Ultegra R8100 Di2 Bike

Our shop has had a couple Echos and Ables in for a year now and after riding them and other gravel rigs, I finally decided to order an Echo Ultegra Di2 12 speed build. I ride in NJ where it is mostly road but not far away are a few parks packed with excellent single track. I will also ride this at my pad in Vermont where as the otters review mentioned you get 100 ft / mile of elevation and you can easily find 50% or more gravel to road, but still plenty of road.

With that "any road is my road mentality" I picked the Echo over the Able. I didn't want to build a rigid MTB, rather wanted a non stoppable road bike. The. Echo is it and after just a few rides I'm impressed. My last ride I cruised a dozen miles with my road team then broke off and did a few miles of single track solo. The bike did both well and the handling on the road or single track is fantastic. The bike handles very well. Sharp turning but not to steep and twitchy, the bike strike a perfect balance for its mission.

My only reservation and reason for the 4 star rating is I did not know the Ultegra set up will only fit 38mm tires. I'm running Spesh Pathfinder 38s and they are excellent. It was news to me and our shop that the Shimano builds only have room for 38mm and I'm a bit bummed I cannot run the vulpine 40s that I test rode on the Echo (SRAM) in our shop. I rode the Vulpines at the VT Monster a few weeks back (bout 80miles 9K climbing) and I loved them.

That said, I'm not looking back, I still absolutely LOVE this bike. This machine is my non-stoppable go anywhere road bike and not intended to cross into MTB territory. There are plenty of great tires including the pathfinders at 38mm. Cole has helped me lots and has supported our LBS, where we are all into this American Built company.

Get One!

Recently purchased from LBS - Echo Frame. Given the parts shortage I cobbled together an Ultegra Di2 11spd parts kit. Enve cockpit with flaired out h-bars for gravel riding. I have been on compact frames for some time now. Jumping on the size medium (I typically ride a 54cm. I am 5'10", 32 inch inseam) it felt big, different than my compact frames. To be clear, the frame size is correct, for me, but it is a bit different and I prior to logging a ride I was curious to see how it would work out. It worked out great.

I have logged about 30 hours of gravel riding on rough New England roads where we get 1000 feet of elevation for every 10 miles of riding. The descents are often steep and strewn with loose rocks. The first thing I noticed about this bike is that it is incredibly stable on the descents. Like - wow! I am running Conti speedmax 700x36 tires. I could run bigger and I bet it would be better still. The bike is about 17.5lbs with SPD pedals. For a gravel bike! Come on man, that is great. Frame is stiff and comfortable. I have ridden lots of nice high end bikes over the past couple decades of playing bikes and giving an assessment of a gravel frame is tough. The tires are big and comfy which probably has a bigger impact on ride then the actual frame and the gravel roads bounce you around, all making it difficult to really assess the frame.

My solution - flip the chips (this was pretty easy with one exception) and ride it on the road. When I changed up the geometry my chain length was too long. I think this is an easy fix. I should be able to shorten the chain and still get full range of gears on both set up. I am running a 50/34 front and a 34 cassette in the rear. I road 4 hours on the tarmac on the bike. Yup, this frame is pretty incredible. Light. Stiff. I put some I9 wheels on it, which brought the weight down to 17lbs. I may swap the gravel bars out for aero road bars and see if I can really make this the true one quiver bike. Currently, my road bike is a full on aero race bike. Its going to be tough to compare the two rides. It is really apple and oranges, but if you are looking for one solution, this has gotta be it.

Okay - why 4 stars and not 5 starts. My guess is that the folks at Allied are always innovating and upgrading - maybe the next version is 5 stars. Bottom line - my four stars is really five stars. I like to allow for one star of new innovation.

Final comment- I am so proud of the "Made Here" sticker. The fact that this bike was made in America is just wonderful.

I recently purchased my Echo and I can say that working with Cole and Will regarding the sale, build and compatibility of my bike has been outstanding. The team at Allied is undoubtedly the most professional I have ever worked with. The processes from start to finish are top notch. I am glad to spend my time and money with Allied thanks to these two gentlemen and the build team behind the scenes. Delay no longer people, get yours today..