
- The fork. Takes the chatter out of the trail while being stiff enough to retain momentum.
- The ride quality. The bike as a whole is so comfortable to ride while still being nippy. It just makes me want to keep pedalling.
- The twin tubing. Just because I’m enough of a freak fan to find this irresistible.
Overall
It’s an exercise in ‘I wonder if we could…’ and the answer is yes you can. It’s curiosity that brings conversation to any group ride – or indeed solo ride. There is no such thing as strangers when you’re out on this bike. But it’s not the attention seeking that makes me love this bike – it’s the ride. I could use it for about 90% of my riding, and would be grinning for all of it. It’s definitely on my list of bikes I would be happy to own. Don’t make me write a list of reasons why I shouldn’t have it. That way lies titanium, twin tubes, truss forks, and a 54cm version…
