The First 2,000km - FRETORI Team Issue Bridge Surveyor

We’ve primarily ridden solo or in small groups, with two group rides to speak of. Generally, a typical Bridge Surveyor ride mid-week is 40-60km, that includes pavement, a bit of single track and gravel. We run a 35mm tubeless tire, on a set of RX880 wheels at about 45 PSI – and the set up feels at home in all contexts. PR’s have been set off-road in certain segments, whereas on road, we’re still in the mix in terms of speed on some road KOMs. What’s most impressive is how “at home” the bike feels throughout a ride with all the surfaces. 

We have even swapped wheels for a more “road” set up – deeper profile rims and narrower tires and signed up for a club “hammer fest” to see how it would feel. To the say least, the Peterborough Cycling Club Thursday nighter at the end of May was a spirited affair. We averaged 41km/hr for 50km – it’s reasonable to say that riding the Bridge “all-road” bike was not at all a disadvantage. It was certainly fast enough to make splits and hop into a move or two and even sprint for the town line at the end. 

In early June, we took the bike for a road/light gravel 130km ride, with a pure road wheel set up as well and again it felt optimal. It didn’t feel as if we were losing anything to a “pure” road bike with 28mm tires on it. 

We certainly ought to acknowledge our bias as the sales agency in Ontario for Bridge frames. However, please indulge us.  Our position is that there are many incredible bikes on the market: we own, ride and use other brands frequently. We like to know what’s out there. It allows to be informed and knowledgeable about the industry we work in. 

We’re Shimano reps first and foremost and thus we’ve been fortunate over the years to ride many top level bikes for extended periods of time. What we can say about Bridge is that it is distinct among drop-bar bikes. On the pavement, it’s planted and responsive, descends with stability and the climbs feel great too.

Off road, the bike is intentional, and you simply point the bike and it does what you need it to do, when you need it to. There’s a confidence that this bike instills that is unlike other bikes in this space. For a long a time, we’ve been a believer in having both a road and gravel bike even as the lines of blurred in recent years. However, Bridge successfully blurred our opinion on the matter, which means we have to kind of go back on what we’ve been saying. As of now, we can confidently say, this bike does do it all in the context of drop bar and doesn’t leave you wanting more on the road or on the trail, it really can keep up with both. The only debate is really, gear ratios…. GRX vs. Road… or a mix.

That’s our qualitative review! Send us an e-mail at info@fretori.com – we’d love to hear your thoughts or questions too. And if you’re interested in ordering a Bridge, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to connect you with one of our retailers to walk you through the process.