Review: Vielo V+1 Strato – Fun, capable gravel bike with huge tyre clearances, though not the lightest. cycling VieloSports
The Gen 2 version of Vielo's V+1 Strato offers a fast and fun ride, and thanks to massive tyre clearance you aren't restricted in your choice of terrain. It's comfortable too, and has smooth clean looks even in the mechanical groupset builds. This model isn't the lightest though.
A reasonably slack head angle and a wheelbase of over 1,050mm means stability and predictability – but in a fun way! This neutrality is a godsend if you do head out for a long adventure, as there is less chance of fatigue building up in your arms and wrists from having to tame an excitable front end, and any surprises of unknown trails don't cause alarm.
Neither of these detract from what the lower half of the frame is doing. You can still feel all of that power going through the rear wheel and the feedback from the tyres – they just take the edge off a little of the high-frequency buzzy stuff. In fact, feedback through the whole frame and fork is very impressive.
Probably the biggest stand out thing about the V+1 to most is that it is 1x compatible only, something that is the case throughout Vielo's line up of bikes.and it makes even more sense here – as is demonstrated by the amount of brands that ship their gravel bikes with single chainrings. The frame and fork will also accept customised mudguards created for Vielo by SKS. They're £55 and will accept 42mm tyres on 700c and 47mm on 650b.
For the bottom bracket the V+1 uses a press-fit unit, with a Token Ninja fitted as standard. The test period was very dry and dusty, so there was none of the usual grinding paste being flicked up from the tyres. That can lead to creaking. To be honest though the frame and fork here are exceptionally well made – good enough I would hope the tolerances in the bottom bracket shell are tight to resist the ingress of debris.