Basso Tera Gravel Apex 1x11

The Basso Tera Gravel Apex 1x11 makes full use of the benefits of differing materials to provide stiffness and comfort, helped by the fixed-pivot rear triangle suspension system. It's a heavy bike for the money, but has a pleasurable ride quality – it really comes down to whether you think suspension has a place in the gravel world or not.

First up, I'll put my cards on the table: I'm still not convinced I want to see suspension systems on gravel bikes. As I've mentioned in previous reviews it's the simplicity of the bikes I like, and the challenges of riding them on technical sections off-road keeps them fun.

It reminds me of riding rigid mountain bikes in my early teens – it's all about using your knees and elbows to soak up the bumps, while the relatively skinny rubber scrabbles about on the loose surface beneath.

I'll give it to the Basso though, it's made me think maybe a small amount of 'give' is acceptable. The carbon fibre rear triangle, with its single-pivot design mounted to an aluminium alloy seat tube, gives 8mm of travel, and it's impressively subtle.

It takes the edge of off some of the biggest bumps, and on rough roads or flat, hard-packed trails it cushions the ride almost completely.

Thankfully, that doesn't mean the feel from the rear end has been completely muted. You can still feel what the rear tyre is up to, so you can position the Basso on a loose surface without any guesswork involved.

Out of the saddle efforts don't feel softened by the suspension either. I don't want that 'soft tyre' feel when I start hammering the power down, especially on the road sections in between where the going is much smoother.

Chunky build

As for the rest of the bike? Well, the chunky profiled down and head tubes give the stiffness you'd expect, and it's the same with the bottom bracket junction.

Overall, the Tera feels very firm where it needs to be. The fork legs are quite slender as they leave the crown, though, and this provides some flex to take the sting out of the front end.

Basically, I could feel the tightness of the main triangle and its responsiveness, while the fork and rear triangle brought a bit of refinement to the ride. It's a quality set up.

Climbing

In fact, the only place the Basso is left wanting is on a steep climb. The weight is noticeable as the trail gets steeper and it can feel sluggish if the hill drags on for a while.

Short, sharp inclines are easy enough to deal with, the stiffness allowing you to get out of the saddle and power through, but if you are out for a longer ride on undulating terrain, the hills can become a bit of a chore.

Handling wise, things are good though. The geometry gives quite a balanced front end; it's entirely neutral and doesn't give any surprises when negotiating all types of terrain. This is no gravel racer, so I never really hankered for anything quicker on the steering front. It's a fun and easy bike to ride quickly, but it doesn't really give you the inclination to rag it anywhere.

On the descents the Tera is well behaved. Its weight works for it here, making it a quick descender with a planted feel when the speed picks up. Even in the wet, when the light tread of the tyres is struggling to bite the slippery surface, the Tera feels controllable... to an extent, anyway. But even with no grip it slides predictably.

Overall, the Basso is a pleasant place to be. It's no lightweight gravel racer, but it is a bike that works well on longer trips or for those new to gravel and coming from more predictable surfaces. Comfort is impressive too, without detracting form the overall ride feel.

Frame and fork

As I've mentioned the Tera uses an aluminium alloy main triangle with a carbon fibre rear triangle that's plugged together at the bottom bracket junction, and attached by a pivot system on the seat tube.

It's been a long time since I've seen such a mix of materials; brands like Litespeed used to blend carbon chainstays and seatstays with titanium frames back at the turn of the century, as did others with aluminium frames.

The rear end uses the compliance of the carbon layup, alongside the pivot, to create comfort, and on the whole the mixture of materials works well. The alloy section isn't the most refined on the market with chunky welds throughout, and I must admit I'm not a massive fan of the silver finish. It leaves the Tera looking a little 'raw,' borderline prototype.

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On Basso's website they show red and green options, and both look great – those schemes make the Tera look more like its price suggests it should.

Mounts

You'll find plenty of mounts on this, with three positions for bottle cages: on the top of the down tube, underneath the top tube, and on the seat tube. The upper down tube position has three bolt holes, allowing some adjustment for a larger bottle if you are using a frame bag.

There are mounts on the top tube for a bento box too.

Due to the pivot you can't carry a rack, so it's not as versatile as some bikes... then again, with the amount of frame and seat post mounted bags out there, it's not a major issue.

There are bolt holes for mudguards, but not in the traditional sense. Basso makes its Evo mudguards to fit the Tera's specific mounting positions and, while I can't comment on their performance, they are aluminium and will perfectly suit the maximum tyre clearance of the Tera at 45mm.

There aren't any luggage mounts on the fork legs but again, unless you are planning epic adventures, that isn't a big issue.

Routing

Like many brands lately, Basso has gone for a clean look with the cables and hoses running internally through the stem into the frame.

The only exception is the front brake hose, which does look a little lonely sitting out there on its way from the handlebar to the fork leg. The Tera uses 12mm thru-axles and flat mounts for the brake calipers.

Geometry

The Tera is available in just four sizes, with top tubes ranging from 501mm to 590mm. There are some pretty big jumps of 30mm a time in top tube length between each size. This one here is the large, which gets a top tube length of 560mm, a seat tube of 540mm, and a head tube of 180mm.

The seat tube angle is 73.5°, which at least gives you quite a forward position to get the power down, while the head angle is a much more sedate 70°. The chainstay length is 425mm. If you are a stack and reach kind of rider, you are looking at 592mm and 384mm respectively.

Finishing kit

On Chicken Cycle Kit's (the UK distributor) website they offer the Tera in two builds: this Apex 1x (£2,399) or Shimano's GRX 600 (£2,499) in a 1x set up.

A frameset is also available for £1,199, and if you are interested in creating your own build it's worth noting the Tera will accept both 1x and 2x builds. It's available in either the red or this silver.

The Apex groupset offers decent shifting quality once you get used to the DoubleTap thing, and highly modulated braking from the hydraulic calipers and 160mm rotors.

The single ring chainset is 42t, which pairs nicely with the 11/42t cassette on the rear. It's a bit spinny at speed for the road, but off-road it gives a good spread of gears for the majority of riders.

The Apex rear mech includes a clutch which stops it bouncing around and reduces chain slap.

As for the cockpit, that involves a MicroTech XL Gravel handlebar with flared drops for more stability at speed, while the narrower hood section still allows the handling to feel quick and responsive at lower speeds. The stem is from Basso and diverts those cables and the rear brake hose into the frame for a smooth finish.

The MicroTech seatpost is aluminium and you also get a Selle San Marco GND saddle.

To be fair, none of this stuff is exactly groundbreaking, or even flash for a bike of this price, but it does the job without any real faults.

Wheels and tyres

Micro Tech also provides the wheels, on MX25 rims. Again, they are nothing flash; regular shallow alloy rims with 28 spokes front and rear, mated to basic hubs. They are tubeless ready though, and to be fair I had no issues with them throughout testing. They aren't light but cope with the inevitable abuse. I'd only really upgrade when I needed to.

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The tyres are Maxxis Ramblers in a 45mm width. I like the Ramblers. I've used them on a few bikes now and I like the way they feel and ride. The tread is minimal, so they are only really any use if it's wet on hard packed surfaces, but they're more versatile when the going is dry. Rolling resistance is pretty good, as is the durability.

Value

As I mentioned, this build is £2,399, which I think is a fair chunk of money for what is a minimal spec gravel bike – regardless of the carbon rear end. Many brands have gone down the front suspension route, such as with the Lauf fork or Specialized's Future Shock system found on its Diverge.

Probably the closest design to the Tera though is the Cannondale Topstone, with the Carbon 5 being the closest in price. That costs £2,699.99 but has a carbon frame and rear suspension system, plus a 2x blend of Shimano's GRX 800, 600 and 400 groupsets. Tyre clearance is less at 40mm, though.

Other than that, you are probably looking at any decent aluminium gravel bike with a suspension seatpost instead.

In my recent review I said the Forme Monsal 1 was one of the most comfortable gravel bikes I've ridden, and fun too. It also comes with an Apex groupset and alloy finishing kit, for just £1,680.

Add the Cane Creek eeSilk+ seat post for £224.99 and you have a great gravel bike with 35mm of rear end travel for less than two grand!

Overall

The Tera has taught me that I don't need to be overly worried about suspension systems detracting from the involvement of the ride. The system here works well and, when paired with the fork, isolates the rider from the worst of the vibrations with isolating you from the feel. That aside, this is a heavy bike and it's not that well specced for the money.

Verdict

Subtle suspension sytem doesn't detract from the ride feel, but the high weight does