Sage Bikes out of Bend, Oregon have a new drop bar bike out, dubbed the Storm King and it is a gravel bike for riders who want something more capable.
The Storm King compliments the Barlow in the brand’s dirt road category, but expands on tire clearance and ability. The geometry has also been expanded to work better on mild singletrack and rocky roads.
The Storm King, named after a trail in the Deschutes National Forest, has three bottle mounts, the ability to mount racks front and rear, bosses for bolt-on frame bags, and internal cable routing for rear brakes, and dropper posts. These features expand the capability of the Storm King from easy going gravel rides to long-distance bikepacking trips that fuse a variety of terrain.
Frame clearance on the Storm King allows a maximum of either 700x50c or 650×2.4″ tire, so riders can choose to spec their bikes for either loose gravel or smooth singletrack. Sage used a curved seat tube to decrease the chainstay length and maintain the tire clearance. A 148x12mm Boost rear axle also helps with tire clearance.
Sage uses 3/2.5 titanium, an alloy that blends stiffness, durability, and lightweight for their frame tubing. Although pricier, titanium has a better strength-to-weight ratio than steel, a better fatigue tolerance, and resists corrosion and rust better than other metals.
The Storm King also incorporates an oversized 44mm head tube, more akin to a mountain bike head tube. This makes for better front end stiffness.
The geometry on the Storm King ranges from size to size, but stays within a small ballpark. Seat tube angles start at 74.5° for the 50cm size, and end at 72.5° for the larger 62cm. The head tube angles range from 71.5° to 72.5°. Chainstays stay nice and short and range from 423mm to 427mm depending on size.
Part of what makes Sage Titanium bikes unique are their industrial finish. All of the frames have a raw finish that can be polished and renewed whenever the owner wants, with a Scotch-Brite pad, or buyers can send it to Sage for a full detailing and replacement decals.
The Sage look and function doesn’t come cheap. Frames start at $3,200 and complete bikes start at $7,500 and up. The Sage Storm King pictured, with anodized purple bits all over retails for $15,000.
