Field Test 2022: State Bicycle Company 6061 Black Series All-Road review

[@fastmuell2137]

I'm sorta blow away with the negativity, I think your missing the point, at least some commentors below got it right. I'm a roadie, so my experience is limited on gravel bikes but I like the it, it handles well, stable, the shifting is great, precise predictable and comfortable. When I purchase a bike I typically change the saddle, stem, handle bars, tape....etc, On my SuperSix evo high mod - I've changed everything, I think most people do? BTW the brakes aren't THAT bad, definitely will be changing them but COME on..... I haven't experienced any of these issues. The saddle fits me (personal) , the brakes brake (again they're not dangerously bad, just bad), the rim doesn't have a hole in it. no bent hanger, no disk rubbing, I received what was advertised. Any improvements are welcomed don't get me wrong, but that typically comes at a price. Bikes at this price range will about be the same, I'd rather spent a little less money on the bike to spend a little for my finishing touches. I believe you start with a fantastic machine and mold it to what you want.

[@imagistatheimagista1870]

I agrée 💯 Too much passive aggressive vibe from almost all of their reviews and much of the feedback is subjective. Bike snobs who miss the point often. And I’m a bike snob too … just not a hater…

[@troyboone4893]

After I replaced the saddle, added my own pedals, and bedded the brakes my bike worked great. So, gimme a break. This is a budget bike that with some reasonable amount of adjustment.... is a great value.

[@mikeburton8426]

I personally don’t think you can call it an all road with a 1x but that is just a bias. You guys really tried to review a $1500 bike as a $1500 bike but couldn’t help yourselves because you have enjoyed such great bikes. For people getting into the sport or on a budget but want to get out there, this bike is totally appropriate.

[@fixedfrank]

I was looking forward to this review as I'm looking at the just the frame & fork to build up. Your take on the spec'd components reinforces my own pickiness about procuring my own parts and building the bike how I would like it to ride and perform. Thanks for your honest comments about the bike as shipped from the company.

[@z-6785]

I've long awaited your view on this bike, as I have one for over 18 months now. I do agree with most of your comments. Brakes, saddle, handlebar tape, are terrible, and can add a few more related to poor attention to details (for instance the front brake cable too long, so it rubbed the head tube). I have not been blessed with the opportunity to test different bikes, so I cannot compare harshness, for example. However after few upgrades on the mentioned components, specially the brakes to TRPs Hy/RD, plus a wheel set from Hunt, and Teravail Washburn tires, I really adore this bike. I can do pretty much everything on it, from road, light gravel, chunky gravel, and some gnarly segments, that most people would have rather walk than ride. Not for mud, though. Anyway, I find it comfortable and capable. Roadies have a hard time dropping me on the descents (cannot say the same for Mountain bikers :D), but going uphill, it climbs extremely well. With the upgrades I've made, the bike weights around 9 kgs, which for the cost is very reasonable (around $2k with 2 wheel sets, the original 650b and the Hunts 700c). Kept the drivetrain. Not perfect, but fairly well. Another point I would agree with you, is who is this bike for. Definitely not for a beginner, or somebody not willing to work on the bike, but for somebody on a budget with a bit of spare change to upgrade those poorly chosen components, and the bike really shines. Keep those honest reviews!

[@bobtahar]

That's a Sensah SRX Pro groupset. A gravel specific groupset from Sensah. I used it on my Gravel bike and it's great... I used Shimano Tourney TX805 mechanical disc brake caliper and it works great... the braking is precise. Felt very safe on descend for a 120kg rider. However, $1400 bike with that groupset is too expensive.

[@clintonakunne2698]

Been considering this bike and this video made me decide to most likely avoid the (older?) deep Pacific and dark woodland colors since those have the brakes y'all reviewed. Now thinking about the Copper Brown instead since it specifically mentions it has a new cable-actuated hydraulic system or getting one of the ktver two for the savings and buying a separate set of brakes. Oh and apparently derailleur has a clutch now too.

[@GO-iw1zj]

I will add that although your test bike was a dud, I opted for a frame only and hacked it with a 12 speed mechanical Sram Ratio kit and some mid tier carbon wheels. I have to say, its pretty good all-road bike the way I built it, but this does not meet the general market demand for click-buy-ride. With the geometry similar to the Crux (sans +10mm chainstay length) I was surprised to hear you all weren't crazy about the handling.. I kinda wish you all reviewed there premium option with Sram Rival AXS for $2400; I feel that's a bargain in this market. The State Pro Gravel team rides these frames with Sram AXS and they seem to do pretty well in big events.. Again, this doesn't address CT review as you are looking for an out of the box solution into the entry level market.

[@MegaBillN]

It's refreshing to have a warts and all review. Chapeau.

[@nsiebenmor]

Thanks for the review. I was considering getting a State bike but after watching this review and reading many times buyers saying the brakes are crap I will be looking at other brands.

[@johnw3144]

I picked one of these up used for a good price with both 700c and 650 wheelsets. The comments on the brakes are spot on. I could not stop safely when I first got it. My hands killed me after a long ride. I bought the cheapest mechanically actuated hydraulic calipers on Amazon for about $40 and a good Jagwire cable and housing set for about $30, now it stops well and no sore hands. In my case the prior owner had left the bike out in the rain and the brake cables were actually rusty inside! Yes, the seat is horrible but I generally expect to change out the factory seat. I didn't have any similar manufacturing flaws in the wheels. I'm pretty happy with the bike at this point. State, please - a workable set of brake parts is only $70 more RETAIL for god's sake!!!

[@think1up123]

Well, looks like they heard your critique of the brakes. Now it comes with cable actuated hydraulic brakes for (i think) the same price. Crappy brakes and crappy shifting can ruin a decent bike, good job being honest on that.

[@timm5703]

Good job guys - an honest review that will hopefully reduce the number of unhappy bike buyers considering this model.

[@n0ch91c3s]

Wheels/tires don't look centered between the fork legs and seatstays. Same as I've seen in person.

[@benbraceletspurple9108]

Yeah so many bikes today have misalignment. I'll never get a specialized again with their problems.

[@peters6661]

I have the steel all-road from State. It has the same drivetrain but a semi-padded saddle. Mine had stock Tektro brakes (not great but decent) so it seems like they have changed that on both models from the original spec.

[@gavin7390]

Was your package damaged? It seems like State doesn't always do a great job with packaging. A lot of reviews have mentioned that their bike was damaged upon delivery. I really want to buy it but I'm concerned with the quality

[@peters6661]

@@gavin7390 mine was fine. I had LBS assemble it but they didn't mention any damage. I have changed out the chainring and cassette for gear range that works better for me.

[@gavin7390]

@@peters6661 that's great. How is the quality of the frame? Can't decide between this or a poseidon bike

[@peters6661]

@@gavin7390 I was looking at Poseidon as well. In my opinion, the X is basically a CX bike, riding position more aggressive than I wanted. Redwood more trail, Jeep track focused. The State has been a good all-road bike: pavement, chip-n-seal, gravel.

[@gavin7390]

@@peters6661 true. That's another reason why I'm considering the All-Road. Would you say it's a pretty comfortable bike even with the stock saddle? This is also going to be my first drop bar bike so the 4130 might be the better choice.

[@Massproduce201]

24 lbs is perfect for all day comfort imo. You don’t want an ultra light weight bike for long off road days.

[@micahsherer7189]

I've had a lot of Sensah groupsets, and while the shifting is honestly as good or better than SRAM and Shimano and I love the ergonomics, they got the lever pull ratio completely wrong for mechanical disc brakes. I've tried them with lots of calipers, even Juin Tech. They just don't work well for mechanical discs.

[@slantedorbit]

I’m starting to question whether decision makers at State actually ride bikes.

[@chadwells7562]

@@slantedorbitPricepoint build

[@toddmcdonough]

My experience with disc brakes has been very inconsistent. I've gone back to rim brake calipers (long reach tektro 559's on my "hey, where does that dirt road go" bike). So easy to set up and maintain.

[@rafaelmedina604]

Thank you all for your review, the question regardin about be creative, will be , State or Specialized Diverge E5?

[@bebopman5]

I’d be eager to see you guys do a review (if you haven’t already) for the Poseidon X. It’s pretty much in the same realm as the State with it being a direct-to-consumer, economically-priced gravel bike.

[@bebopman5]

@@e.con5712 I have a Redwood, and it’s my primary tool of destruction

[@toddtucker4602]

Thank you for this review

[@martymcfly6098]

Well shit. I ordered one on Friday. I know about the brakes and have TRP HY/RD brakes on the way. One other thing is that you need to have a receipt that it was assembled by a bike shop for the warranty to be in affect.

[@ladev91]

How is it?

[@howardkenneth5569]

Would you trust the Carbon Fork with your face and spine?

[@onyong123]

I’ve had a few of their frames… the first one I received had huge misalignment issues.. not sure I can recommend them.

[@Mylittledistraktions]

Dang saved me some money. The hype is there

[@evcon]

i have this frame but with rival AXS groupset which solves most of the pretty big brake/drivetrain issues you mentioned. it's a great bike with that setup, and they should sell the AXS version again. i frankensteined the build based off of the steel version onto this frame, and it was still an incredible value. however, the clear-coat on the paint is absolutely abysmal. i wore through entirely to the raw aluminum with a front bar bag on the first long ride i took it on. state would not help me with it. that bag has been on 2 other bikes for thousands of miles and nothing close to that happened. since that first ride in the intervening 300ish miles it's got an insane amount of scratches all over, and i don't know how most if any of them happened. i will be repainting the bike.

[@Nicoya]

Were the brake calipers aligned correctly? From the close-up shots it looks like the calipers are set up for 160 rotors but clamping onto 140s. Or maybe the caliper isn't square to the rotor? Either way the scuff marks from the pads look very suspect at 9:00

[@timmckinstry]

So dramatic. I rode 5500 miles with the stock brakes on my 4130 All-Road and while the TYP Spyre replacements are better the stock were NOT nearly as bad as you described. Perhaps 15 years of wrenching has degraded your hand strength due to years of poor ergonomics and bad body mechanics. Weird how you were trying to do a trick and you crash.. did you grab the wrong lever? How did you crash..

[@leftylum]

Are these reviews sent to the company and how often do they respond if at all? I would really respect a company that tried to rectify their mistakes as soon as possible. Also really enjoy having Ellen's opinions on these reviews since she's about my height.

[@gunarstreikals2099]

Love Ellens reaction while Dave goes through excuse book for falling down ^^

[@timmckinstry]

Staye recommends having the bike professionally built and will not warranty it if the bike is not professionally built. Did you read the owners manual and supplementary materials? Aluminum bikes are known for being stiff. Shocked that you would not know that.

[@EwanSupple]

So the calipers are State branded (which screams same rebrand as the Sensah). Ya'll couldn't have figured out what calipers they were so we know to avoid them?

[@Techwonderland]

Thank you for the straight review. Shopping this against the Poseidon X for half the price, or even something like a Grail/Grizl 6 for not much more shows State has some changes to make on this one.

[@gavin7390]

Yeah, I can't decide whether to get the Poseidon X or the 4130 All-Road. Both seem like good bikes, but state seems to have a lot of quality control issues. I get that the bike won't be perfect at $900, but I also don't want to deal with QC issues

[@kcb142]

Did you end up deciding on one?

[@kcb142]

@@gavin7390 did you end up deciding on one?

[@abhattal]

Well... at least Scott are feeling a little bit better.

[@MrSteveb1]

Thanks for the heads up , I’ll be steering clear of this bike company. I’d have expected this level of quality from a department store bike . Plenty of better choices elsewhere.

[@BostonDub1]

What would you recommend for brakes for this bike to fix the problems. I had a buddy suggest a Jagwire kit. If you could offer a suggestion I would be grateful. Thank you in advance.

[@angryasian74]

I'd say the most important thing is to first replace the calipers. There are a number of proven options on the market (TRP Spyre, Shimano, Hayes). I'd personally stick with a reputable brand. Even the very inexpensive Promax 300R calipers that came on the Triban RC120 we tested were vastly superior to these. I think the stock cables and housing could be acceptable if properly lubricated.

[@BostonDub1]

@@angryasian74 Thank you, I will look into these calipers. I want to make sure that I make the bike as safe as possible. The review was excellent. Thank you

[@noredcr]

@@BostonDub1 Do the jag wire kit first, thats what just about everyone recommends who rides this bike including myself would say.

[@DaveCM]

There really isn't much appealing about that bike. I didn't know if I would like gravel biking so, I bought a Diamondback Haanjo Comp. I paid less money for it buying it directly from Diamondback. It was on clearance and then the offered me another discount because I left it in the basket while I made up my mind. But, it has SRAM with hydraulic brakes and HED Tomcat wheels. The wheels are pinned wheels but you cannot find the seams at all and the wheels were bulletproof and reasonably light. (Until I overcooked a corner and hit a stone wall.) The seams on those wheels look absolutely horrible. How cheap are those wheels?

[@bricedyer205]

I'm pretty sure those are the same as Nutt brand brakes unlabeled, which are widely viewed as unsafe by every person that has reviewed them.

[@brentcollins9727]

1:55 “The weight isn’t that bad”. 24 pounds with pedals I suppose it might be lighter than a Walmart bike. 😂😂

[@scottborders7934]

For over 1500 bucks after tax, EVERYTHING on that bike should be 100% rideable. That sounds more like a 750.00 bottom of the barrel Trek bike.

[@slantedorbit]

Apologists for State who say “but this other one isn’t bad” kind of miss the point about compromising safety EVER.

[@lakaumbucha]

You can’t buy a bike for $1500 and expect very much these days. If you want a really good bike you gotta spend at least $3500.

[@slantedorbit]

State is lucky to have such diplomatic reviewers. This kind of product is an insult to bike consumers. I always thought State was full of bs. I guess that was accurate!

[@erich8258]

It seems like State is using the consumer-direct model to take advantage of their customers. No one would buy a bike with terrible brakes, a painful saddle, and a shoddy build if they tried it at a bike shop.

[@davekashuba4730]

Is that really a "Shoddy" build? Dave Everett spec'd this thing? Well, Cyclingtips better put that man in time out!

[@gavin7390]

Right, but pretty much every bike at this price range is going to have flaws. Besides, the saddles is personal preference. Not everyone is going to have the same experience

[@DrunkDrynasty]

Wow haha

[@adlar2005]

Haters gonna hate

[@jp93309]

Yikes! Literally the worst reviewed bike I’ve ever seen next to a Hambini reaming.

[@timmckinstry]

Your review is irresponsible.

[@timtaylor9590]

1400 is a huge rip off

[@benbraceletspurple9108]

Sounds like you did nor assemble the brakes correctly. You need to take to professional bike shop for assembly. They feel correct, but should be trimmed.

[@dh7314]

Shite

[@abastabul9115]

These are experts?