AVANTI CORSA ER2WORDS BY JOHN WINKIE PHOTOS BY DARRYL CAREY

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For some years now, motorcyclists the world over have been using adventure bikes so they can explore more out-of-the-way places than normal road bikes allow. The adventure bikes are developed from trail bikes but are as fast and comfortable in normal road use as a tourer. In Europe especially, large capacity adventure bikes have been the number one sellers.

This trend has caught on in NZ where the adventure genre has even more appeal than Europe with our surfeit of gravel roads, forestry, farm and high

country tracks. These bikes cannot take on the super rough but anything vaguely prepared is pretty well game. But they also make no apologies for being excellent road bikes and very long distance touring machines. I own a Kawasaki KLR650 and frequently ride with the many organised gravel road events as well as use it for 100km commutes and the occasional café trip.

In the cycling world we’ve had mountain bikes and road bikes but only the very occasional cross over, styled largely like cyclocross machines. We’ve not really had an off road capable machine which will also very adequately hold its own in the Sunday bunch rides.

This is the niche (I would argue a very large niche) which the Avanti Corsa ER2 is trying to fill. How well does it fulfil its design ambitions?

First of all let me tell you about the test area. We are in the Matakana area where we’ve recently run the Matakana Bianche and had a round of the Race of Six Friends. Both used the very worst of gravel roads you’re likely to meet. These vary from fairly smooth clay/gravel mix to ‘washboard’ and large gravel stone sections. We’ve also got some well-prepared but pretty steep mountain bike tracks.

Crucially, as well as being challenging to all grades of rider, the roads also lead to some of the best ocean and country views you’ll find anywhere.

I’ve covered well over 1,000kms on the Corsa ER2 over these roads. It handled everything extremely well. Importantly for me, it also handled a 100km road ride quite as well as a normal road bike and slightly more comfortably. It doesn’t have to apologise to any road bike at all.

But is it better as an adventure bike than a normal road bike? The answer is yes. The combination of 28mm tyres and shock-absorbing seat post definitely were an advantage. The saddle itself I found excellent. I also appreciated the slightly softened ride through the handlebars from again, the 28mm tyre, and the handlebar grips. The stem must also have had an effect but I didn’t actively notice it.

I did read another set of comments from a specification review which posed the question on whether the stem would affect steering. Well definitely not. I especially found the twisty downhill tarmac performance very confidence inspiring.

All of these changes are quite marginal compared with a normal road bike. It’s miles from a full suspension mountain bike but overall I’d much prefer to ride the Corsa ER2 over this type of going than any mountain bike.

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REVIEWER JOHN WINKIE PUT THE AVANTI CORSA ER2 THROUGH ITS PACES ON THE MATAKANA AREA’S GRAVEL BACKROADS - AND WAS IMPRESSED WITH ITS PERFORMANCE.

Getting back to downhills but this time referring to gravel versions, I was certainly much faster but still in control.

Much to my surprise, after some distance I really began to enjoy the disc brakes. They are powerful but for me, it was the controllability which impressed the most – it’s very easy to ‘half lock’ a wheel to get it to step out round tight gravel corners. And of course for this type of riding, they stop the grinding paste action of fine gravel on the rim sides.

It might be a small thing, but I also found the frame and equipment a bit easier to clean after dirty rides.

How did the bike stand up to this rather brutal treatment? One puncture (from glass – not an impact over the gravel) and one click on the rear mech. to take up some cable stretch. Otherwise you wouldn’t know it had been used.

Is it perfect? Well a couple of points. For me I would like the option of fitting an even

larger tyre but that would be tough with the chain stay clearances – an extra few mm would have been really appreciated although I never got any build-up of crud even over the damp clay surfaces.

I would also have dearly loved lower gear options. For a bike designed to be used over some pretty dodgy going I felt 36/28 was just too high. It speaks volumes for the rest of the bike that I did manage well over 20% grades on gravel on this gearing but I think a significantly lower option for the same climbs after 100km-plus would be warranted.

The third point is that I found the frame quite noisy. I’m not that used to carbon fibre (my personal bike is titanium) so perhaps I would notice these things more than most. I also had the seat post very high for the small frame on the test bike and this perhaps had a noise inducing effect.

In summary, I think this type of riding will become increasingly popular; therefore this type of bike will be in demand as it does all

things just as well as a normal road bike and many things substantially better. The Avanti ER2 version fits the mould very well.

THE 28MM TYRES AND THE HANDLEBAR GRIPS COMBINED TO OFFER A SLIGHTLY SOFTENED RIDE.

FOR A BIKE DESIGNED TO BE USED OVER SOME PRETTY DODGY GOING, LOWER GEAR OPTIONS WOULD BE WORTH A LOOK.

REVIEWER JOHN WINKIE ENJOYED THE POWER OF THE DISC BRAKES BUT IT WAS THEIR ‘CONTROLLABILITY’ WHICH IMPRESSED HIM THE MOST.

AVANTI CORSA ER SPECIFICATIONS

FRAM ADT R5 Carbon, Endurance Road Geometry

FORK ADT R5 Carbon Integrated with 1 1/4”-1 1/8” Steerer

FRONT DERAILLEUR Shimano Ultegra 6800

REAR DERAILLEUR Shimano Ultegra 6800

SHIFTERS Shimano ST-RS685 22-Speed

CRANKSET Shimano Ultegra 6800 Compact 52/36T

BRAKES Shimano BR-RS805 Hydraulic Disc, 140mm Rotors

BRAKE LEVERS Shimano BR-RS805 Hydraulic Disc

WHEELSET DT Swiss R23 Spline

CASSETTE Shimano 105 5800 11-28T 11-Speed

HANDLEBAR Zero Attack Pro-S 31.8mm

HANDLEBAR STEM TranzX Antishock 31.8mm

TYRES Kenda Kountach Endurance E1 700 x 28c

SADDLE Zero Zenith Pro

SEAT POST 3T Ionic Team Comfort

BOTTOM BRACKET Shimano SM-BB71 Press Fit

RRP $4,499.99

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