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YT Industries has released the Szepter, its first ever gravel bike, featuring gravel-specific front suspension and MTB-adjacent geometry.
The German direct-to-consumer mountain bike brand says its new gravel bike is capable of taking on technical trails while still being suitable for lighter-duty off- and on-road riding.
It’s an angle on the gravel genre that’s to be expected given the company’s focus on ‘gravity’ mountain biking but YT says it still took plenty of consideration as to how far down the suspension route it would and should go.
In the end, YT settled for the combination of the gravel-specific Rockshox Rudy XPLR fork and SRAM Reverb AXS XPLR dropper seatpost – the latter on the top-spec model only – alongside a relaxed, descent-focussed geometry, clearance for 45mm tyres and integrated mudguards.
The Szepter is available in two models starting with the Core 3, priced at £3,199 / $3,299 / €3,299, and topping out slightly higher with the Core 4 at £4,399 / $4,499 / €4,499. Both models come in sizes from S to XXL.
YT also regularly releases limited edition, high-spec ‘Uncaged’ models of all its bikes, so, while unconfirmed, it’s likely the brand will ‘uncage’ the Szepter too.
Read on for full details of the new bike and don’t miss our YT Szepter Core 4 first ride review.
YT Szepter key features
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- MTB-adjacent geometry with high stack, slack head tube angle and long wheelbase
- SRAM, Zipp and Rockshox XPLR components including Rudy front suspension
- Dropper post either specced or at least accepted
- Integrated mudguards
- Prospective mounts for frame bags
- 700c × 45mm tyre clearance
What is a gravel bike anyway?
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Frank Dörr, product development manager at YT Industries, explains how the company came to turn its attention to gravel.
‘A couple of years ago we identified something alien on our territory, which we consider the trails, where we’re at home. From our perspective a drop bar bike on trails makes sense.
‘So we investigated, bought bikes, tested them and tested them. The more we tested the more we scratched our heads, because we saw a lot of space for improvements. Luckily some component suppliers picked up the same things.’
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YT outlines its target audience when designing the Szepter as ‘mountain bikers and existing YT customers looking for an addition to their mountain bike that extends the scope of their riding all-year-round.’
The Szepter finds itself in the area of ‘gravel’ that prioritises fun and possibility, rather than all-out speed, although it should naturally find that in certain areas ‘racy’ gravel bikes won’t, the trails.
To meet those needs, YT says the three areas it needed to focus on were geometry, frame construction and utility.
YT Szepter geometry
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Unsurprisingly, the Szepter’s geometry is a departure from what you see on gravel bikes made by traditionally road-focussed companies. The Szepter emphasises comfort and stability for riding on technical trails.
A very high stack of 669mm (size medium) provides an upright body position familiar to mountain bikers, theoretically ensuring a comfortable ride position and giving the bike room to sag with the front suspension, more on that later.
Reach is long at 398mm, which, when paired with the slack 69.4° head tube angle and long 1,076mm wheelbase, should add bags of stability.
The 74.4° seat tube angle is steep, which YT says is to improve the bike’s performance uphill, essential in trying to create a bike that performs well on all terrain, this also allows 700c wheels with more voluminous tyres to be fitted comfortably.
Additionally, the Szepter has an incredibly short 480mm seat tube. This exposes more of the seatpost, giving it more opportunity to flex as well as room for a dropper to come down.
The frame construction and ASTM classification
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YT says it had split the Szepter’s carbon construction into three parts to balance its preferred levels of stiffness and compliance.
The front end, with its bulky head tube and added volume at the top tube and down tube junctions, is made to be stiff for quick and easy accurate handling.
The bottom bracket junction is also oversized, in an attempt to create maximum pedalling efficiency.
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Finally, YT says the rear end provides a large part of the bike’s compliance, with the unique oversized seatstay and seat tube junction and proprietary dropouts giving comfort-enhancing flex.
As well as that, you’ll notice the bottom half of the frame has noticeably chunkier tubes, and the top half is noticeably thin. This is a common tactic when in search of the best balance of stiffness and compliance.
YT says the frame qualifies for ASTM 3 classification. ASTM is an international standard that defines the terrain a bike or component can safely deal with without putting stress on the materials and shortening the product’s lifespan.
It spans from category 1, being a road bike made for smooth surfaces and maintaining contact with the ground, to category 5 being a bike capable of extreme jumps and downhill speeds on rough trails over 40kmh.
ASTM 3 means that the Szepter has been certified to safely hold up on rough and technical trails as well as on jumps and drops up to 61cm.
Suspension, integration and mounting points
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The well-considered frame design looks to be supported by smart component choices.
First is the use of suspension, namely the Rockshox Rudy XPLR fork. YT says the fork is essential on all models of the Szepter.
‘Our claim is that it’s the first bike built or engineered and constructed around a suspension fork, because to fit the fork in you have to set it up completely differently, otherwise you’re messing up the geometry,’ says Dörr. ‘There are so many benefits of a suspension fork when riding a bike in the way we love to ride a bike.’
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YT says the SRAM Reverb AXS XPLR dropper post is also important. It only comes on the higher spec model, but the lower spec has compatibility for wired or electronic, 30.9mm or 27.2mm posts should the user wish to upgrade.
On the question of rear suspension on a gravel bike, as seen on the new Specialized S-Works Diverge, Dörr says that YT’s opinion may change in the future.
‘However, our opinion is that if you want to do it right you have to have a shock. But if we run a shock then that kills the idea of simplicity in a gravel bike, because then we are back onto, “maybe it should have bigger disc brakes, then maybe a straight bar... ah, no we have that bike already.”’
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Integrated mudguards – or fenders – finish the Szepter’s design off. YT says they have been designed to fit neatly into the shape and aesthetic of the bike while stopping some, but not all, dirt.
In terms of mounts, there are the two standard down tube and seat tube points, with the downtube actually offering two different positions. It also accepts YT’s Fidlock baseplate that lets its Thirstmaster bottle attach to the mount too.
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On top of that YT has stuck mounts on the underside of the top tube for frame bags, which, interestingly, aren’t really a thing at the moment – most frame bags use straps.
‘That’s our statement to the bicycle industry,’ says Dörr. ‘Please someone develop one because strapping something on the bike, although it doesn’t fall off, it scratches the frame, and for many many years we haven’t strapped water bottles to the frame so why should we do it with a bag? We’d love to see someone developing or offering a frame bag you can screw onto the frame.’
The YT Szepter is available to pre-order now, with stock expected before Christmas.
YT Szepter specs and prices
YT Szepter Core 4
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- Frame: Szepter Ultra Modulus Carbon
- Fork: Rockshox Rudy Ultimate XPLR
- Groupset: SRAM Force XPLR eTap AXS
- Wheels: WTB Proterra Light i23
- Tyres: WTB Resolut 700c × 42mm
- Bars: Zipp Service Course SL XPLR
- Stem: Zipp Service Course SL
- Seatpost: SRAM Reverb AXS XLPR
- Saddle: SDG Bel-AirV3 Overland
- Claimed weight: 9.9kg (small)
- Price:£4,399 / US$4,499 / €4,499
YT Szepter Core 3
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- Frame: Szepter Ultra Modulus Carbon
- Fork: Rockshox Rudy XPLR
- Groupset: SRAM Rival XPLR eTap AXS
- Wheels: WTB Speedterra i23
- Tyres: WTB Resolute 700c × 42mm
- Bars: Zipp Service Course XPLR
- Stem: Zipp Service Course
- Seatpost: Zipp Service Course
- Saddle: SDG Bel-Air V3 Overland
- Claimed weight: 9.8kg (small)
- Price:£3,199 / US$3,299 / €3,299
Don't miss our first ride review of the YT Szepter Core 4.
Photos: Roo Fowler