The revenue from adverts helps to fund our site. Prefer the look of a NASCAR race car? Each Bokeh frame is made of triple-butted Dedacciai aluminum tubing that is custom-shaped to Masons specifications. try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. Adjustable fork rakes are slowly becoming more commonplace, from brands such as Rondo, Enve, Cervelo, and GT (and Canyon even toyed with it for a while on its first-generation Aeroad). Visually, Mason seems to be going for a classy and elegant aesthetic here. The bike does exactly what you tell it to and never throws you any curveballs even when youre pushing its limits, striking a good balance between composure and agility.
Unlike carbon fiber, whose mechanical properties can be dramatically altered independently of shape by changing the underlying fiber lay-up, aluminum is an isotropic material, meaning it essentially behaves the same in every direction. Tech, reviews: tech [at] road.cc To coin a phrase 'lock him up, lock him up'. The mantra of the bokeh is FastFar. The ride quality is very good on the road and in the woods. The clutch mechanism in the rear derailleur eliminates chain slap. If that's not posh enough for you, switch to the Bokeh Ti and you can spend 6,195.
The deftly curved chainstays are works of art: almost round in profile and widely spaced at the standard 68mm-wide threaded bottom bracket shell, radically pinched-down just past that for tire and drivetrain clearance, vertically ovalized through the mid-section, and then almost round again where they meet the dropouts. Tel 01225 588855. Farewell, little bike. It's a sporty and engaging bike with decent stability at higher speeds. If you care more about function than flash and are maybe a little carbon-averse the Mason Bokeh is a great option for a do-it-all gravel machine that wont totally break the bank. Paired with the high-quality Sinewave Cycles Beacon headlight and LED Supernova E3 Tail Light 2 on the rear, you can keep on riding long after sunset. A good winter pick. Youll feel confident aboard the Mason the moment you swing your leg over the saddle. I primarily rode the bike with the 650B Hunt wheels and 47mm WTB Sendero tyres it came with, a combination that proved excellent in the muddy conditions I had for testing. Frame Dedacciai custom-shaped performance Aluminium. You can even charge your electronic devices via the USB interface on the back of the Beacon headlight. The development of 1x drivetrains and lightweight, performance multi-terrain 650b tyres and fast, large volume multi-terrain tyres for 700c has really helped fuel bike development.
And it feels quick on the road, the frame doing a good job of transferring power when you're gunning for the top of a climb. Bottom bracket drops range from 75mm on the smallest size, up to 70mm for the largest option, and the same 435mm chainstay length is used throughout. The shifting quality is flawless; each push of the gear lever results in a smooth, quiet and quick gear change. First review: SCOTT Foil RC Ultimate 2023 aero bike New star in the aero sky? The eye-catching green paint is new for the Bokeh 2 and an easy way to spot one in the wild, but the original orange and grey colour choices are still available too. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. It's fast, sporty and involving. Its an extremely versatile bike capable of handling everything from fast gravel laps to epic bikepacking trips, no matter how heavy your luggage may be. The Bokeh 2 is made in Italy from triple-butted Dedacciai 7000 series aluminium. And once again, the Bokeh took it all in its stride.
The main issue is ensuring you don't run an overworn chain on a cassette - or chain rings. Digital & free: First review: New Cervlo S5 Ultegra Di2 2023 The greatest aero bike of all First review: Vittoria Corsa N.EXT TLR The next level of tire technology? With a good mixed-surface tires like the 35mm-wide Schwalbe G-One fitted, the Bokeh is still plenty capable on tarmac, but it really comes alive once you get to the good stuff which, in my case, is the bountiful expanses of dirt and gravel available here in Colorado. Advertising, commercial: sales [at] road.cc Terms and conditions of use. Much of that versatility is due to the way it readily accepts multiple wheel and tire sizes. There's sure-footed stability when careening down a rocky descent or pushing along a gravel track. Speed comes more easily when sprinting out of corners. Wide tyres at low pressures obviously help a lot when it comes to comfort. However, the reality is that every bike still usually excels at a fairly well-defined usage range; its just that the performance of ones that are especially versatile dont fall off as much once you stray outside of those boundaries. But then again, you dont buy a bike like the Bokeh to only ride on tarmac. Canyon Grail gravel bike first-ride review, Trek Checkpoint dives headfirst into the red-hot gravel bike market, Specialized second-generation Diverge Comp review.
Despite its premium pricing, the Bokeh has earned a bit of a cult following, and after several months of riding one on- and off-road, I can see why. Sections of trail that I normally deem soporifically tame for a proper mountain bike suddenly became new and entertaining again on the 650b-equipped Bokeh, almost as if I were re-discovering old stomping ground all over again. In terms of wheel and tire compatibility, Mason is hedging its bets, leaving room for both 650x50mm and 700x45mm tires so youre free to run just about anything you wish. The oversized down tube has a U-shaped profile that allows for more weld surface contact with the bottom bracket shell, for example, while the top tube is ovalized horizontally to help increase front-triangle torsional stiffness.
This is important when youre heading out on an epic adventure or want to push your limits. This makes the bike quieter, reduces damage to the chainstay paint, and prevents the chain from falling off when you're bouncing across cobbles or rutted fields. Considering the spec and all of its accessories, our test bikes weight of 9.94 kg in size 58 isnt bad at all. The bulge in the threaded bottom bracket shell has gotten larger so the internally routed cables can more easily clear 30mm-diameter spindles, some of the cable routing ports have been moved for better compatibility with frame bags, and the new Parallax 2 carbon fork now has so-called anything mounts on each leg and internal routing for the optional dynamo wire. To put it in the words of our buddy Nobbi: this thing just goads you to keep on grinding! It works reliably in all conditions too even when the entire bike is caked with mud, there's no reluctance from the rear mech. Those clearances are ample for many people buying gravel bikes who will want a bike that offers good speed on a wide variety of surfaces, from road to woodland tracks and pure gravel.
New Ah, cool. Tell us some more about the handling. The Mason has to rely solely on the wheelset and tires to generate comfort the rest of the bike is bombproof, sturdy and rock-solid stiff. How did the bike transfer power? It feels fast there's a positive steering response and evident stiffness from the frame and fork to ensure it's responsive to your inputs, whether through the pedals thrashing up a climb or carving corners. At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. It's more expensive than many other aluminium gravel bikes, as listed in the review body. It's a little slab-sided ugly but it's at least functional and serves a purpose. All bikes in test: Bombtrack Hook 2 (Click for review) | Canyon Grail AL 7.0 SL (Click for review) | Fern Chuck Explorer (Click for review) | Marin Headlands 2 (Click for review) | Mason Bokeh GRX | MERIDA SILEX+ 8000-E (Click for review) | RONDO BOGAN (Click for review) | ROSE BACKROAD AXS Mullet Build (Click for review) | Salsa Cutthroat GRX 600 (Click for review) | Specialized Diverge Comp Carbon (Click for review) | Specialized S-Works Epic HT AXS Custom (Click for review) | Trek Fuel EX 9.9 XTR Project One (Click for review). The decals are up to Mason's usual impeccable standards and give the Bokeh 2 a sense of pedigree. If you dont want to subscribe, please turn your ad blocker off. Did it do particular things well or badly? Did it feel efficient? Did any part of the bike feel too stiff or too flexible? The extra tyre clearance will be welcomed, as will the increased capability with extra mounts, and the small changes to cable routing show the company's attention to detail. Did you enjoy this article? Its compatible with 1x and 2x groupsets, offers numerous bosses for bottle and gear cages as well as eyelets for mudguards. / CS800 11-34. If I was doing a long-distance gravel adventure that would be my preference. Paired with that well-thought-out frame is Masons Parallax full-carbon fork, complete with 100x12mm thru-axle dropouts, a flat-mount caliper interface, and internal routing for the hydraulic hose. Mason provides lots of choices when it comes to outfitting a Bokeh, from bare framesets to rolling chassis to complete builds, including a wide selection of groupsets and drivetrain configurations from Shimano and SRAM, your choice of 650b or 700c wheel-and-tire packages (featuring wheelsets from UK compatriot Hunt), and Dedacciai finishing kit.
Bike companies often like to tout some of their newer drop-bar bikes as being equally adept at everything from tarmac to singletrack. Our mission is to bring you all the news thats relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more.
This is still a highly capable bike that's just as at home cruising along country lanes as it is splashing through hub-deep puddles, skidding around corners and dive-bombing down rutted descents. It even features internal cable routing for the lights. While the Mason is relatively comfortable for an aluminum frame, there are other bikes in the test field that offer significantly more compliance. Seatpost MASON Penta carbon, microadjust. Click here to learn more. If you want wider, you'd be better served by Mason's ISO. The Bokeh 2 is more agile and easier to carve through tight corners with the 650B wheels. The carbon monocoque 'Parallax' fork has been developed in conjunction with our Italian frame builders, it uses a 12mm thru-axle, flat-mount and internally routed hose and weighs just 465g. The seatstays bow outward up top for tire clearance, before taking a downward arc toward the custom forged 142x12mm thru-axle dropouts to provide more space for the chainstay-mounted flat-mount disc-brake caliper. A square card of carbon fiber can be very hard to bend in one direction, for example, but very flexible in another, while a similar card made of aluminum will bend the same way no matter which way you hold it. Theres that saying that invariably comes up whenever some sort of do-everything drop-bar bike is discussed: A jack of all trades is a master of none. And while that applies to the Bokeh in some sense, the full version of that saying is far more appropriate: Ajack of all tradesis a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.. The only compromise here is its lack of long distance comfort, which ultimately costs Mason the test victory. The US has a very poor record for road safety. As a subscriber you can read road.cc ad-free, from as little as 1.99. The slack head agile, longer fork trail and stretched wheelbase compared to a road bike, as is common with many gravel bikes, prevents the Bokeh 2 from feeling too edgy or nervous. Chainset Shimano GRX-810 1x (42T) / 2x (48/31), Cassette Shimano M8000 11-42. Its handling is always predictable and extremely balanced through corners. It's expensive for aluminium, but it's an extremely lovely looking bike that packs a great ride and loads of capability and versatility that shines on all terrain. But for blatting around the woods, focusing on having fun and getting a faceful of mud, 650B with Sendero tyres getmy vote. If youve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as 1.99. Did the bike feel stiff in the right places? Your subscription will help us to do more. Sizes are 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62cm, see individual bike pages for full geometry. Filter Green. Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad. The Bokeh underwent yet another transformation as winter approached here in Colorado, going back to the 700c Schwalbe G-Ones and gaining full-coverage fenders for use in less-than-ideal weather conditions. The wheelbase is longer and angles a little slacker, with the fork using a 50mm offset to keep the trail dimension under control. The thing with the Bokeh is that while its capable of operating at those extremes, its clearly happiest, and arguably has the most to offer, in the middle.
Unlike carbon fiber, whose mechanical properties can be dramatically altered independently of shape by changing the underlying fiber lay-up, aluminum is an isotropic material, meaning it essentially behaves the same in every direction. Tech, reviews: tech [at] road.cc To coin a phrase 'lock him up, lock him up'. The mantra of the bokeh is FastFar. The ride quality is very good on the road and in the woods. The clutch mechanism in the rear derailleur eliminates chain slap. If that's not posh enough for you, switch to the Bokeh Ti and you can spend 6,195.
The deftly curved chainstays are works of art: almost round in profile and widely spaced at the standard 68mm-wide threaded bottom bracket shell, radically pinched-down just past that for tire and drivetrain clearance, vertically ovalized through the mid-section, and then almost round again where they meet the dropouts. Tel 01225 588855. Farewell, little bike. It's a sporty and engaging bike with decent stability at higher speeds. If you care more about function than flash and are maybe a little carbon-averse the Mason Bokeh is a great option for a do-it-all gravel machine that wont totally break the bank. Paired with the high-quality Sinewave Cycles Beacon headlight and LED Supernova E3 Tail Light 2 on the rear, you can keep on riding long after sunset. A good winter pick. Youll feel confident aboard the Mason the moment you swing your leg over the saddle. I primarily rode the bike with the 650B Hunt wheels and 47mm WTB Sendero tyres it came with, a combination that proved excellent in the muddy conditions I had for testing. Frame Dedacciai custom-shaped performance Aluminium. You can even charge your electronic devices via the USB interface on the back of the Beacon headlight. The development of 1x drivetrains and lightweight, performance multi-terrain 650b tyres and fast, large volume multi-terrain tyres for 700c has really helped fuel bike development.
And it feels quick on the road, the frame doing a good job of transferring power when you're gunning for the top of a climb. Bottom bracket drops range from 75mm on the smallest size, up to 70mm for the largest option, and the same 435mm chainstay length is used throughout. The shifting quality is flawless; each push of the gear lever results in a smooth, quiet and quick gear change. First review: SCOTT Foil RC Ultimate 2023 aero bike New star in the aero sky? The eye-catching green paint is new for the Bokeh 2 and an easy way to spot one in the wild, but the original orange and grey colour choices are still available too. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. It's fast, sporty and involving. Its an extremely versatile bike capable of handling everything from fast gravel laps to epic bikepacking trips, no matter how heavy your luggage may be. The Bokeh 2 is made in Italy from triple-butted Dedacciai 7000 series aluminium. And once again, the Bokeh took it all in its stride.
The main issue is ensuring you don't run an overworn chain on a cassette - or chain rings. Digital & free: First review: New Cervlo S5 Ultegra Di2 2023 The greatest aero bike of all First review: Vittoria Corsa N.EXT TLR The next level of tire technology? With a good mixed-surface tires like the 35mm-wide Schwalbe G-One fitted, the Bokeh is still plenty capable on tarmac, but it really comes alive once you get to the good stuff which, in my case, is the bountiful expanses of dirt and gravel available here in Colorado. Advertising, commercial: sales [at] road.cc Terms and conditions of use. Much of that versatility is due to the way it readily accepts multiple wheel and tire sizes. There's sure-footed stability when careening down a rocky descent or pushing along a gravel track. Speed comes more easily when sprinting out of corners. Wide tyres at low pressures obviously help a lot when it comes to comfort. However, the reality is that every bike still usually excels at a fairly well-defined usage range; its just that the performance of ones that are especially versatile dont fall off as much once you stray outside of those boundaries. But then again, you dont buy a bike like the Bokeh to only ride on tarmac. Canyon Grail gravel bike first-ride review, Trek Checkpoint dives headfirst into the red-hot gravel bike market, Specialized second-generation Diverge Comp review.
Despite its premium pricing, the Bokeh has earned a bit of a cult following, and after several months of riding one on- and off-road, I can see why. Sections of trail that I normally deem soporifically tame for a proper mountain bike suddenly became new and entertaining again on the 650b-equipped Bokeh, almost as if I were re-discovering old stomping ground all over again. In terms of wheel and tire compatibility, Mason is hedging its bets, leaving room for both 650x50mm and 700x45mm tires so youre free to run just about anything you wish. The oversized down tube has a U-shaped profile that allows for more weld surface contact with the bottom bracket shell, for example, while the top tube is ovalized horizontally to help increase front-triangle torsional stiffness.
This is important when youre heading out on an epic adventure or want to push your limits. This makes the bike quieter, reduces damage to the chainstay paint, and prevents the chain from falling off when you're bouncing across cobbles or rutted fields. Considering the spec and all of its accessories, our test bikes weight of 9.94 kg in size 58 isnt bad at all. The bulge in the threaded bottom bracket shell has gotten larger so the internally routed cables can more easily clear 30mm-diameter spindles, some of the cable routing ports have been moved for better compatibility with frame bags, and the new Parallax 2 carbon fork now has so-called anything mounts on each leg and internal routing for the optional dynamo wire. To put it in the words of our buddy Nobbi: this thing just goads you to keep on grinding! It works reliably in all conditions too even when the entire bike is caked with mud, there's no reluctance from the rear mech. Those clearances are ample for many people buying gravel bikes who will want a bike that offers good speed on a wide variety of surfaces, from road to woodland tracks and pure gravel. New Ah, cool. Tell us some more about the handling. The Mason has to rely solely on the wheelset and tires to generate comfort the rest of the bike is bombproof, sturdy and rock-solid stiff. How did the bike transfer power? It feels fast there's a positive steering response and evident stiffness from the frame and fork to ensure it's responsive to your inputs, whether through the pedals thrashing up a climb or carving corners. At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. It's more expensive than many other aluminium gravel bikes, as listed in the review body. It's a little slab-sided ugly but it's at least functional and serves a purpose. All bikes in test: Bombtrack Hook 2 (Click for review) | Canyon Grail AL 7.0 SL (Click for review) | Fern Chuck Explorer (Click for review) | Marin Headlands 2 (Click for review) | Mason Bokeh GRX | MERIDA SILEX+ 8000-E (Click for review) | RONDO BOGAN (Click for review) | ROSE BACKROAD AXS Mullet Build (Click for review) | Salsa Cutthroat GRX 600 (Click for review) | Specialized Diverge Comp Carbon (Click for review) | Specialized S-Works Epic HT AXS Custom (Click for review) | Trek Fuel EX 9.9 XTR Project One (Click for review). The decals are up to Mason's usual impeccable standards and give the Bokeh 2 a sense of pedigree. If you dont want to subscribe, please turn your ad blocker off. Did it do particular things well or badly? Did it feel efficient? Did any part of the bike feel too stiff or too flexible? The extra tyre clearance will be welcomed, as will the increased capability with extra mounts, and the small changes to cable routing show the company's attention to detail. Did you enjoy this article? Its compatible with 1x and 2x groupsets, offers numerous bosses for bottle and gear cages as well as eyelets for mudguards. / CS800 11-34. If I was doing a long-distance gravel adventure that would be my preference. Paired with that well-thought-out frame is Masons Parallax full-carbon fork, complete with 100x12mm thru-axle dropouts, a flat-mount caliper interface, and internal routing for the hydraulic hose. Mason provides lots of choices when it comes to outfitting a Bokeh, from bare framesets to rolling chassis to complete builds, including a wide selection of groupsets and drivetrain configurations from Shimano and SRAM, your choice of 650b or 700c wheel-and-tire packages (featuring wheelsets from UK compatriot Hunt), and Dedacciai finishing kit. Bike companies often like to tout some of their newer drop-bar bikes as being equally adept at everything from tarmac to singletrack. Our mission is to bring you all the news thats relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more.
This is still a highly capable bike that's just as at home cruising along country lanes as it is splashing through hub-deep puddles, skidding around corners and dive-bombing down rutted descents. It even features internal cable routing for the lights. While the Mason is relatively comfortable for an aluminum frame, there are other bikes in the test field that offer significantly more compliance. Seatpost MASON Penta carbon, microadjust. Click here to learn more. If you want wider, you'd be better served by Mason's ISO. The Bokeh 2 is more agile and easier to carve through tight corners with the 650B wheels. The carbon monocoque 'Parallax' fork has been developed in conjunction with our Italian frame builders, it uses a 12mm thru-axle, flat-mount and internally routed hose and weighs just 465g. The seatstays bow outward up top for tire clearance, before taking a downward arc toward the custom forged 142x12mm thru-axle dropouts to provide more space for the chainstay-mounted flat-mount disc-brake caliper. A square card of carbon fiber can be very hard to bend in one direction, for example, but very flexible in another, while a similar card made of aluminum will bend the same way no matter which way you hold it. Theres that saying that invariably comes up whenever some sort of do-everything drop-bar bike is discussed: A jack of all trades is a master of none. And while that applies to the Bokeh in some sense, the full version of that saying is far more appropriate: Ajack of all tradesis a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.. The only compromise here is its lack of long distance comfort, which ultimately costs Mason the test victory. The US has a very poor record for road safety. As a subscriber you can read road.cc ad-free, from as little as 1.99. The slack head agile, longer fork trail and stretched wheelbase compared to a road bike, as is common with many gravel bikes, prevents the Bokeh 2 from feeling too edgy or nervous. Chainset Shimano GRX-810 1x (42T) / 2x (48/31), Cassette Shimano M8000 11-42. Its handling is always predictable and extremely balanced through corners. It's expensive for aluminium, but it's an extremely lovely looking bike that packs a great ride and loads of capability and versatility that shines on all terrain. But for blatting around the woods, focusing on having fun and getting a faceful of mud, 650B with Sendero tyres getmy vote. If youve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as 1.99. Did the bike feel stiff in the right places? Your subscription will help us to do more. Sizes are 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62cm, see individual bike pages for full geometry. Filter Green. Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad. The Bokeh underwent yet another transformation as winter approached here in Colorado, going back to the 700c Schwalbe G-Ones and gaining full-coverage fenders for use in less-than-ideal weather conditions. The wheelbase is longer and angles a little slacker, with the fork using a 50mm offset to keep the trail dimension under control. The thing with the Bokeh is that while its capable of operating at those extremes, its clearly happiest, and arguably has the most to offer, in the middle.