British boutique brand Vielo has unveiled the second generation of its performance gravel bike, the V+1 Gen 2, offering it in 880g or 1,100g frame weight options.
The first V+1 gravel bike, launched in 2018, was well received, including by us when we reviewed it.
Like the original, the new bike is 1x only, lightweight and includes plenty of engineering attention to detail. Apart from that, according to Vielo founder Ian Hughes, it represents a full redesign. Hughes says his aim was to create a light, fast and comfortable bike, also wanting to position the new V+1 as a race-performance gravel bike rather than a “fat-tyre drop-bar mountain bike or load-lugging, bike-packing type bike.”
So the new geometry features a slightly lower bottom bracket height, shorter seat tube and slightly longer top tube, with the aim of bringing the rider lower and further forward.
The curved, flat, wide seatstays that were a signature of the firsts V+1 remain, but there’s bigger clearance for 50mm tyres.
The chainstay-BB join is now symmetrical while retaining the ability to swap 700c for 650b wheels without a dropped driveside chainstay.
The 1 1/8in-1 1/2in tapered head tube now has an hourglass shape.
Vielo has kept the option for mudguards – always popular in British riding conditions. The original V+1 had front and rear mounts on the inside of the frame tubing, something we also applauded.
A new fork increases the tyre clearance at the front in line with the rear, while fork stiffness is also upped.
And then there are the finishing flourishes: Hughes says: “We are really passionate about putting engineering detail into everything we do. This frame is full of really small details that make up the whole sum of the bike, such as the 2 turn thru-axles, stainless steel scratch guards near the disc brakes and our own Vielo 1x CNC machined chainrings.
As for the paint, Vielo has four new satin finishes. The V+1 Alto (the lighter version) frames are Rock Salt Pink with Blue Stone highlights inside the fork and on the seatstays; or reversed with a Blue Stone main frame and Rock Salt Pink highlights. The Strato frames are either Apple Green with Plum or Plum with Apple Green highlights.
The V+1 Alto and Strato are available as framesets with prices starting at £3,899 for the Alto and £3,399 for the Strato.
Full Alto bike builds are also offered with a SRAM Force 'mullet' build at £6,299 or Shimano GRX Di2 at £5,999.
The full Strato bike build is available with Campagnolo Ekar 13 speed at £5,699 or Shimano GRX mechanical at £4,799.
Vielo says it will be delivering the new V+1 Gen 2 to customers and its network of international dealers at the end of April and is already taking pre-orders.
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Simon Smythe is a hugely experienced cycling tech writer, who has been writing for Cycling Weekly since 2003. Until recently he was our senior tech writer. In his cycling career Simon has mostly focused on time trialling with a national medal, a few open wins and his club's 30-mile record in his palmares. These days he spends most of his time testing road bikes, or on a tandem doing the school run with his younger son.
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