Are you after that ultimate gravel bike that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? The Breezer is quiet possibly that. A do-it-all bike for tackling any terrain you throw its way! And all for under $1,000! The bike is equipped with 45mm all-condition tires, wide-range gearing, rack & fender mounts and a compact geometry, the Radar easily covers rough roads and trails with ease. Whether it’s battling inner-city pot-holes or navigating mountain passes, it is built for riders who don’t want to be limited by their bike when they go exploring.
So the bike is built from the Breezer Steel 4130 Chromoly. Yes steel! my favourite. If this is your thing to heck out this article with some of the best steel gravel bikes. It has become a staple in gravel riding and cycling in general. CROMO provides incredible strength to weight properties. That means it is up to 5 times the fatigue strength as 6061 aluminium. In my opinion it is the best material for those looking to undertake adventures around the world by bike.
The frame is designed to house decent sized tires, up to 29 x 2.2″ MTB tires. If if off-road exploring is what you had in mind this bike has you covered. The bikes does come stock with the WTB Riddler Race, 700 x 45c, wire bead tires. Along with such tires another component for the ultimate adventure bike is mounting abilities.
This bike has all the eyelets you could need for bikepacking or touring adventures. You get multiple mounting options on both the fork and frame of the bike, for fenders, bottle cages, racks and even cargo cages on the fork if you wanted with the double mounting on each side. You also get 3 spots for mounting water bottle cages, two inside the frame triangle and one underneath the down-tube.
The bike features a upgraded style of drop outs. Coined the Breeze-In Dropouts. The offer twice the rigidity and half the weight of standard dropouts. They are the good that custom frame builders are using them. What differentiates them is the hooded design, making them better by… Offering a stronger connection between the seatstay and chainstay tubes. And they also use less material for the forging which makes it lighter.
As the bike is only sub $1000 it doesn’t have some of the highest quality components and parts which is completely expected. You do get mechanical disc brakes, in the form of Tektro Spyre C brakes. However it is probably in the mid level for specs with the Shimano Deore, long cage rear derailleur & Sora shifters. You get a bike with 2×9 speed which is plenty enough for gravel grinding. The rear cassette is the Shimano HG, 11-36t, 9-Speed with the Breezer 2-pc w/hollow axle, 46/30T crank.
This bike is comparable to the Salsa Journeyman Claris or the Marin Nicasio + which are all around the same price (well the Marin is cheaper). But my point is that the Breezer takes the cake for the highest quality specs out of the three. Meaning value and performance for the money!
The great thing about this bike is how it comes stock with a 46/30 crank! Which is perfect for such a cheap bike when it comes to adventure riding. The gearing comes with the application of many different types of riders and types of riding. The gearing allows for commuting, touring, steep climbing, or if you are riding with a heap of gear on the bike. The gearing really does a great job at accommodating all of these.
It comes with the Oval Concepts 325, 6061 alloy, 31.8mm clamp handlebars. With a 125mm drop and a generous 25 degree flare with 4 degree sweep. This is great if you plan to use this bike on gravel. If you want that wider stance for leverage and greater control. Offering that nice and comfortable positioning on bike. The bars are relatively wide compared to the frame size.
The weigh of the bike is just under 13 kg which is a little on the heavy side but keep in mind that this bike is cheap and they have to compensate for it somewhere. Either in component quality or the weight of the bike. The trail of this bike is a little on the higher side at 75 mm which means the ride feel is more stable and not a quick at snappy turns. This is what you want if you are carrying a heavy load and sending it down hill. This also mean that the bike is slightly sluggish at times.
The rear end is a little less responsive then some other bikes. It takes some time to get up to speed but once there it maintains speed quiet well. Chainstay length is 457 mm which is longer then most other bikes. Which makes this bike ride feel more stable and relaxed. But then that means you get that clearance for panniers and rear racks without any heel striking. So with the slacker front end and longer rear, overall you get the feel of a well balanced bike.
The bike also performs rather well when it comes to sending it down hill. Thanks to the stable geometry it lends itself to rolling over rough stuff with less of a jarring feel.
But when it comes to climbing due to that longer rear end it feels that you are towing the back up hill instead of it feeling more responsive and just powering up hill. But again thanks to the gearing ratios you get some rather good abilities when climbing up hills.
One of the bike positives about this bike is that they didn’t just go out a put on some road gearing on a heavier bike. But rather the gearing is matched well with the weight of the bike and its intended use. Also you cannot go wrong with that price tag at under $1,000.
However it would have been nice if they made the fork with a triple mounting options instead of the double. As this limits you from using anything cages or anything like that. But you can still run some cargo cages like the Blackburn Cargo Cage.
Although the specs are not super high end and don’t shift as smooth or quick as something like a SRAM Rival groupset. It is still good and once setup and matched to your riding style it works.
So is this bike for you? Well if you are just getting into cycling and you are not sure if you want something to commute, ride gravel or bikepack or even tour with. As this bike is able to do all this. It seems like a rather responsible decision. If you are on a limited budget too then this bike has you covered! If you are looking for a touring bike that you can take off-road and not break the bank then this bike is for you! Also the aesthetics of this bike works well, I like the mustard color choice and the adventure look it has.
Breezer Radar Expert
$969.99
Pros
- So Cheap!
- Stable riding feel
- Mounting options
- Flared Handlebars
- Fit up to 2.2" tires
Cons
- On the heavy side
- Bit sluggish up hills (with longer rear)
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