Hello, my name is Benji from Single
Track Magazine and I'm here to give you
the rundown on FSA's new gradient range.
FSA stands for full speed ahead and
they've been around for a long time.
1993,
which is almost as long as I've been
riding mountain bikes. They started with
bars and stems and then cranks came
along and then they were happy with the
XC world because that's all we really
had back in the 90s and early naughties
and then in 2010 they came out with the
gravity range
which is slightly tougher higher built
products bars stems. Then in 2013 they
came out with a subgraity range so not
downhill. This was the birth of Enduro
kind of world and they came out with the
original gradient range. The gradient
range was last refreshed in 2021
which is an eon ago in mountain bike by
industry terms. So the new stuff still
called gradient and it's model year 2026
and it encompasses everything from trail
enduro
all mountain who likes that I do. All
the way up to downhill as well. It's all
called gradient now.
Flagship item of the gradient range I30
carbon wheel set 30 mil internal
dimensions outer dimensions 37. Now
maths fans will realize that that means
each wall is 3.5 mil thick. That's
pretty flipping thick and that's stop
ward off kind of ripping your tires on
pinch flats because you can pinch a
tire. 28 spoke straight pull. And
although they're black and you go, "Oh
no, they're not aluminium, they're
brass." I can look down that hole there.
We'll do a closeup at some point. You
can see the brassness. They are
asymmetrical. So you can probably see
that the holes aren't quite in the
middle. And that's to offset on the
front for the disc location.
Let's get the rear, which is
conveniently here. Those are offset even
more cuz there's more to offset, isn't
there? There we go. Should we do a a
test? Yeah.
That to me sounds like a ratchet system
because it is. PRS 72 72 points of
engagement which is P O E for all you
acronym fans out there which is a nice
blend of being quick but not too quick.
The hub bodies are CNC machined,
lightweight, and don't require tools to
pull them apart. They also have a QR
code printed onto them. The specific QR
code when scanned by a smartphone will
take you to an online service manual and
spare parts list.
Oh yeah, the other thing that FSA have
done which doesn't matter but does is
done a rejig of the graphics. So the
gradient now has a little three stripes
in front of the G like FSA always have
had in front of FSA logo. So just a
little bit of an echo there. In general,
FSA have done a very good job style-wise
of the new gradient range. I like the
look of them a lot.
Oh, just hang on. Weights because you
want to know weights, which you should
do because the only thing you should
bothered about with weight is your
wheels. These are 1889
and they actually are. That's not
including tape or valves. But you do get
tape
and you do get valves somewhere. two of
them, one for each wheel, with the super
cool clear valve caps, which means
everything.
Now, you'll notice they have
asymmetrical
rim beds like up and down. So, it's 22
mil deep there and 24 mil where the
spoke comes in, a turret, I think they
call them, which is quite pleasing.
There we go. Nothing weirdly proprietary
about that. Cartridge bearings, easy to
service.
Good. All the gradient wheels go through
quite a number of strength tests and
durability tests. They do one called the
torsion tests that applies torsion,
funnily enough, like pedal forces going
through. So they can measure it rather
than just spin a static wheel. You can
actually test it as if you're putting
load through it. And converse if you're
putting braking on it, because that's
torsion the other way. They whack it
with a 90 kg load over and over again.
See how it gets on and easily passes
that. I think it's 90 jewels and I think
the industry standards 40. So it's more
than double what a lot of other people
are putting their tests through. They
also apply 150 kg weight to the spokes
and the spoke bed hole as further tests
particularly to mimic kind of landing
side loadings and things like that. And
not just for us Brits because it does
rain in Italy and all kinds of places.
They put them through a mud test, which
is essentially just slathering it in
watery mud and spinning it round and
round and round and round and round. And
once they done all those tests, they do
them again. So, you can be rest assured
that you've got a pretty
reliable, durable, real world mountain
bike wheel set. Next item, the modular
crank, gradient crank. That's green,
isn't it? 30 mil spindle. And that's
something FSA arguably pioneered and did
first with a mega mega Evo BB and it's
been 30 mil spindle ever since. Now
these are hollow. I don't have the
hollow there. I mean the hollow inside
this bit. That's one piece. That's
another piece. And they're bonded
together by incredible superlue. and
that makes them quite a bit lighter than
ones that would have material in the
middle and stiff as old boots. Now, the
preload collar is nice. It's not a
plastic dinky one with a 2 mil nip up
screw. The preload collar is nice
aluminum with a decent 2 and 1/2 mil
nipp. Just keep them in check. Now, they
come in 165,
170, and 175. We've got them in 165,
which is the righteous length. Now, to
go with that, I don't want to touch this
because it's all greasy. It's a bottom
bracket. Now, bottom brackets aren't
massively interesting, are they? Apart
from when they're really getting on your
wick because it just keeps creaking and
you need another one. Now, 30 mil
spindle is bigger than a 24, isn't it?
Just about fits through a shell. So, the
you can tell that that has quite big
bearings. So, it's not 30 mil. And then
the outer diameter is just a usual
whatever it is on a 24 mil. Those are
big old cartridge bearings in there. And
you get that with it which is nice.
Nothing press fit. Didn't want didn't
drop it. Could do if you want. I'm going
to do out. Is it? And it will fit 68 and
73. Who has 68 bottom brackets anymore?
No one. This is probably the most
rejigged aesthetically
speaking product in the new FSA gradient
range. The new stem gone is the oil
slick one. We've left that behind. We've
done that. All power to you if you've
got that kind of thing. Now FSA
gradient. This is a 33 mil stem which is
a nice length. They also come in 40 and
50 and the tail lights slight rise to
it. It's a 60° rise. Zero gap design. 2D
forged and then CNC machined a lot. That
is quite a snazzy crisp little unit.
That what do you put inside a stem?
Handlebars. Classic FSA item we have
here alloy aluminum also available in
carbon and then 35 mil clamp and 318.
This is a 318 alloy bar. The alloys are
available in 25 mil rise and 40 which we
have here. The carbons are in 20 and 30
mil rise. They're all 800 mil wide and
they're all neutral. Eight degrees back,
four degrees up. Now FSA are quite
transparent in saying that carbon is not
necessarily better than alloy. They do
different things for different people.
So for example, this one is G.
Adverton's signature bar. He had a lot
of input into designing this because he
wants a bar that will bend a lot when
you're doing stupid things like jumping
off a cliff. Whereas carbon's more for
more groomed bike parky vibration
absorption stuff. So, aluminum for rough
riding and carbon for trail riding if
you want, but you know, metal is good.
Also on here, you got textured finish.
So, you got trim markings there and
you've got little markings here to help
you align your brakes and your shifters
in the same place, which is very good
for the nerdy amongst us. I like doing
that. And to further help with big wax
and a bit of bend, those bits are
slightly flattened there, which gives
them a little bit of that. It doesn't
affect any of that. Clever. I like that
a lot. Okay. If you want to know all the
weights and measures and all the
different options, go on singletrack
world.com and look for the feature on
FSA gradient that will be on about now.
All these things we're going to stick on
a mountain bike and rag it around for as
long a time as possible and see how it
all gets on. Each part will be
individually tested. So, in a few
months, click on and have a look what
the review says about each item. That's
it from me. I'll see you next time. Bye.
Have I got like a black, you know, like
police academy? Was it where he put an
ink on his