Loca Aluminium Gravel bike build

Background

I do a lot of road and gravel cycling, some mountainbiking and plenty of commuting. I am fortunate enough to own several bikes and believe three bikes would be ideal for my type of riding – one pure road bike, one trail/cross-country mountainbike and one gravel/commuter-bike. I have just recently found my perfect gravel and commuter bike.

How did I end up buying a Loca bike? Partly because of Google and SEO I guess… However I knew what I was searching for. I have previosly owned two different gravel bikes. I started road and gravel cycling on a Giant Revolt Advanced 2. With two different wheel-sets I thought that bike was the only bike I needed untill I started searching for shorter cranks because of knee- and hip issues. From the search of shorter cranks I ended up selling the Giant Revolt bike to finance a Lapierre Xelius and realizing that a pure road bike is something else than just skinny tires. I loved the quick handling and snappy feeling of that bike!

Moving temporarily to a different town my 2 km to work became 10 km, with the vast majoirty of them with my 2 year old daughter in a Thule Chariot Sport or Thule Ridealong I realized I would be better off with a bike accepting more than 30 mm tires as a commuter bike. Especially since 1/4 of the year is usually in snowy conditions. I then bought a Ridley Kanzo A on sale when Chainreactioncycles and Wiggle unfortunately went under. That bike is pretty much the opposite of what I loved about the Lapierre Xelius. It is long, slack and stable. For me that is a dull feeling bike – like a ski with a too long turning radius – feels boring if not going super fast.

Therefore I searched for the most “road-like” gravel bike I could find. For me that means short chainstay and wheelbase combined with a reasonably steep head angle. Cervelo Aspero came to my mind. For me a great looking bike with a “fast geometry”. However, much too expensive for me, especially to double as a commuter. So I started looking at frames. The german 8bar had a frame with adjustable flip-ship that caught my interest. Also the German brand Standert made an all-rounder called “Pathfinder” that was very beauitful, but like the Cervelo, with a too high price tag. The english cycling company Brothers makes some very attractive and affordable steel frames as well but when I found Loca bikes and the search was over. Good looking frames, a price I could afford and most important, a geometry that was spot on for me.

The frame

The frame seat-tube has a groove at the back-side to increase the space for the rear tire without having to increase the chainstay. The head-angle is 72,5 degress – pretty much in the middle between a race bike (74 ish) and most modern gravel bikes (70 ish).

I am 184 cm tall with long legs (90 cm inseam) and prefer smaller bikes. I choose a size 56 which comes up as below. The Giant Revolt and Ridley Kanzo is two gravel bikes I have owned before and will serve as a comparison of the geometry. The Lapierre Xelius more of a reference of a similar sized race bike.

Model	Loca Gravel Bike (2024)	Lapierre Xelius SL 8.0 (2022)	Giant Revolt Advanced 2 (2021)	Ridley Kanzo A (2022)
Reach (mm)	386	403	391	392
Stack (mm)	581	557	602	611
Wheel-base (mm)	1028	1005	1046	1056
Chainstay (mm)	425	405	425	430
Head angle (degrees)	71.6	73	71	71

So as you can see for yourselves. The Loca Gravel bike shares the reach of the two other gravel bikes, or it almost comes up a bit shy of them. Otherwise it lies pretty much in-between the two gravel bike options and the road race bike. This was what caught my eye with the Loca Gravel bike – it looked like a lively gravel bike!

Leaving geometry, the bike uses a threaded bottom bracket and a for the brand unique rear derailleur hanger. So no UDH. However, model was released around when UDH was not that common. It is built out of 7020 aluminium which Loca claims to be 30% more durable and also both lighter and more shock absorbing than the more common 6061 aluminium. One would be forgiven to think, “Hey why then does not everyone built their aluminium bikes out of 7020 then? I asked Loca this precie question and here is their reply:

While the 7XXX series aluminum is stronger, it’s also harder to work with. That’s why most stock frames are made from AL6061—it strikes a balance between strength and ease of production, making it a more cost-effective choice for mass production while still being a great material for bike frames.
As a premium bike manufacturer, we prioritize ride quality over cutting costs, so we opt for materials that offer the best performance. And just to get ahead of any comments—the choice of tubing, shapes, geometry, and overall engineering is just as important, if not more, than the material itself!

Fork is made of carbon and holds 3 mounting points on each leg for bags or bottles. I asked Loca bikes of the maximum allowed weight per leg. Each bolt is good for a maximum of 1 kg, which makes it 3 kg per leg.

Seat-post is 30.9 mm so you have plenty of dropper posts to choose from if you should wish.

Building the bike

I have had two issues. Both minor. The threads of the bottom bracket took a long time to clean. The threads was filled with a grey-ish mass, propably some sort of metal debri. However, once cleaned they where all good.

My second issue was a rear wheel wobble. The wobble was consistent with different thru axles. Altough not a steel frame the frame still have plenty enough flex to comepansate for a few millimeters of too much space between the drop-outs. In addition, what confused me even more was that it initially felt firm. The axle was thight and no wobble was evident until you sat up on the bike or even just lead the bike out of the house.
My feeling was that the thru axle bottomed out against the rear derailleur hanger (housing the thru axle) preventing the thru axle to squeeze the frame together. I reached out too Loca who confirmed my hypothesis and had seen this before. They sent me a 2 mm spacer that i could put on the axle (sitting outside of the frame) which solved the problem right away. This way the axle was effectively shortened and did not get bottomed out before the drop outs was snug.

The headset is integrated with no external cups being pressed in, the bearings slots into the frame itself and have run smoothly so far.

Components

When Shimano released their 12 speed GRX the old 11-speed versions was heavily discounted. I therefore bought a complete groupset of GRX 812 for about 600 euros. I actually prefer the 11-speed since that makes it possible to use the SRAM-cassettes. Yes, the shifting is better on a shimano cassette. But for me that is really a minor difference.

However what is not a minor difference is the gearing that SRAMs 10-tooth cassettes gives you. While matching their 10-42t cassette with a 44t chainring I have almost the same gear range that I have on my Lapierre Xelius with (11-34t cassette, 52/36 chainrings) albeit with bigger jumps between gears. For some the bigger jumps is a deal breaker. For me 2 by is the way to go on a road bike, especially if you are doing lots of group-rides and being forced in to a specific pace. However on a gravel bike I much prefer the simplicity of a 1 by setup.

Second thing about the SRAM cassettes. They are crazy light! I never thought I would care so much about this but I managed to get hold of an lightly used SRAM XG 1195. It weighed 275 grams. The Shimano Ultegra 11-speed 11-34 weight more than 50 grams more and has much smaller cogs. Even the less expensive SRAM XG 11-75 weighs less than the Shimano cassette and I picked one up for 30 euro in good used condition.

Rest of the bike? A mix of new and old. Thomson seatpost, Specialized lightweight stem 110 mm, FSA carbon handlebar (38 mm on the hoods, 40 in the drops) SQ-lab 612 saddle (love this one!). Then I have the luxury to use two different wheel-sets:

• DT-swiss GRC 1400 with Vittoria Corsa Pro Control 32mm front and 34mm rear with the SRAM XG 1195 cassette.
• DT-swiss GR 1850 27.5″ with Panaracer Gravelking SS 48mm with the SRAM XG-1175. This might be pushing the tire width if you live in a muddy area. However I still have about 4mm on each side and since the tire it almost a slick tire I have not noticed any rubbing.

Weight without pedals and the lighter GRC 1400 wheel-set is 9,0 kg (with water bottle cages). Not too far off my Lapierre Xelius SL 8.0! If I had not used so much protective film around the frame it would have been even less 🙂

Riding experience

Bravo! It rides just like I hoped it would. It is a mix of my road racing bike and the gravel bikes I have previously owned. It is very nimble and fun to ride! I actually prefer the lower and even more nimble feeling of the 650b wheel-set. However for tarmac the bigger 700c Vittoria Corsa Pro Control gives noticeable more speed.

Being made from extra light and stiff aluminium you would be forgiven to believe the comfort had been compromised. However, to me it does not ride harsh. However I must admit I am not the most experienced when it comes to judge whether a frame is super stiff or harsh. Also, good tires with a relatively low pressure can make up whit a lot of a frames inherent harshness. That said I think it rides more compliant than the Ridley Kanzo A.

So what about power transfer and stiffness of the bottom bracket area? Same thing, I lack both experience and ability to rate the stiffness of a BB-area. What I can say is that it almost as stiff as my carbon framed Lapierre Xelius (which has noticeably bigger bottom bracket area). Now that said, I am neither the heaviest (80 kg) nor strongest. But for my FTP of around 350 W I am perfectly happy doing road intervals on this bike!

Overall experience

Thus far I have done about 1000 km on my Loca Gravel bike and I am super happy how it turned out. It is feels light, playful and agile without being nervous. And altough I really enjoy carbon bikes, there is something special about a metal bike. Altough not being a steel- or titanium bike that could be repaired in a garage, it is less prone to crack if hitted from the wrong direction than carbon fiber. And to my eye it really looks great!

Fun facts about Loca bikes

• Our company began by producing custom city bikes and fixed gears, and we even sponsored a local track cycling team with bikes a while back.
• You basically can’t put any food at table level at our headquarters. Leon, our workshop manager’s dog, has a habit of snapping it up instantly 😉
• Beyond our standard projects, we’ve shipped bikes to Japan and Australia, built a custom bike for a Polish priest, and even for an army general.

Disclosure

I have no affiliation with Loca bikes, I payed what others pay for my bike frame. However, my contact and experience with the guys on Loca bikes have been great and I am happy to give them a has not been anything but good and I am happy to recommend them to anyone.