It’s prototype-bike galore at Unbound Gravel this year. Some are hiding beneath subtle paint, while others are impossible to miss. There are the oversized 32″ wheels on Cam Jones’ and Robin Gemperle’s Scott bikes, the hard-to-ignore fuchsia pink paintjobs on the prototype Liv bikes, and catchy graphics on the prototype from sibling brand Giant.
And then there’s Factor, with a prototype featuring that fork we all have opinions about.
Ridden by celebrated retired WorldTour rider Romain Bardet and several of his Factor teammates, Factor’s latest prototype gravel bike was first spotted at the Traka just weeks ago.
At Unbound, Factor allowed Cycling Weekly to take a closer look and shared some early details through Mike McGinn from its engineering team.
However, the brand would not share any hard numbers; no weights, no aero data, no launch timeline, no price and not even the bike’s eventual name.
Still, there was plenty to learn — and to deduce.
Meet Factor’s next top-tier aero gravel race bike
Romain Bardet’s prototype Factor at Unbound Gravel
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
The design of the prototype bike is unmistakably inspired by Factor’s wildly polarising ONE road bike, complete with the dramatically wide fork intended not merely to cheat the wind, but to actively manage airflow before it reaches the rider’s legs.
And according to Factor, that controversial concept works.
“People are warming up to this wild-looking fork, and we know it’s faster,” said Mike McGinn.
McGinn explained that the wide fork is designed to manipulate airflow before it reaches the rider’s legs and frame.
“Aerodynamics works a lot like refraction with light,” he said, describing how the fork changes airflow downstream across the bike and rider rather than simply reducing drag at the fork itself.
The new gravel prototype takes that same aero philosophy and adapts it for the realities of modern gravel racing: massive clearances, a balance of compliance and stiffness, and, of course, aerodynamics.
But McGinn admitted that it wasn’t the brand’s originally intention to use that ONE-inspired fork design on gravel.
“We already had riders planned to ride the original fork, but this was faster,” he said.
And, we’ll admit that when it comes to pure aesthetics, that wide fork filled in with 50mm+ tyres looks more proportional and less radical.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
“With this one, we tried to tailor it more to an acceptable visual language,” McGinn said. “The result is, like you said, less offensive on the eyes.”
Unlike, what McGinn called, a “bayoneted front end” used on the ONE, this gravel bike uses a standard steerer tube and bearing setup, requiring Factor’s engineers to adapt the aero concept into a more conventional package.
Factor says that once the bike is officially launched, most complete builds will ship with 50mm tyres, but the frame itself clears up to 2.2-inch rubber. Yet despite that huge clearance, chainstays remain remarkably short at 420mm, keeping the bike responsive and agile.
“There is nothing that’s even close to that,” McGinn claimed, pointing out that many competing 2.2″ gravel bikes now stretch to 435mm rear ends and mountain-bike-like wheelbases.
“This bike was meant for core connection to terrain,” McGinn said. “You’re meant to feel like it’s a rocket ship.”
When we reviewed the ONE, that’s exactly what our tester called it: a “spaceship,” so that could bode well for this new bike.
That focus on speed has been the topic of conversation at races like Unbound these past few years, and the industry is converging on the same solution: pairing aggressive aerodynamics with ever-wider tyres in the pursuit of outright speed over rough terrain.
Factor’s answer is this: an unapologetically aero gravel race bike designed around sustained high speeds while keeping riders relatively comfortable.
Interestingly, unlike other bikes in this category, Factor is keeping 2x drivetrain compatibility alive as well as downtube storage.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Interestingly, unlike other bikes in this category, Factor is keeping 2x drivetrain compatibility alive as well as downtube storage.
That decision, however, came with major engineering challenges. McGinn explained that packaging short chainstays, 2.2in tyre clearance and a front derailleur into the same frame pushed the limits of what was physically possible.
“You can’t run a 2x with anything over a 47 anyway, so there was a lot of hemming and hawing,” he said.
Ultimately, Factor decided to preserve the option and found a way.
“We had to look at creative ways to manage stiffness and structural requirements in that area,” he explained.
The geometry itself was also redesigned around modern oversized gravel tyres. Factor lowered the bottom bracket to compensate for the taller tyre profile and adjusted trail figures to preserve handling characteristics despite the jump in tyre volume.
McGinn also revealed the bike uses size-specific fork offsets — typically 50-51mm on larger sizes and 56mm on smaller frames — helping maintain more consistent handling across the size range while reducing toe overlap on smaller bikes.
“Above 33kph, you get it”
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
French rider Gustave Orain, who is also racing the prototype at Unbound, described the bike as surprisingly comfortable despite its aggressive intent.
“What I like the most with this bike, it’s the exact same geometry as the Aluto fully slammed. So you switch from an all-road gravel bike to an absolute aero bike without losing any comfort or compromise,” Orain shared.
“The first thing I’ve been super surprised about is that it’s actually the exact same [ride quality] as the Aluto, but faster.”
That theme kept resurfacing throughout the conversation. The expectation is that a bike this extreme-looking would ride harshly. But McGinn insists modern carbon engineering has moved well beyond that compromise.
“The biggest compliment we got from the ONE was: ‘It rides like a bike’,” McGinn said with a laugh. “Because it looks like it doesn’t.”
But make no mistake: this bike is designed to come alive at speed.
“Above 33 kilometres an hour, you’re like, ‘Okay. I got it,’” Orain said.
McGinn compared it directly to the ONE’s road-racing personality.
“If you ride the ONE below 40kph, people say it’s hard to manipulate,” he said. “You have to get it to speed for it to really work.”
Going above 30kph, or 18mph, should not be a problem at Unbound, where 2025 elite men’s winner Cam Jones averaged 37.8kph (23.49mph) over the 202-mile course, completing it in a record-shattering 8:37:09. On the women’s side, Karolina Migon won with an average speed of 32.4kph (20.1mph).
Unlike Scott’s “never going to market” approach, Factor’s prototype does not appear to be a one-off experimental machine. Quite the contrary
“There is a very, very, very high chance that this is the bike that we come to market with,” McGinn said with more than a subtle hint.
And despite the mixed reactions to the aesthetics of its fork, Factor seems increasingly emboldened by the response to the ONE.
“It’s the bike you didn’t know you needed until you tried it,” McGinn said.
Time will tell if the gravel market follows suit.
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