TIME made a Gravel Bike - ADHX 45 

The best ever! Long Live TIME!

Totally agree.

+1

Nice. I think you will love it for that purpose. Let us know how your first ride goes.

So, took ik out for a few short test rides. What can I say, the bike feels great. It’s comfortable, steering is direct,precise. The bike feels like it’s glued to the road and is confidence inspiring. It’s also quiet, very quiet. Road bumps etc seem to be absorbed much better. Have to admit, my old road bike is a 2003 Eddy Merckx Team Sc. Totally different to this ADHX - so I’m comparing apples with pears. But I doubt my trusted EM will see much use anytime soon. This ADHX is built up with GRX 2x 11sp Di2, Rotor Aldhu, syntace carbon P6 hiflex seatpost, deda superbox stem and Coefficient RR handlebars. I laced some DT swiss GR531 32H on standard shimano XT and 105 hubs, XT hub works with the 11-34 cassette and has better bracing angles which should give me a little bit stronger wheel at no weight penalty over 105 rear hub. These wheels are very heavy but are meant to be my go-to and bombproof winter wheelset. I’ll be looking at a nice lightweight carbon wheelset later on, but for now this is what it is. I’m around 193cm/85-90kg - so the 27.2mm carbon seatpost gives me a fair amount of compliance. Also the coefficient RR handlebar appears to be a very comfortable handlebar and more comfortable than the Thomson KFC of my EM. 32mm tires vs 25mm tires. It all adds up, and how much of the gains in comfort and compliance are from those components rather than from the ADHX frameset I can only guess. But I can say that the bike feels very, very good. Still early days, but for the moment I think this frameset was the right choice - wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Any Time bike is a great choice. I am at a cross roads for my next bike...a Time or a T-Lab titanium.

Yes. I forgot to mention that. The ‘fluidity 50’ I talked about defo needs UDH

Thank you

Yes, I think the same, the ADHX mounted as a road bike looks a lot better than most the so-called endurance bike. That's the type of bike I should be looking for. Thx for thé vidéo. Very instructive again!

@Mapdec Can you tell how you built the ADHX for the cassette and crank? I most likely am getting one for road use. I wish TIME sold the built bikes with 105 like you set yours up with.

Yes it was!

Nice. Do call if we can help.

What’s the reason? Hoping for a more adventurous geo?

Nice.

Thank you.

Thank you

Thank you

I think you will benefit from riding one. The whole vertical compliance thing is a bug bear of mine. I think you will find the Dyneema blend in the RTM carbon very good at controlling vibrations while maintaining incredible stiffness.

I used to have a SuperX. Great bike. So versatile.

Perfect

I can confirm my ADHX with Schwalbe Allroad 35's does fly on both road and trails in the peaks 🙂

Sorry. Not a fan here. Too much rotational flex for my liking. You can probably get a similar result by running tyre liners and dropping your tyre pressure.

@@Mapdec Interesting. I don't notice any rotational flex on mine, but I'm a lot shorter and lighter than you are.

That’s a good summary.

Semi integrated ftw. Another thing some people look for are external headsets.

@@BeyondLumination Because you can replace the bearing cups or why?

You don't have to route it through the stem and handlebar if you don't want to, which is the biggest annoyance. I love it, the cable mess up front always annoys me.

@@michaelmechex but from a maintenance and travel perspective running it through thr headset is the worst part. And there really is no harm in adding two low profile cable entries that are covered up stock.

@@creepyshadow55 there actually can be. The headtube junction area takes a lot of stress while riding on terrain especially, and putting holes into it isn't ideal. It needs a lot more reinforcement in that case. Also I don't think it's bad for travel, you can take the bar off without disconnecting anything, wrap it in bubble wrap or something and pack it tightly against the frame. you can have enough slack inside of the frame to do so.

Somehow a cow poo on the gate. 😂

@@Mapdec Yorkshire cows roost on gates at night 🤣

I understand that for sure. Sorry if it came across as an advert.

@@Mapdec I'm sure you didn't deliberately try to make it sound like an advertisement. I guess it's just inevitable that it comes across that way because of your connection with TIME. Anyway, nice frame, however, 45mm tyres feel small on my Revolt these days.

@@BikeLife154 i appreciate the feedback. Thank you.

I’m going to make a vid showing how you got these in a regular bike box.

I’m with you. It has the right name. Sticking with the ADH geo philosophy, but they really need something slacker to compete in the gravel market.

Or converting them into road bikes…

It was the opposite for me. I am building up an ADHX RTP frame. Got it because the ADH felt a bit too limiting with its 28mm tire clearance...esp since we even saw a 30mm in the TdF. So the ADHX felt like more of a modern road frame / good starting point for an all road bike. Before seeing the ADHX 45, I was a bit irked that Time was marketing the ADHX as a gravel bike instead of as a modern road / all frame that it actually was. Now they have changed the marketing and all is well in the world 😂. Felt quite validated with the new release and new marketing

Have the standard version and not kicking myself at all. For me, if I'm running over a 40 mm tire I don't want to be riding that on a gravel bike. But I like chill gravel over chunky. And I actually ride more road than gravel so the standard version is great to run a 32 road tire and it just cruises. If I get into the chunky stuff like in this video, I'd rather be on my mountain bike.

@@Velodictorian it definitely depends. I know a handful that bought that original version, but also regularly races gravel here where 42mm is the sweet spot. If I rode a Time bike at Unbound this year, I would’ve ran 40mm tires in the 45 version for the extra room for mud clearance

Ermm…how? I mean you can just order it on their website. They should not up their reseller game, they should kill it off completely and go the Canyon way.

@@tonyg3091 As I said. It is fucking impossible to get your hands on a Time frame in Frankfurt/M. Germany. You cant buy them anywhere. And they dont sell their frames via the German website. There is no dealership in Germany and they dont sell them via their website. Germans arent their target group I guess.

Yes, absolutely. The ADH family all share pretty much the same Geo. the X and X 45 just get longer and wider.

@@Mapdec thank you.

It been on its way all year….

Better not rush, let them take their "time" 😉

It is close. I wouldn’t say it’s unusual in this race category, but there is no chance of a mud guard.

We have a demo bike running 32mm road tyres. Rides so well.

Umm…. I want to agree, but history tells us that when premium craft brands try a cheaper de spec model that it doesn’t go well. I think compared to the prices mainstream brands are offering for very average frames, Time competes very well on price. Has the whole cycling market gone bonkers? Yes. £4750 for a Cannondale Super six frame is an utter joke.

The only way to do that is to weave their frames from cotton strands, no thanks.

@@MapdecAbsolutely.

No. The preload should tighten everything, but still allow the bearing to rotate freely

Not really.

Compliance. Plastic Deformation of a material.... The Lauf forks are this, but managed in a somewhat linear direction. The Time has little to no Compliance, but the frame is remarkably good at vibration damping.

They dońt sell frame bags in your part of the world or what?

@@tonyg3091 If you ever used a bike with in frame storage along with frame bags in a multi stage adventure, you realize the added value of in frame storage.

@@ChristerJohansson No. I do not need any holes in my top or down tube, thank you.

Yeah. Apparently XC is cool again

They are very similar. The ADHX will probably edge it on fast straight descents, the ADH better on sharp turns and hairpins. The weight difference is negligible

@@Mapdec wow, i was not expecting that as an answer, very insightful.. so if you are coming out of a turn, or going straight, in a fast group , and there is a sudden acceleration of both bikes to your own max speed, you really can’t tell the diff between them?

@@hedgefundsearch I’m not quite sure if the scenario you are worried about. I doubt you can tell the difference in acceleration.

@@Mapdec that was it!! If I buy a bike to go fast in a group.. titanium bike vs carbon bike, carbon bike ADH vs carbon bike ADHX with slightly more tire clearance? (i would expect that the adhx45 would be slower to accelerate given the weight/carbon design for purpose built gravel )

I doubt it will be 2024. Scylon first.

I think you just answered yourself. If your riding chunky gravel with some steep descents. This probably isn’t the best choice.

@@Mapdec but then, I don’t often encounter chunky descents. And I’m super careful when I do, even though I have a slacker angle

@@Mapdecactually, the seat angle is slacker than my bike, so it might be alright

I see your point. I think the mistake they really made was trying to call the Adhx a gravel bike. They would have sold more if it were labelled as ‘all road’ and lost the top tube bolts.

@@Mapdec Thanks, I should have watched the video right to the end when you do the overview of Time's lineup. Didn't occur to me to build up the ADHX as a road bike.

The 45 was a rushed thing made to appease loudmouth kids on the internet

@@tonyg3091 haha. Yeah. Maybe. I would probably say it was the ADHX that was rushed though to meet the massive demand in gravel bikes. They built a great bike, just not what they were expecting. They should have called it the ADHL for long wheelbase.

@@Mapdec To me it was clear from the beginning the ADHX was an all road bike, same as C68 allroad and many others. It is fantastic but not a true gravel bike. They are now facing a tough decision-which of the two to kill off.

Hey. I said I am a size Large, but this was a medium and too small for me. My saddle height is 80cm I am 182cm tall

Thanks much for the info!

Just the frame.

@@Mapdec Any chance you've weighed an ADHX frame set (ideally in small). I realize that a couple hundred grams doesn't matter a ton, but I'm 172cm tall and weigh 62kg and am surrounded by climbs over 10%. Thanks! Love the channel.

@@howardpetrock6243 actually yes. A RTP S is exactly 1kg. A painted M is 1.1kg.

@@Mapdec Thank you so much! With hardware or bare? Also, I've heard some rumblings about difficulty with bottom brackets... in that bbs from token/wheels come in under spec and don't fit the perfectly specced' time. Any recommendations about bb choice?

@@howardpetrock6243 we have discussed this in the Modern Classic vid.

Time use Bb386evo. Check our other videos to see how accurate they are made.

Perfect will do!

@@bernieraverty4319my mechanic recommends Endura shells for the Time.

Nothing to do with safety, but it is the cleanest setup for cable routing.

I mean safe bet in the sense of sure to work well together, but thanks for the reply 👍🏻

Oh. I wonder what this would be like with 80mm forks.

Yeah. It’s marginally heavier, if you want to run tyres over 38mm you will need the 45.

@@MapdecYes but I wanna use Sram 2x 46/33 chainring. There is limitation only 40c tires or use WIDE only 43 chainring.

174 would put you on a Medium. The blue ADHX at the end of this vid is mechanical. We run full length outers. It’s ok. The ADHX is a fantastic road bike.

Thanks for the quick response. That’s what I thought but my bike fitter, ex Team sky pro etc, has recommended an S. He also strongly advocates Shimano electronic for road use. Hmm….. Some expensive decisions.

@@enigma1000 come for a ride if you can. We have those sizes here.

@@Mapdec Thanks for the offer. Unfortunately I’m well outside your area or I’d be asking you to build it for me.

@@enigma1000 😔

We have had a few emails so far. It’s early days for orders yet. I think 8 weeks will be in the second production run. Will be a nice Xmas present. Looking forward to it. 👍

@@Mapdec yes sir. Im an older fella, and not very technologically fluid. I sent an e mail but i think i did it wrong. Im the consruction guy, my brother is the $ guy. So ill get with him and we will start a conversation with you very soon about components and logistics. I CANT WAIT!! Is going to be very exciting!!

@@universe-juice I’ll look for it and get back to you if I can’t find it. Thank you.

I think there is some truth in that.. It's a Topeak

Large

Easily. It’s designed for 45. If you are looking for a time road bike for 32mm tyres. Wait a week…

I’m looking for the bike that can do it all. Mostly for Road 32mm, but with the option of going wide, like 45mm. What is coming next week?

Did you get to the end of the vid?

@@Mapdec I did, I thought the ADHX 45 would be that bike hence my disappointment, although now it seems they are going to do the Fluidity with mudguards, additional mounts etc. Ideally I would prefer an all-road bike (like the original ADHX) with mudguard mounts, as opposed to a gravel bike. That would put it in direct competition with the Caledonia, Synapse, etc... if they go more into the gravel and wider tyre range then it won't be for me! Lets see what they come up with next.

The look would be more like the Fluidity I speculated about. It is slacker and has more mounts. It is not as bonkers stiff as the Time, but perfectly capable. (I haven’t tested it on quite the same terrain)

We have this coming up. We are building an XS for someone 163cm

Maybe if they were virtually slick.

Very different.

I’ve fitted some 650b Teravail Rutland 2.1 and works pretty well with reasonable clearance

Yes, especially for you TIME will make a frame with 85 mm clearance

​@@tonyg3091Weird, do you have a reading comprehension problem? I didn't ask for 85mm I asked for 50mm which is a very common size. I guess if you actually rode bikes you'd know that. My Revolt has clearance for 53mm

@@mgoo1713 You might want whatever you want but 45 is what you get.

​@@tonyg3091Reading comprehension really isn't your strength....never said it wasn't, huh?

We have one here you can ride if you like.

​@@Mapdec well thnx! But I'm in the usa!

Where you at in the states?@@henry5917

@@DieterPullan North Carolina

@@henry5917 Podium Finish in Moorsville anywhere close to you ?

Oh, Pink Fade would be hot!

No sane manufacturer will make a frame that sits in between 28 and 38 mm and make all 3 of them. This makes absolutely no sense. You will have to pick between the two I am afraid.

Speak to @mapdec about RTP ADHX frame and see what he can sort for you 😜

I use 30mm rear and 28mm front GP5000 on the 2023 ALPE D'HUEZ with 23mm internal rims.

@@christophericcio do you think 32s would fit? I dont want to go any more narrow as I live in Japan and bike paths here have speed bumps and other obstacles put in them. Always bouncing over stuff.

It’s most definitely on the race, performance side of the gravel category. It gets away with being steep angled by being incredibly stiff. I didn’t get toe overlap on a size too small for me.

She will be so impressed

Nothing, except that we are now a dealer and very proud to offer our customers these quality bikes. The bikes in this video: ADHX 45 on loan, ADHX is shop demo, ADH is a customers we featured in a educational build video.

What would you like to see us do more of?