One great thing about the bike industry is that if you have a good idea, plus a little capital, it鈥檚 possible to carve out a niche. Sure, Trek and Giant and Specialized rule the industry, but little guys can also stake out a claim鈥攁nd sometimes, like , even earn a big-time following.
Enter , a ten-year-old company with a penchant for fine steel and Norse mythology that started before 鈥済ravel鈥 was a thing and now makes some highly unconventional but very quality small-batch bikes. The company offers only two models at the moment. (We鈥檝e already written about the 眉ber-strange Ulv.) The second model is called the Ravn, and it鈥檚 a 26-inch road bike.
Yes, 26 is back, at least in a very small niche. Before you groan (as I did!), know this: The Ravn was one of the most surprising and enjoyable rides of the year, both for me and a stack of our bike testers.
On its website, Rawland bills the Ravn as 鈥渁n all-road enduro or dirt rando bike. Some call it plus road.鈥 In case that didn鈥檛 completely clear things up for you, the company adds that the bike is good for 鈥渁dventure, gravel, rando, bikepacking, and road plus.鈥
If the Ravn makes one thing clear, it鈥檚 that the labels and categories in bikes these days are totally ridiculous. They not only try to slice whisker-thin differences, but they also attempt to do so with a catchy name or expression. By contrast, here鈥檚 what you really need to know about the Ravn, in the company鈥檚 own words:
Our bikes can take you from pavement to gravel, fire roads, singletrack, and beyond seamlessly, whether you鈥檙e after a quick ramble, a weekend wilderness adventure, or months of two-wheeled exploration. It鈥檚 how all of us at Rawland have ridden since we were kids, and we鈥檙e on a quest to give riders everywhere smart, fun, unique bikes for this kind of experiential cycling. It鈥檚 not about miles so much as time and space.
So yeah, this is a bike you can ride pretty much anywhere, within reason, and be pretty darn comfortable and have a pretty dang good time. Not only that, it鈥檚 also affordable, or at least approachable, at $3,000.
What you get is a frame built from custom-drawn 4130 chromoly steel, including a segmented fork. A bike manufacturer friend recently told me that steel bikes are boring because the building blocks are all the same (just steel), and there鈥檚 no way to distinguish the ride quality when testing one bike against another. I get that sentiment, but clearly it鈥檚 the geometry that sets the Ravn apart. This bike comes with with a steep head angle (73 degrees) matched to a raked-forward fork, a setup that provides both snappy handling and steering as well as incredible stability at speed and through the rough. Meanwhile, the compact geometry and upright position help with comfort. And thanks to the synergy of those two factors, the Ravn is a bike you could ride for days straight.
I wanted to hate this bike for its 26-inch wheels, which seemed regressive and self-consciously iconoclastic. But here鈥檚 the truth: The wheels were lighter than the ones that came on the (far more expensive) 3T superbike, provided an outrageously supple ride, thanks to the 54mm , and didn鈥檛 feel slow or halting in rough terrain. Would the bike be better with 48mm tires on 650B rims, which it also accepts? Possibly, but I opted against trying that, because if Rawland thinks the Ravn rides better with 26ers, I鈥檒l take their word.
A big portion of the road industry is still holding onto skinny tires and lightweight frames. But I鈥檓 guessing a significant segment of the population would be happier riding a bike like the Ravn. It鈥檚 easy on the hands and neck, it鈥檚 stable, the ride is soft, thanks to those balloon tires, and it鈥檚 equipped to handle any terrain or surface. The Ravn will never be the flat-out fastest ride, thanks to the 24-pound complete weight. But it motors along just fine and feels far more sprightly than that weight suggests (likely because of those light wheels). Besides, only a few people will ever be the flat-out fastest鈥攖he rest of us should enjoy the ride.
I鈥檝e pedaled my Ravn all over town and ridden it on group rides, where it went fine but took a bit more oomph to keep up. I鈥檝e explored hundreds of miles of dirt roads鈥攕ome extremely rocky and brutal鈥攁nd never had a flat or a bad attitude. I even took it bikepacking for some overnights and almost decided that it rides better with weight than without. (Yup, that pizza rack works wonders.)
You might call the Ravn a small-scale equivalent of the Specialized Sequoia. In some ways, it鈥檚 even better: It鈥檚 smoother, quicker, and more stable, with nicer wheels. But it also has its failings, namely the poor handlebar shape that bangs your forearms in the drops. Whatever I or anyone thinks of the bike, however, I鈥檓 just glad to see companies, no matter how small, pushing their way into the market with good ideas. Let鈥檚 see what comes next.