Product Details
The 3T Exploro RaceMax is really two bikes in one. It's everything you want from a road bike. Stiff and aero. As a gravel bike, it can handle big tires for comfort and maximum go-anywhere flexibility.
Let's talk about tires
3T looked at tires as an integrated part of the design of the whole bike. While the choice of tires determines comfort and grip it also affects aerodynamics – how air flows off the tires/wheels onto the frame.
To design our frame based on tires we had to understand how tire and wheel dimensions and their combinations fit in the real world. Labels alone do not give an accurate picture of how tires/wheels integrate with the frame. Tire dimensions/pressure and rim width all play a factor in this integration.
3T took hundreds of measurements to get real tire widths. They call this WAM - Width as Measured. They also measured tire radii, RAM – Radius as Measured. They used these two dimensions to engineer their frames.
RealFast Aerodynamics
With tire dimension data, they created a frame, sculpting the rear triangle to optimize aerodynamics while providing mud clearance. The headtube is narrow, reducing frontal area. The multi-shaped fork allows the direct mount brakes to be tucked in from the wind while the seatstay flows off from the seattube at a lower point to shape air over the tire and wheel. The massive downtube is skinny near the headtube then widens to push air around the water bottles. RealFast Aerodynamics for real world situations taking into account different riding speeds, wind speeds, tire widths, water bottles and even mud.
RaceMax - Race vs Max
With 35 to 45mm WAM tires, the RaceMax frame gives you a race set-up that rivals the best road bikes. While this set up is versatile enough to cover most multi-surface situations, the 'Max' part of RaceMax gives you the ability to add huge tires – up to 61mm – for the ultimate in traction and control.
With one wheelset, the RaceMax is the ultimate all-rounder allowing you to be fast on the road, gravel or both. Adding another wheelset with wide tires unlocks all kinds of riding possiblities!
Have any questions about the 3T Exploro RaceMax? Give us a call during shop hours, or send an email to info@contenderbicycles.com.
*Please note that bike specifications are subject to change without prior notice |
PERFECT AERO CUTOUT | Close-fitting cutout to shield the rear wheel and achieve the most speed. |
MIND THE GAP | No oversized gaps between front tire & downtube for better airflow transition and less turbulence. |
HUGE CLEARANCE | The original Exploro set today’s standard for 54mm tire clearance. The RaceMax has 61mm! |
75MM DOWNTUBE BASE | Lower downtube aero profile is 75mm wide to fully shield water bottle. |
46MM DOWNTUBE NECK | Upper downtube necks down to 46mm to pick up the airflow coming off the front tire. |
SIZE-SPECIFIC DOWNTUBE | Reduced depth on smaller sizes to keep frame compliant and keep space for bottles. |
NARROW HEADTUBE | Headtube is sized like a road bike for a small 1 1/4” steerer for optimal aerodynamics. |
BIG STEERER | Inside that narrow headtube is a big 1 1/2” steerer for best strength and stiffness. |
MINMAX HEADSET | To fit this big steerer inside the narrow headtube, we use the custom MinMax headset. |
MINIMALIST CROWN | Fork crown shapes haven\'t changed much since brakes were attached there. Now that we have disc brakes, we don’t need that bulk of material and can reshape the crown for better strength, stiffness and weight. Plus better aerodynamics. |
PURE-ROAD FORK LENGTH | With the shorter crown, we can make our forks 25mm (1 inch) shorter than other gravel bikes. Exactly the same as a road fork. This offers better stiffness, lower weight, an easier steering geometry and better aerodynamics. |
DOUBLE-DROP CHAINSTAYS | Dropping the drive-side chainstay improves tire & crank clearance. Dropping the other side as well creates a much more efficient structure behind the BB for higher stiffness & strength as well as lower weight. |
THREADED BB | Our bikes come with threaded BBs for the best alignment and to avoid any issues. yet we do so without threads in the frame as they cause other issues. Read more about our solution here. |
DIRECT-MOUNT REAR BRAKE | Standard frames require an adaptor to use a 160mm brake rotor. We have integrated that into the frame, meaning you don’t need any extra pieces to attach the brake. |
DIRECT-MOUNT FRONT BRAKE | Standard forks require a flip-flop adaptor to set the correct brake rotor size. Our direct-mount pre-sets the caliper for 160mm rotors without any extra pieces. |
INTEGRATED FENDER MOUNTS | Invisible until you need them. Custom fenders coming soon. |
CLEAN PERFORMANCE | Self-adjusting bolt angle for higher clamping forces with lower torque. |
RITCHEY RAIL CLAMP | The new standard for gravel bikes, available for round and oval rails. |
Build Spec
Component | Sram Force AXS 2x | Sram RED AXS 2x | Sram Force AXS D2 1x GX | Sram Force AXS D2 1x XX1 | Shimano GRX 2X DI2 | Shimano GRX 1X DI2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Levers/Calipers | SRAM Force AXS HRD eTap Shifter / Brake Lever and Caliper D2 | SRAM RED eTap AXS HRD Lever/Caliper | SRAM Force AXS HRD eTap Shifter / Brake Lever and Caliper D2 | SRAM Force AXS HRD eTap Shifter / Brake Lever and Caliper D2 | Shimano ST-RX810 GRX Left Brake/Shift Lever + CALIPER | Shimano ST-RX810 GRX Left Brake/Shift Lever + CALIPER |
Crankset | SRAM Force Crankset - 172.5mm, 2x 12-Speed, 48/35t, Direct Mount, DUB Spindle Interface, Iridescent Gray, D2 | SRAM RED 1 AXS Crankset - 175mm, 12-Speed, 42t, 107 BCD, DUB Spindle Interface, Natural Carbon | SRAM Force Crankset - 172.5mm 1x | SRAM Force Crankset - 172.5mm 1x | Shimano GRX FC-RX820-2 Crankset 170mm 48/31t | Shimano GRX FC-RX810-1 Crankset 172.5mm, 11-Speed, 42t |
Derailuer F | SRAM Force AXS eTap Front Derailleur - 2x12-Speed D2 | Red AXS Front eTap Front Derailleur - 2x12 | NA | NA | Shimano FD-RX815 GRX Di2 Front Derailleur | NA |
Derailuer R | SRAM Force eTap AXS Rear Derailleur D2 Medium Cage | Red AXS Rear eTap - 2x12 | SRAM GX Eagle AXS Rear Derailleur 12-Speed Long Cage 52t | SRAM, XX1 Eagle AXS, Rear Derailleur | Shimano GRX RD-RX815 Rear Derailleur - 11-Speed, Long Cage, Black, With Clutch, Di2 2x | GRX 1X DI2 REAR DERAILLEUR |
Chain | Sram Force chain | RED AXS Chain | SRAM GX Chain | SRAM X01 Chain | HG701 chain | HG701 chain |
Cassette | SRAM Force AXS XG-1270 12-Speed Cassette 10-36t | SRAM Red AXS XG-1290 12-Speed XDR Cassette | GX Cassette 10-52 | X01 Cassette 10-52 | Shimano XT CS-M8000 11-Speed Cassette 11-42 | Shimano XT CS-M8000 11-Speed Cassette 11-46 |
Rotors | SRAM Force Rotor 160 x 2 | Sram XR Rotor x 2 | SRAM Force Rotor 160 x 2 | SRAM Force Rotor 160 x 2 | Shimano GRX SM-RT64 | Shimano GRX SM-RT64 |
Battery/Extras | Batt/Charger | Batt/Charger | Batt/Charger | Batt/Charger | Battery/Wires/Charger | Battery/Wires/Charger |
Size | XXS | 51 | 54 | 56 | 58 | 61 |
Rider Height* (cm) | 142-157 | 153-167 | 164--177 | 175-185 | 183-196 | 192&Up |
Rider Height* (inches) | 4’8”-5’2” | 5’0”-5’6” | 5’5”-5’10” | 5’9”-6’1” | 6’0”-6’5” | 6’3”&Up |
Stack | 520 | 542 | 564 | 584 | 604 | 632 |
Reach | 355 | 366 | 377 | 385 | 393 | 404 |
Fork axle-crown | 370 | 370 | 370 | 370 | 370 | 370 |
Head angle | 69.0 | 69.5 | 71.0 | 72.0 | 72.0 | 72.0 |
BB drop | 79 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 75 | 75 |
Seat angle | 74.5 | 74,0 | 73.5 | 73.0 | 72.5 | 72.5 |
Seattube length | 436 | 463 | 490 | 518 | 545 | 572 |
Toptube length | 506 | 526 | 546 | 566 | 586 | 606 |
Wheelbase | 998 | 1008 | 1008 | 1014 | 1024 | 1044 |
Front center | 596 | 606 | 606 | 611 | 621 | 641 |
Rear center | 415 | 415 | 415 | 415 | 415 | 415 |