New Lapierre Pulsium Allroad, a mixed road and gravel bike

The French brand has joined the trend to evolve its gran fondo model by extending its limits towards a light gravel use so that, while remaining a road bike, we can combine our routes regardless of the terrain on our tyres and without losing the efficiency we feel when riding on asphalt.

Lapierre looks to the gravel with its new Pulsium Allroad

We had no doubt, since we started to see the evolution of gravel, that this was going to happen. To explain the concept of these new Lapierre Pulsium Allroad we have to put ourselves in the context of how the brands' proposals have evolved in recent years.

About a decade ago, brands began to break the reigning paradigm in the world of road bikes, where sporty models derived from competition took precedence with the incorporation of the so-called gran fondo bikes which, in turn, had their origin in the specific designs of some brands for a competition as different from all the others as the Paris-Roubaix.

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Bikes with more permissive geometries and a more relaxed position, also equipped with absorption systems to make them more comfortable and that made them a perfect option for the new batch of users who at that time were beginning to approach cycling with a completely different philosophy to that of the traditional road cyclist.

A few years later, the discipline of gravel appeared, originally a hybrid between the off-road capabilities of cyclocross bikes and the relaxed geometry of gran fondo bikes that were the answer to the demands of many cyclists in the United States where, in the long stretches of the west, you can ride on a perfectly paved road and then suddenly it becomes a dirt track that you have to pedal for many miles.

However, as it soon became clear, gravel bikes have been evolving towards a rougher concept, closer to the mountain bike, due to the increase of wheel arches and the use of tyres with more and more ballooning, or even the appearance of suspension forks aimed at this modality, perhaps to fill the gap left in the mountain bike by more and more radical XC bikes.

On the other hand, the large road bottom brackets, which had been out of place after the arrival of gravel since they were able to perfectly cover the use of gravel bikes, now find a second life by approaching what was the original concept of gravel, that is, to ride without problems on dirt tracks.

This is precisely Lapierre's approach to the new Allroad version of its Pulsium Allroad, which reinforces its carbon frame by combining UD L fibers with HR fibers to achieve the perfect balance between comfort, performance and stiffness. In addition, to give more choice to its users, Lapierre is developing the frame of its Pulsium Allroad in two versions, a conventional one and another one that includes in its characteristic forward stays the SAT absorption system that the French firm had already been using in previous generations of its Pulsium.

The conventional frame is aimed at those who want to prioritize road use, while the SAT option will be more suitable for those who will ride most of the time off-road. In both cases, we are talking about contained gravel possibilities, something that is evident in the 35 mm that this Pulsium Allroad admits as maximum tyre size.

Lapierre Pulsium Allroad: Setups and prices

Pulsium Allroad 5.0

• Price: 2,899 €
• Frame: Pulsium Allroad UD Superlight carbon
• Groupset: Shimano GRX RX810 rear derailleur. Shimano GRX RX600 46/30 crankset, 11-34 cassette. GRX RX600 shifters
• Handlebar: Lapierre Gravel Bar
• Stem: Lapierre aluminum
• Seatpost: Lapierre aluminum
• Saddle: Selle Italia Model X Superflox
• Wheels: WTB ST i23
• Tyres: WTB Expanse 700x32c

Pulsium Allroad 6.0

• Price: 3,799 €
• Frame: Pulsium SAT Allroad UD Superlight carbon
• Groupset: Shimano GRX RX810. 48/31 crankset, 11-34 cassette
• Handlebar: Lapierre Gravel Bar
• Stem: Lapierre aluminum
• Seatpost: Lapierre aluminum
• Saddle: San Marco short fit
• Wheels: DT Swiss E1800 Spline23
• Tyres: WTB Expanse 700x32c