The product mission for Kona’s design team with the new Libre, was to create a more versatile gravel bike. It is light enough to race at Unbound, but also has enough carrying capacity for gravel riders who want to use their Libre as an adventure touring and exploration bike. 

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Configured to leverage the latest 1x13 gravel drivetrains, the Libre doesn’t feature a 2x factory build, but riders who need a more generous gearing spread can run the bike’s front derailleur plate for a 2x build. If your gravel riding routes are mostly flat and fast, the largest front chainring that will clear the new Libre is a 46T, thanks to that dropped driveside chainstay. 

The redesigned carbon frame features a 70.5-degree head angle across the size frame sizes, with longer reach, steeper seat angles, and compact chainstays. A neat non-functional product detail is the Libre’s proper metal headtube badge.

LIBRE NZ 2025 6318.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Smaller seat tube

Perhaps the most notable specification change for Libre is its smaller 27.2mm seat tube, which has been reduced from the previous 31.6mm size. Narrow seat tubes help to reduce some terrain buzz, especially when rolling large mileages over corrugated gravel roads. 
Kona’s decision to slim the Libre’s seatpost size from 31.6- to 27.2mm allows riders to use more compliant 27.2mm fixed seatposts and the latest generation of ultralight 27.2mm short-travel droppers. 

The Libre frame has appropriate dropper-specific routing for its overall cable pathways. Its internal routing is sensible, too, being guided routing from the stem, with a Y-connector which allows easy routing for the rear brake from either side of the headtube, depending on your brake lever orientation preference. 

Bigger tyres and brakes

Tyre clearance on the new Libre remains unchanged, with 700 x 45c being the largest gravel casings you can roll with adequate mud clearance. What has changed is transmission and brake compatibility. 

Libre is now UDH compatible and can accommodate 20mm larger flat mount spec brakes. That’s a gain from 160 to 180mm for riders who want to use it as a true adventure bike, fully laden, where larger brakes offer better thermal management and less fade on those long gravel road descents. 

LIBRE NZ 2025-9335.jpg, by Liam Mercer

How accommodating is the Libre to your hydration and packing needs? It will fit two hydration bottles in the front triangle to keep you hydrated during a sweltering gravel bike route in southern Spain or somewhere in the American Southwest. With two hydration bottles caged in the front triangle, there’s still room for a Bento Box to carry snacks, tools, and any additional gear you require. 

The new Libre builds feature SRAM’s gravel-specific Apex AXS XPLR drivetrain and brakes. The cockpit combines a Ritchey Butano Comp Internal handlebar with 18 degrees of flare, clamped by a Ritchey Comp 4-Axis-44 stem. The seatpost is a Ritchey fixed Link 20 WCS, engineered to offer a touch of compliance. 

Rolling the Kona Libre factory builds along are Easton ARC Offset 25 rims shod with WTB’s Vupline TCS 700x45 tyres. 

• konaworld.com

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