The Takeaway: Using Sophie Tauber-Arp’s 1937 painting “Composition” as inspiration, Jacqueline Mautner created this 2021 Philly Bike Expo “People’s Choice” award winning gravel bike. With custom frame bags from Bag Bags and a full SRAM XPLR suite of parts, this custom gravel bike breaks the mold of the slacker and longer geometry trend to deliver a sharp and engaging ride on all kinds of terrain.
- The frame is made using Columbus Zona tubing, which is specifically designed for off-road applications.
- SRAM’s XPLR groupset boasts an impressive gear range with 12-speed, 10-44T cassette.
- The RockShox Rudy fork’s 30mm of suspension travel takes the edge off rough terrain and small bumps.
Price: Frameset pricing starts at $4,800 with simple paint Artist series frames start at $6,800 and include a Chris King headset and bottom bracket.
Weight: 20.6 lbs.
Style: Gravel Bike
Wheel Size: 700c
Frame: Untitled Cycles built with Colombus Zona tube set
Fork: RockShox Rudy XPLR suspension fork, 30mm travel, 45mm offset, Solo Air, 12x100mm, 1.5” tapered steerer
Drivetrain: SRAM Red XPLR eTap AXS
Crank: SRAM Red 1x
Chainring: 40 tooth
Cassette: SRAM XPLR XG-1271, 12-speed, 10-44T
Brakes: SRAM Red eTap AXS Hydraulic Disc, 160mm, Centerline rotors
Wheels: Zipp 101 XPLR (front and rear)
Tires: Zipp G40 XPLR Tubeless Gravel Tire, 40mm
Saddle: Brooks C17 Cambium
Seatpost: Reverb AXS XPLR, 27.2mm diameter, 400mm length, 75mm drop
Handlebar: Zipp SC SL-70 XPLR, 70mm reach, 115mm drop, 5º flare, 3º backsweep
Stem: Zipp SC SL Stem, 100mm, 6º rise
Bicycles are utilitarian objects, made to be ridden, so I don’t generally talk about them as art because that can often miss the point. However, Jacqueline Mautner's latest creation—the Untitled Gravel Bike—needs that kind of consideration. It’s the rare bike, that’s almost impossible to separate from its inspiration and creator. It was first shown at the Philly Bike Expo in 2021, where it won the people's choice award due in large part to its spectacular paint job by Eric Dungey of Color Works Palette.
Philadelphia based Mautner, who builds under the name Untitled Cycles, pulls inspiration from many artists. I first noticed her frames at the 2019 Philly Bike Expo with her creative homage to Keith Haring. For this gravel bike, Jacqueline drew from Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s 1937 painting titled “Composition.”
“The painting is a constructivist influenced composition with primary shapes and colors. It’s dynamic and encapsulates movement - like the moving parts and motion of a bicycle.” Mautner describes. She continues, “But when I delve into an artwork such as Composition, I learn about and consider not only its compositional logic but also the broader context in which it was made. For example, during the rise of fascism in the 1930s, abstract art stood in opposition and defiance to the neoclassical, realist art preferred by the fascists. With the recent surge in fascism, it seemed appropriate to align with the defiance represented by abstract art.”
This is typically where my conversations with Jacqueline end up. We’ll start with a discussion about bikes but inevitably end up down a rabbit hole of art, its intersection with craft, where and how the two meet, and how it relates to her frame building or bikes in general. This brings us back to the bike, which after all was made to be ridden. The frameset was built using Columbus Zona tubes, a round, double-butted tube set designed for off-road use due to its elevated reliability and fatigue life. A tapered head tube, bottom bracket shell and thru axle dropouts from Paragon Machine Works finish the frame.
Geometry for the frame was designed around the kind of riding that Jacqueline prefers to do herself, mainly long distance and mixed terrain. On the spectrum of gravel, this bike falls on the “meant to go long distances comfortably” side of things. A 72º head tube angle and a 73º seat tube angle put it nearly in cyclocross bike territory. However, the longer than normal axle to crown length of the RockShox Rudy fork gives it a more relaxed 65mm of trail. I’ll touch on this again in my ride impressions of the bike but I liked the quicker handling of the Untitled compared to longer and slacker bikes I’ve ridden recently. The obvious benefit of this being a custom bike though, is that if your preferences differ, you can always request changes based on how you want the bike to handle and what you plan on doing with it.
The build kit for this bike was supplied entirely by SRAM, with a full suite of XPLR parts. This was my first time getting to ride the full XPLR line all together on one bike, so it’s worth digging in a little bit on how they all worked together. The RockShox Rudy fork is probably the second most attention grabbing thing about the Untitled gravel bike (after its paint job). I was genuinely excited to give it a try as, currently, there aren’t many options for this fork outside of a select few production bikes (like the Canyon Grizl) or going the custom route.
Riding the Rudy fork on the road I generally didn’t think about it. Locked out it felt, more or less, like a rigid fork. Unlocked the fork remained unobtrusive on smooth roads. I needed to be doing a spirited, out of the saddle effort before I noticed the front end diving a bit. The lockout switch was easy enough to reach, so I quickly got used to locking it out whenever I saw a steep hill coming. However, on more rolling terrain I usually wouldn’t bother. Off road, the fork did a great job of absorbing chatter and generally taking the edge off. The Ruby by no means allowed the Untitled to plow through anything though. With 30mm of travel, you still need to pick your lines carefully when riding on singletrack. What the Rudy did do was make long days on the bike noticeably easier on my hands and wrists by soaking up the constant small bump chatter that can be persistent on gravel.
The AXS XPLR dropper I found less useful than the Rudy. Probably the best feature of the post is simply how easy it is to add to any 1x AXS bike. With no wires to run it’s as easy as installing any other seatpost. But the utility of it on a bike that’s designed primarily for long distance rides seems limited to easing getting on and off while the bike is loaded down and stopping at lights.
The ActiveRide feature touted by SRAM when the post first launched—whereby dropping the post a few millimeters it would give a bit of squish—could have been helpful on some rougher roads. But the reality was that I didn’t find seated pedaling with my saddle too low to be particularly comfortable or useful either. The dropper itself worked beautifully and was actually pretty fun when riding the bike on trails that were meant for a mountain bike.
The bike rolled on Zipp’s new 101 XPLR wheelset, which takes the same approach to compliance as Zipp’s Moto trail wheelset, a single wall carbon rim construction with engineered localized flex. This is all a fancy way of saying the rim is designed to give just enough under hard impacts to reduce the chance of your pinch flatting which allows for lower tire pressure and more comfort. As a concept, the wheels seem more suited to rowdy singletrack or chunky gravel.
On paved roads and smoother gravel, the thing I noticed most about the 101s was actually their weight. At 1665g (claimed) for the set, these gravel wheels approach the weight of many cross country mountain bike wheelsets. With an internal width of 27mm, the dimensions do honestly seem more like mountain bike wheels than ones meant for a drop bar bike.
The XPLR drivetrain I have used on a few other bikes already. I am a fan of the wide range offered by the 10-44T cassette when paired with a 40 tooth chainring. The greater than one-to-one low gear makes getting up tricky, loose, and steep climbs possible even with a loaded bike. The jumps between gears on the cassette are a bit smaller compared to running an Eagle mullet set-up, making it easier to find comfortable gear when riding in the middle range of the cassette. The actual shifting performance is identical to other AXS groups, that is to say, it’s precise, easy to use, and just works.
Ride Impressions
I touched on this briefly when covering the geometry of the Untitled but it’s not a typical long and slack gravel bike. Riding it reminded me of riding a cyclocross bike. It felt agile, with quick steering and a more traditional road riding position using a 110mm stem. It might seem out of place to put a suspension fork on a bike with a 72º head tube angle, yet, this bike is just an absolute blast to ride. Unlike slacker bikes, it doesn’t need to be coaxed into making tighter turns. The Untitled can be flicked right into the apex and swing out the other side, daring you to cut the next apex even tighter.
I expected the steeper head tube angle to make the Untitled a bit unruly on rougher, more technical descents. But this is where the AXS dropper and the Rudy suspension fork did quite a bit to change the character of the bike. The dropper allowed me to move far enough back on the bike to counteract the 72º head tube. While the fork did just enough cushioning to let me be a little reckless, without feeling like I was constantly about to go over the bars. I still think both parts would be better suited to a bike with a longer and slacker front end, but I still had a good time “under biking” some mountain bike trails on the Untitled thanks to both parts.
As tempting as the dropper and suspension fork make it to ride the Untitled like a 1990s hardtail, its sweet spot was at being an all terrain road bike. Its sporty geometry gave the Untitled a snappy feeling that even the extra bit of heft from the fork couldn’t dampen. Like a good road bike, it felt fast, smooth, and intuitive over smooth gravel roads. The quick handling made carving down a winding road descent feel natural. Racking up the miles over any kind of road surface was where this bike absolutely shined.
Final Thoughts
It can be tricky reviewing a custom bike. When I dig into the pros or cons of a production bike it’s nearly impossible for the manufacturer to then change the next bike of the production run to suit. A custom builder on the other hand can take input and apply it (within reason) to the bike they’re building for you. So oftentimes with custom bikes, it feels less like I’m reviewing the actual bike than what the builder is bringing to it. With the Untitled Gravel Bike, it was Jacqueline’s love for art and her desire to not just make a beautiful and functional bicycle, but one that means more than just the sum of its parts. If that strikes you as the kind of bike you’re after then get in touch with her as her production spots fill up quickly.
