Gravel racing tracks keep getting tougher, but the speed isn’t going down, so Mosaic updates its flagship titanium gravel bike with a bigger clearance GT i55 series. Sure, bumping up to 55mm tire clearance seems pretty on point with current gravel racing trends. But doing it on a ti gravel race bike is a bit trickier, and it led to Mosaic developing their first 3D-printed titanium frame elements to fit big tires and big gears. Plus, Mosaic wasn’t satisfied with current big clearance carbon forks, so they designed their own…
Mosaic GT i55 titanium gravel race bikes
Mosaic’s titanium GT began life as a gravel race bike when 40mm tires seemed like plenty for those who wanted to go fast. By 2019, it had already been updated to 45mm clear, with its Enve forks topping out at 50mm. And its i45 evolution a couple of years back combined that bigger clearance with integrated cable routing, and some killer paint jobs. They even built a special GT-X adventure iteration that would fit 2.25″ (57mm) tires.
“The goal was never simply to build a bike that fits bigger tires. Every change had to earn its place. The rear end, the fork, the frame standards, everything was designed together so the bike would feel every bit as lively and responsive as our previous gravel bike while giving riders the capabilities they’ve been asking for.”
– Aaron Barcheck, Mosaic Cycles Founder and Lead Designer
But Mosaic wanted to keep going with big volume tires AND that gravel race bike feel. So they kept iterating on the original GT. They sorted out the frame, and thanks to the new 3D-printed chainstay yoke, they even managed to shorten chainstays five millimeters to 430mm vs. the i45. But ultimately, Mosaic basically ran into a wall at a race-ready fork with big enough clearance. So, they created their own!
All-new Mosaic carbon gravel race fork
The vast majority of bike companies use off-the-shelf forks, whether they are from known & respected brands like Columbus, Enve, Ritchey, or Whiskey, for example, or simply unlabeled forks from their trusted Asian carbon manufacturers. So it is pretty unique that Mosaic decided to develop their own – like we’ve seen from brands like Bombtrack, Sour & Tout Terrain do to get more adventure-ready features.
Mosaic ‘s reasoning seems to be that they wanted that big 55mm tire clearance with room for mud & cable integration, but without sacrificing a race-like feel. And importantly, they wanted to make it suspension-correct for the new crop of short-travel gravel suspension forks, so they could drop in even more off-road capable gravel race bikes in the near future.
Tech details
- titanium gravel bike frames, USA-made in Boulder, CO
- new 3D-printed ti chainstay yoke allows 1x chainrings up to 50T for max race speed
- all-new Mosaic-designed full carbon gravel fork with internal routing, fender mounts & gravel suspension-corrected geo (415mm a-c)
- 55mm tire clearance front & rear
- oversized IS52 head tube for fully internal cable routing (Enve In-Route & Cane Creek HCR compatible)
- T47 threaded bottom bracket
- UDH dropout with 12mm thru-axle & flat mount disc brakes
- available as fully custom made-to-order or pre-configured batch-built in 8 stock sizes
Mosaic GT i55 – Pricing, options & availability
Entirely made in Colorado, the Mosaic GT i55 titanium gravel bike is available in two levels – the $8250 GT-1 i55 frameset and the $5000 GT-2 i55 frameset. Each bike is made-to-order, so it can be further customized with custom geometry, multiple finishing options including Mosaic’s unique Artist Series paint jobs, and individual complete bike builds tailored to each rider. That also means approximately 8 weeks lead-time (currently not much slower than the upcoming batch-made version).
Coming soon this fall, there will also batch-made versions of each frameset in 8 stock sizes that will save you a bit of cash and get rid of the wait time, shipping out in 3-5 business days. Batch-made GT-1 i55 framesets come in Pearl Dark Graphite matte finish from $7500, and batch-built GT-2 i55 framesets start at $4250 in their shiny Ghost finish. You can pre-order batch-made frames now through the end of August for the first deliveries in late September.