Ridley's unreleased 'RS2' takes the deep, slab-sided front end of its Noah Fast 3.0 aero road bike and wraps it around 58mm gravel tyres — and it has already been raced, in public, at The Traka in Girona.
An aero road front end on a gravel frame
For a bike Ridley hasn't officially announced, the RS2 made a remarkably public debut. The Belgian brand simply raced its unreleased aero-gravel prototype in the peloton at The Traka, the marquee gravel event in Girona, where BikeRadar and Cyclingnews both clocked the 'RS2' badge on the head tube.
And what a head tube it is. The defining feature is a deep, slab-sided front end lifted straight from Ridley's Noah Fast 3.0 aero road bike. The seat tube is sculpted to hug the rear tyre, the seatpost is a deep-D aero profile, and the underside of the fork crown is flattened to clean up airflow around knobbly rubber. There is even an accessible down-tube storage port you can reach without pulling the bottle cage.
The RS2 by the numbers
Source: BikeRadar / Cyclingnews / Ridley
“Either way, it's another indication of the direction of travel for gravel race bikes.”
Tyre clearance — and the build it raced on
View data table
| Max tyre clearance (mm) | |
|---|---|
| Canyon Grail (previous) | 42 mm |
| Canyon Grail CFR (new) | 53 mm |
| Ridley RS2 | 58 mm |
Here is the headline that matters to most riders: despite all that aero shaping, the RS2 still swallows up to roughly 58mm of tyre — and BikeRadar reckons there could be room for nearer 60mm once you account for ISO clearance spacing. At The Traka it was running about 57mm (2.25in) knobbly XC rubber.
Different outlets caught slightly different builds. BikeRadar logged Zipp 303 XPLR wheels and Ridley's in-house Forza one-piece aero bar; Cyclingnews spotted a mullet drivetrain — a SRAM Red XPLR gravel groupset paired with an XX Eagle MTB rear derailleur — on Zipp 303 XPLR wheels with a wide 32mm internal width. Either way, there is no suspension fork: the volume of the tyres is the suspension.
What the testers and the maker say
Three perspectives on the RS2
Independent verdicts from across the cycling press — follow each link for the full review.
Aero, but composed on rough terrain
“It's responsive and agile, with the short back end giving it a flickable feel.”
Read the full reviewAero gravel pushed to the limit
“This machine looks far more aggressive than either of them.”
Read the full reviewA platform built purely for speed
“This new platform focuses entirely on aerodynamic performance in a racing context.”
Read the full reviewHow the Traka 2026 aero-gravel prototypes line up
| Ridley RS2 | Canyon Grail CFR | Factor Sarana | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Unreleased prototype | Unreleased prototype | Unreleased prototype |
| Max tyre clearance | Up to ~58mm | Up to ~53mm | Ran 2.1in (~53mm) |
| Suspension | None — tyre volume only | None | 40mm suspension fork |
| Design DNA | Noah Fast 3.0 aero road head tube | Endurace CFR-inspired | Factor One-inspired aero tubes |
| Notable kit spotted | Zipp 303 XPLR, SRAM Red XPLR mullet | — | Black Inc Forty Six, Schwalbe Thunder Burt |
Specs: BikeRadar (The Traka 2026)
The case for and against (so far)
- Up to ~58mm tyre clearance inside a genuinely aero frame
- Aero-road tech trickled down — the Noah Fast 3.0 head tube
- Already proven in real racing, in The Traka peloton
- Integrated down-tube storage; no bolt-on bags required
- Mullet-friendly: ran SRAM Red XPLR with an Eagle MTB derailleur for a huge gear range
- Early hands-on praise for composure on rough terrain
- Still a prototype — no confirmed price or weight
- No suspension fork, unlike rivals such as the 40mm-fork Factor Sarana
- A pure-aero focus may trade away the low weight of climbing-oriented gravel bikes
- You can't buy it yet — a full launch is only expected later in 2026
- Whether aero gains are worth chasing on rough gravel remains hotly debated
Launch, price and what to ride now
Ridley's road to the RS2
- Autumn 2024ASTR & ASTR RS launch
Ridley's first dedicated aero-leaning gravel race platform, balancing aero, weight and efficiency.
- Apr–May 2026RS2 prototype races The Traka
Spotted — and raced — in the Girona gravel peloton on a deep-headed aero frame, with 'RS2' on the head tube.
- Later 2026Official launch expected
Ridley says the full reveal 'will follow later this year'; BikeRadar projects around September.
- TBCPrice, weight & on-sale date
None confirmed at the time of writing.
Tap to vote — see how readers lean
Ridley RS2: your questions
What is the Ridley RS2? +
An unreleased, aero-focused gravel race bike that Ridley quietly raced at The Traka in Girona in 2026. It pairs an aero-road-style deep head tube (like Ridley's Noah Fast 3.0) with a gravel frame built around big tyres.
How much tyre clearance does it have? +
Up to about 58mm — and possibly nearer 60mm with ISO spacing — despite the slippery tube shapes, according to BikeRadar. It raced on roughly 57mm (2.25in) XC tyres.
Does it have suspension? +
No. It relies on tyre volume instead. Riding a closely related RS-series prototype, BikeRadar found the 'big-volume tyres swallow up vibrations and buzz as well as many of the gravel suspension forks.'
When can I buy one, and how much will it cost? +
Ridley says the launch will 'follow later this year' (2026), and BikeRadar projects around September. No pricing or weight has been announced yet, so treat any figure you see as speculation.
How is it different from the Ridley ASTR or Kanzo Fast? +
It's a more aggressively aerodynamic, race-only direction. Ridley describes the RS2 as a platform that 'focuses entirely on aerodynamic performance in a racing context.'
Sources & further reading
- Ridley 'RS2' prototype gravel race bike leans heavily into aero optimisation — BikeRadar
- I tested the prototype Ridley RS — and it could be the fastest gravel race bike I've ever ridden — BikeRadar
- 4 new gravel bikes spotted at The Traka 2026 — BikeRadar
- Unreleased Ridley gravel monster at The Traka pushes aero gravel to the limit — Cyclingnews (via inkl)
- Project RS2: stay tuned — Ridley
The RS2 is the clearest sign yet that gravel racing's arms race has reached the head tube. Ridley has bolted the deep, slab-sided front of an aero road bike onto a frame that still clears ~58mm tyres and hides its luggage inside the down tube — then sent it racing at The Traka before saying a word. Early hands-on impressions are promising, and the concept is genuinely intriguing. But with no confirmed price, weight or on-sale date until later in 2026, this is one to watch rather than wait up for. If you want a fast gravel bike now, Ridley's current ASTR and Kanzo Fast — and the Zipp/SRAM kit the RS2 raced on — are the buyable starting points.
