American Bicycle Group hits the endurance road category with an all-new carbon Obed RVR bike promising “comfort, speed and versatility”. The new RVR is an affordable performance carbon all-road bike with deep aero tubes, all-day geometry, and room for proper wide tires. And with two carbon frame spec levels, 7 possible mechanical or electronic groupsets to choose from, and even road or fast gravel tires… there really is a bike for everyone – from $3k to more than 3x that!
2024 Obed RVR aero carbon endurance all-road bike
Obed calls the all-new aero RVR a “debut to the endurance road category”. They’ve really been doing all-road since their consumer-direct Day 1 five years ago with the carbon Remōt Baseline (still available at the entry-level). But the new RVR takes endurance road to a new level of performance, mixing in contemporary aerodynamic upgrades and much bigger 35mm tires. Overall it is a faster, more integrated, more capable road bike, yet still quite affordable.
What’s new?
Obed keeps the RVR story simple, not making any big claims on aero gains. Instead, they just say this is a bike for big road rides. They did focus on the RVR’s aerodynamics, though. They give the all-road bike a big downtube, tapered to a sharp leading edge smoothing airflow over your downtube bottle. Obed also gives the new bike massive chainstays for stiffness, while dropping & thinning the seatstays for rider comfort.
Obed makes two versions of the UCI-approved RVR, both sharing the same mold and core features, just different material layup. The standard hi-mod 1020g (M) RVR features conventional lightweight carbon, and maxes out handling stiffness, while preserving rider comfort. And then, the ultra-hi-mod 880g (M) RVR SLi (Super Light and integrated) gets an ultralight carbon layup for 13% weight savings and improved stiffness:weight. Weight claims are without hardware, add in the hanger & and seat clamp and a M SLi is about 61g more.
Both share the same new full carbon tapered steerer ‘Modern Road Performance’ fork. It gets longer axle-to-crown that provides max 35mm tire clearance, matching the frame even with its short 415mm chainstays.
Tech details
The RVR features most of the modern aero road features we’ve come to expect these days. Plus, there’s endurance friendly reasonable frame Stack heights. Fully internal cable routing through the headset, 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes, a T47 threaded bottom bracket, UDH, and a proprietary aero seatpost with an integrated wedge-style clamp.
A nice feature of the build-to-order methodology, Obed will set your bike up tubeless with trusted Stan’s sealant before it gets boxed up and shipped to you.
Obed RVR all-road – Pricing, options & availability
A hallmark of Obed’s consumer-direct model is their online bike builder that gives buyers plenty of options, beyond a fixed build kit and the 6 sizes (XS-XL). You get to pick three standard colors – white, black or blue – or a premium chili pepper red upgrade, with two logo colors for each. Then pick 1 of several drivetrains, your ideal wheels & tires, then preferred bar width, stem length & seatpost offset.
Complete builds with the Obed RVR start at $3100 with a mechanical 105 group & alloy DT wheels. Or upgrade to 105 Di2, Rival AXS Xplr, or Ultegra Di2 and more premium wheels if you want.
On the Obed RVR SLi front, pricing starts at $4500 with 105 Di2 and alloy wheels, but a carbon bar & separate stem with fully internal routing. But you can get builds up to $9400 by the time you pick fancy paint, a full SRAM Red AXS group with a power meter, and Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels.
Configure your bike now, and Obed is quick to paint- & build-to-order in Tennessee to get a bike out to you in just a matter of two weeks.