All City Cycles usually catch our eye for their styling, not just in terms of the retro 'steel is real' gravel bike theme, but also for the gorgeous coats of paint lovingly applied to each. This time though the Gorilla Monsoon gravel bike not only has an epic name, it also has room for a massive 27.5 x 2.4" tyres - is this the fattest gravel bike you can buy? 

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As far as mountain bikes go it can fit 27.5 x 2.4” tyres front and rear, it has thru-axles,  internal dropper post routing and is sold with a 1x11 drivetrain. On the touring and bike packing front you’ll find three bottle mounts, the ability to add a front derailleur, standard rack and fender mounts and provisions for kit racks. The geometry shows evidence of its close relation to the brands' cyclocross bike the Matcho Man, slightly adapted it for all the new duties that this bike is capable of taking on - the head tube is slightly taller and seat tubes are slightly shorter, size for size, on the Gorilla Monsoon.

The Gorilla Monsoon is, All City say, "A bike that blends the best of the categories of cross, touring, and mtb into one slam-bang package of goodness".

So, that tyre clearance - you did read that right, you can fit a massive 2.4" tyre on this bike on 25mm internal diameter, 27.5" rims. The larger tyre should go some way to boost comfort and grip even further than the smaller diameter, 40-50c, tyres that have up until now been deemed as a large volume on a gravel bike. We know that there are bikes out there that regularly run, 2.2" tyres but those are predominantly full-blown adventure bikes whereas the Gorilla Monsoon is a drop bar gravel bike more closely related to a 'do it all' cyclocross bike than its expedition bike cousins, such as the Bombtrack Hook EXT C or the Shand Bahookie.

If riding with mudguards is your preference then the clearance is reduced meaning the max wheel/tyre combo will be 27.5 x 48c. If going fat, really isn't for you then All City also say the bike handles a treat with the lowered bottom bracket height produced by running 27.5" x 47c’s. Rather have bigger wheels? That's ok too, up to a maximum of 700 x 42c. 

The steel frame is made from All City Cycles proprietary blend of 4130 double-butted CroMoly tubes and the bike is built up with steel forks which, they say, was chosen as it was the only fork out there able to do the all the jobs this bike was designed to do. They guys of All City also say they prefer a steel fork over a carbon one for any applications outside of racing.

A frame will cost you £950 and a complete bike would be $1799 (USD). The complete build from the US comprises of SRAM Apex 1 brakes, an Apex derailleur, SunRace 11speed 11-42T cassette, WTB STP i25 TCS, 27.5" wheels, WTB Ridler TCS 2.4" tyres and a predominantly Salsa finishing kit. This article may appear as a bit of a tease it looks like the UK will receive the Gorilla Monsoon frame only via the distributors Ison, available in April 2018. We will keep you updated on a complete bike build cost and availability. 

• www.allcitycycles.com
• www.ison-distribution.com

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