Stinner Carrizo Select Bike Review, an American All-Road Bike

Stinner Carrizo Select Review

“Inspired by the rugged beauty of Carrizo Plain National Monument, the Carrizo Select embodies the true spirit of adventure. Built to handle any terrain, this all-road bike offers a smooth, responsive ride that grows with your skills. Handcrafted from premium steel, the Carrizo Select blends the performance and durability of our Select Series with the versatile, exploration-ready design of the Carrizo. Whether you’re just starting your journey or looking to take your cycling to the next level, this bike promises reliable performance and lasting enjoyment—at an unbeatable value.” – Stinner Frameworks Website

“The Carrizo “Select” is handcrafted, powder coated, and assembled in Santa Barbara from lightweight Columbus Zona steel tubing. It comes complete with a SRAM Apex AXS 12-speed drivetrain. With a max tire clearance of 40mm, the Carrizo will be at home on both paved and offroad rides. Fender mounts and room for three water bottles make the Carrizo a true workhorse ready for year-round riding. An Easton cockpit and DT Swiss wheels round out the package, providing trusted parts throughout the build. Stinner Frameworks utilizes common standards throughout the bike for easy maintenance, futureproofing, and serviceability.”

Stinner Frameworks Carrizo Select Review Video

Alternative Video Link for those reading via email subscription

In this video, JOM of the Gravel Cyclist crew provides a review of the Stinner Frameworks Carrizo Select.

Continued from Above:

Stinner Carrizo Written Riding Experience (or see video)

Steel is Real as they say, and the Stinner’s Columbus Zona tubing, chosen for Carrizo Select is on point. Presented in a simple, durable powder coat finish, the frame’s aesthetics almost harken back to an earlier era of steel frame construction, but with many modern touches. The oversized headtube supports an all carbon 1.5″ tapered fork, and UDH compatible dropout provides compatibility with the appropriate rear derailleur. With an adapter, you can still utilize a traditional mounting rear derailleur.

It’s difficult to articulate, many steel bikes have a unique quality to dampen vibrations, particularly on rough pavement, a quality possessed by the Carrizo Select.

The trade off is weight, and the Carrizo Select is a little heavier than I would expect from a high end steel bike circa 2025. Weight is approximately 21.2lbs with the Astral Cycling Luna Carbon Wheelset, 2 x King Titanium Bottle Cages, and Shimano XTR Pedals. The stock DT E1800 Wheelset adds about 1.2lbs to this weight with inner tubes installed. Frame tube shape, tube butting, are factors that can impact frame weight, a minor quibble really, but something to keep in mind if you’re a steel frame gram chaser.

None of this impacted the speedy nature of this bike, something the All-Road category is known for. I’ve no way of proving this scientifically, but placebo is strong. If I put the gas down, the Carrizzo Select responded no matter if I was in or out of the saddle. It took corners well, ably helped by the excellent choice of carbon fork at the front end, and despite not having the larger tire / tyre clearance we’ve come to expect nowadays, did well even in some dodgy terrain I subjected it to. For a bike designed to do well in all types of terrain, a big ask really, I was impressed.

stinner frameworks carrizo select review — 700c x 40mm of Tyre / Tire Clearance

Reliance upon well proven cycling industry standards such as an English thread bottom bracket are a boon for this bike, and traditionalists may love the externally routed cables, which are neatly lashed to the frame at appropriate places. Fender support is another touch, not one I tried, and will reduce your tire / tyre clearance to about 700c x 35mm.

I’m a little perplexed by the choice of drivetrain on the Carrizzo Select. SRAM Apex eTap XPLR is simply brilliant, it brings electronic shifting to more people for less money, but I feel this bike is screaming out for a 2x. This drivetrain is typically utilized on a proper gravel bike, where I feel the gearing is better suited to that, and of course, you would typically have 700c x 45mm tyre clearance or greater. However, the Carrizzo Select has 700c x 40mm of clearance, which is, good for the growing All-Road category, but with the limitations of a 1x drivetrain for this type of bike. I feel Stinner dinged themselves with this choice of drivetrain.

Thankfully, the Stinner Carrizo Select is available as a frame and fork, which you can build however you please.

Ten years ago, we would have said, 700c x 40mm, that’s enough man, but circa 2025, well here we are. I’d prefer to see the Carrizo Select spec’d with a SRAM Rival eTap AXS 2x drivetrain, which would supremely enhance this bike’s flexibility for proper All-Road performance. That may change the price point, but something to think about if you’re building your own Stinner Carrizzo Select as a frame and fork, which will set you back $US 1,695, a great price for a quality USA built steel frame.

For a complete bike with DT Swiss’s E1800 Wheelset, you’re looking at $US 3,895. Barring my misgivings for the mismatched 1x drivetrain, I enjoyed my time on this bike. It’s not the lightest, it’s not the flashiest, but a no nonsense steel bike that will stand the test of time, and deliver fun times and performance for many years to come, along with a little nod to some of the early 1990’s steel road frames I love so much.