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We look forward to next week’s CORE Bike Show, where Kinesis UK (and many other brands) are set to show some new bikes for the first time, including the rather fabulous Kinesis Fernweh Titanium Adventure Mountain Bike. We’ll swing by to see it in person of course, but the owner of this one, Emma Ossenton, who had a hand in its design, has kindly divulged the details ahead of time.
Kinesis Fernweh Titanium Adventure Bike
The Kinesis Fernweh rolls on a 29″ wheelset with clearance for 3” tires. Owner Emma Ossenton has it set up as a rigid mountain bike with a Columbus Futura Adventure Carbon Fork, but it can take any fork with an ATC of 470mm, allowing for a 29″ 80mm travel fork for those who want added comfort.
The frame was designed by Damian Mason (the DM in DMR), but its creation was directed by Kinesis rider Emma Ossenton who, having decided to embark on the a 1200km ride along the former East/West German border, much of which is comprised of the Panzer Weg (tank tracks), decided a 29″ x 3.0″ tire dimension would be most appropriate. Sadly, that ruled out her Tripster ATR Gravel Bike, and so the team was forced to adapt the now-discontinued Kinesis Sync to give Emma a rig worthy of the Grenzesteintrophy.
That bikepacking route, and the 1600 km Bikepacking Trans Germany event that Emma rode thereafter, gave her plenty of time to mull over exactly what she would consider to be the perfect bike for the job. With that in mind, Emma went on to badger frame designer Damian, and the two women in Taiwan responsible for Kinesis frame production, and the team finally agreed to add a mountain bike to the range. That mountain bike is the Fernweh Titanium Adventure Bike you see before you.
The weight of the Fernweh in a size medium is a claimed 2.3 kg, without fork or any frame hardware. It runs a zero stack tapered headset, a Euro threaded 73mm BB, and it is possible to run internal routing for a dropper seat post. The Fernweh’s Ti frame has Boost 148mm rear-end spacing, and has a flat mount for a hydraulic disc brake caliper. The frame runs a 31.6mm seat post and takes a 34.9mm titanium seat clamp with which it is shipped, along with rear axle and cable routing fittings. For ease of servicing, the rear brake hose and gear cable are routed externally.
The Fernweh is available in 5 sizes, from XS-XL with reach spanning a range of 378mm up to 457mm. The head tube angle comes in at 68.5° paired with an actual seat tube angle of 73°. The BB drops 70mm, and chainstay length is 460mm, consistent across that size range.
How does it ride? Emma says, “I’m biased I know, but it was bloody brilliant. I’ve ridden loads of prototypes over the years for Kinesis, usually spotting the odd thing that I’d change or bits which felt harsh or soft or adding details but this was really something different, especially with something really rather niche. The mind that can unravel my waffle and turn it into a functioning design and excel at it is really something“.
Emma has ridden a great many miles on the Fernweh prototype, from the CandyB Gravelleur, to 300km routes around the Yorkshire Dales, to the 600km Rapha Pennine Rally, as well as the Gran Guranche Trail (800km Island hopping across the Canaries). The only thing that needed altered for production was the positioning of the rear brake line.
Pricing & Availability
The Kinesis Fernweh Titanium Adventure Mountain Bike frame will set you back £2400, and will include a titanium seat clamp, rear axle and cable guide hardware. Frames arrive in the UK on March 10th.
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