The 3T Exploro is the world's first-ever all-roads aero frame built for speed and comfort on roads and trails beyond the reach of regular road bikes. It has clearance for big tyres to conquer any surface coupled with aerodynamic shapes that work at real speeds under real conditions on any type of surface. Never have I witnessed so much excitement from those within the industry when talking about a specific product than I have with the Exploro.
Designed to go anywhere - fast! Now in its second guise with some subtle design changes to improve usability and for future-proofing, the 3T Exploro continues to lead the charge when it comes to innovative frame design. Built from the ground up to encompass all modern thinking around bike development, at the hands of Gerard Vroomen - a master of the art - the 3T Exploro is so well considered that it will keep you in the hunt in a range of disciplines for plenty of time to come. Enjoy every minute, as you go fast everywhere!
The new 3T Exploro now comes with Flat Mounts for disc brakes. While there is nothing wrong with a Post-Mount disc brake, the industry is slowly moving towards the Flat Mount standard - largely because of the drive towards a cleaner look. Rather than swim against the current, 3T have simply embraced the change for the new Exploro.
As well as the disc brake standard change, 3T have also opted to switch out their original hidden seat clamp wedge bolt, for the type that is mounted on the top tube, like that on their STRADA 1x Road bike. This is simply easier to get at and reduces the risk of the user mangling bolt heads while bent-double trying to find the bolt!
There are 2 models of complete bike in the TEAM range of Exploro, both built around the TEAM frame and FANGO TEAM fork. Subtle differences come with component selection. The Racing Green - a limited production model - features a Quarq Power-ready Crank as opposed to the Force X-SYNC on the Black model. The Black Team model uses a slightly different bar and stem combo and has a 44t chainring as opposed to a 42t on the Racing Green. Ultimately, the Racing Green version is geared slighty further towards Gravel than it's stablemate - but it is a minor difference that separates the two.
The fundamental technologies that are a hall mark of the Exploro remain.
GRAVELPLUS
The Exploro is designed to fit road, cross and even mountain bike tyres following the GravelPlus standard. The road and cross tyres are 700c, the mountain bike tyres use the 650b size, ensuring that all of these have virtually the same overall wheel diameter and therefore the same predictable handling. For 700c, we recommend 3T Discus wheels, for 650b the 3T DiscusPlus wheels.
sqaero
Square shapes are very efficient for high strength and stiffness. Airfoil shapes are effective in reducing wind resistance. Sqaero combines the best of both worlds with a truncated airfoil shape that tricks the airflow into behaving as if it is a full shape while staying close to square in its overall dimensions.The key to the Exploro’s speed is the aero downtube that is wide enough to catch the airflow coming off the big front tyre (a skinny downtube wouldn’t even touch the airflow). But at 50mm wide, a full airfoil with a normal ratio would have to be 150-200mm deep, causing too much surface drag. So 3T square off the tail, keeping most of the aero performance with a 50x75mm cross section that is also close to perfect for strength and stiffness; the Sqaero shape. The wide downtube also effectively shields the water bottles.Sqaero is also used on the headtube, seat-tube, seatstays and seatpost.
Realfast
Realfast aero design saves you energy. To make sure of that 3T wind tunnel test at a realistic 20mph not the usual 30mph. They even test frames covered in 3d-printed mud. The difference? Exploro is faster when muddy & fit with 40mm knobby tyres than a clean standard road bike with 28mm slicks!
Why is aerodynamics important for allroad (tarmac, gravel, fire roads, single track) rides? You may go slow off-road, but on the connecting roadsections you need road riding speed. If you’re slow because of gradients, aero doesn’t matter much. But if it's due to head- or crosswinds, you're slow relative to the ground but very fast relative to the air and that’s what determines the resistance you experience (that’s exactly why you’re slow). 3T didn’t want the Exploro to be fast in theory, but in the real world. So they tested at a realistic 20mph (32kmh) instead of the standard 30mph (48kmh) and optimized the frame for water bottles (tough to do long, epic rides without). They even designed the Sqaero shape to work well when covered in mud and tested the frames with 3d-printed mud attached!
The result? A muddy Exploro with 40mm knobby gravel tyres and 2 water bottles (red line in the graph) is faster than the equivalent clean round tube bike is with 28mm slick road tyres and without bottles (grey line).
Performance Geometry
The Exploro offers the most responsive ride ever on gravel thanks to its super compact performance gravel geometry. It combines a fast road-inspired rider position with short 415mm chainstays and agile steering geometry for phenomenal acceleration & grip on loose surfaces as well as tarmac.
Hang Loose Hanger
The rear derailleur hanger detaches from frame when rear wheel is removed. This makes it much easier to fix a flat out on the trail since you don't have to tangle with the chain! The thru axle makes reattaching a snap.
Clean Performance
Internal cables, hoses and seatpost clamp clean up look and function. Fliptop cable guides protect the Exploro's hoses and cables from dirt and fit mechanical or electronic shifting with single or double chainrings.