“Gravel Racing and So Much More.”
“It’s a no-nonsense gravel killer from a straight-talking, engineering-driven brand.”
If you haven’t heard of Otso, you have surely heard of their sister company, Wolf Tooth Components. This isn’t Otso’s first foray into the world of frames, there have been two variants of the Waheela in the S (for Steel) variant in regular and stainless.
Not only is the C (for Carbon) frame light at a claimed weight of 1,024 grams in size medium, it has seriously huge tyre clearance.
“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. 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.”
In this video, I cover the standout features of the Otso Waheela C as a prelude to a review coming later.
Note, there is a small error in the video. The Otso Waheela C has a 15mm thru-axle on the front, and not 12mm as stated. This opens up the bike to a lot more wheelsets!
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I’m gobsmacked! Clearance for 29×2.1 tires. This is how all Gravelbikes should be built. Why be limited to max 42-45mm tires like most Gravel frames? With all the mounts and 2.1 tires, this bike could make a great “Tour Divide” bike.
Also, the front thru-axle is 15mm, error on my part. This opens up MTB wheelsets and more.
Maybe older mtb wheel sets. Modern day mtb wheel sets use boost spacing. Excelllent video!
Could this bike possibly fit 29×2.2 tires with the rear dropout adjusted all the way back? I ask this question because there are so many great light-weight fast-rolling XC Race tires in 29×2.2.
You need to ask Otso this question for now, I don’t have 2.2″ tyres hanging around, and as yet, I haven’t ridden the bike… however, should I procure a set later, I will try them out. Thanks.
I REALLY like that the chip not only adjusts chainstay length, but also the height.
Any bike with enough tire clearance has the option of running both narrow or wide tires, but since wider tires are also taller, this will raise the bottom bracket. We assume most people want to run wider tires for rough terrain, sand and mud. In those cases, you would want a LOWER bottom bracket for stabilty, not higher!
So kudos to Otto for addressing that. Even better, since the adjustment is only at the rear, it will slacken the head angle, shorten the reach and increase the stack. This will also lengthen front center, to prevent the weight balance shifting to the front wheel.
This is the only way to truly make one bike have optimized handling with different wheel sizes.
Think of how this plays out on this bike:
Set up 1:
28mm tires, chip in short and low position:
Lively and agile roadbike feel from narrow tires, short wheelbase, quick,, light steering from low trail (small wheel diameter+steep head angle= low trail). Long and low stretched out position.
Set up 2:
50mm tires, chip in long and high position
Stable and comfy from cushy tires, stable handling from long wheel base and high trail (slack head angle +llarge diameter wheel= high trail). More upright posture.
The two settings truly complement all aspects, rather than