Otso Waheela C Gravel Bike Review: HUGE Tire & Mud Clearance!

“Gravel Racing and So Much More” – Otso Cycles

otso waheela c gravel bike review
Having a total f’n blast on the Otso Waheela C!

“Waheela® C finishes what Waheela S started. It’s a no-nonsense gravel killer from a straight-talking, engineering-driven brand.” If the name Otso doesn’t ring a bell, Otso Cycles is a subsidiary of Wolf Tooth Components.

otso waheela c gravel bike review
GIGUNDO tyre clearance with 700c x 50mm tyres!

“Choose your own adventure with our new Waheela C. Set it up with 29 x 2.1” to ride dirt singletrack, 650b x 53 to grind even the sketchiest of gravel sections, 700c x 28 slicks for your weekly group road ride, or anything in between.”

otso waheela c gravel bike review
Heaps of attachment options.

“This versatility, of course, is made possible by our Tuning Chip dropout system, which allows the wheelbase to be lengthened or shortened by up to 20mm to accommodate your riding style without compromising handling.”

otso waheela c gravel bike review
Otso’s Tuning Chip provides mega versatility.

With that said, I was very keen to see how the Otso Waheela C rode with BIG tyres. 700c x 40mm is nice, but this bike is an absolute blast to ride with 700c x 50mm tyres! And, there is still a ton of clearance, arguably making this the ultimate bike for all conditions, good and muddy.

otso waheela c gravel bike review
So much smiling riding this bike.

Otso is spot on about this bike being a gravel killer – versatile with almost no compromises – it clears 2x chainrings no worries, racy geometry and so much more.

Otso Cycles

Don’t forget to Like the Gravel Cyclist Facebook page, follow G.C. on Instagram and subscribe to our Youtube Channel. We are also on Twitter!

2 Comments

  1. Avatar Adub

    I was able to check out the Otso Waheela C in person at Rebeccas Private Idaho. Great looking bike, very ample tire clearance, but whats with the excessively short HT lengths within all sizes? Comparing the stack/reach with a racing road bike frame it has over 1cm less stack for the equivalent reach? Looking at their instagram all the pics of this bike has a mile of spacers under the stem.

    Unfortunately this is a deal breaker for me. Other than this oversight looks like a great frame for the long reach, short stack crowd.

    • JOM JOM

      I ran 20mm of spacers beneath the stem on the review sample. I’d much rather have a head tube on the shorter side than a bolt upright position. With that said, bike fit is a personal thing, you cannot please everyone. I really liked the Waheela C, geo was spot on for me!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.