Pinnacle Arkose 3 2018

The Pinnacle Arkose 3 is a great option if you're looking for a versatile aluminium adventure, commuter or winter bike (or indeed all three at once) that is well specced for the price.

• Pros: Versatile, huge tyre clearance, decent spec for the price
• Cons: Some messy welding, QR at the back/thru-axle up front

Pinnacle has been making the Arkose for a number of years. It was originally created off the back of a cyclo-cross design, and has become more of an adventure/gravel bike over time. The frame was redesigned in 2017 and the version I've been testing is the third tier of the bunch, sitting above the Arkose X and below the Arkose 4 and Arkose LTD.

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The Arkose 3 is very much a do-it-all bike and really eats up rough road surfaces, always maintaining comfort. Taking this over typical British 'gravel' terrain including towpaths, trails, rough paths and potholed roads was no issue at all. I used it on a huge variety of surfaces and conditions and it never felt out of its depth. At one point I even used it on fresh snow where, although there were some squeaky bum moments, it was still pretty impressive.

Responsiveness is good, but it isn't designed for the kind of high-speed flat-out cornering you'd get from a more performance orientated road bike. It's predictable and solid wherever you ride it, with the big tyres helping to ensure the handling is reliable on every surface, whether making a sharp turn on a greasy road or loose dirt.

All this means that the Arkose 3 is very much at home as a commuting machine too, with the casual geometry making it easy and comfortable to jump on every day. It'll take whatever the roads chuck at it and holds the promise of being up for something a bit more exciting at the weekend. This one is a little above the £1K bike to work limit – though you can top up the extra yourself – or the Arkose Alfine 8 and Arkose X sit at £1,000 and £900 respectively.

The Arkose 3 certainly has some additional touches that favour this kind of riding. The huge clearance means there's scope to swap tyres for whatever your commute demands, plus there are eyelets/bosses for a rack and mudguards, and powerful hydraulic disc brakes provide reliable performance in all conditions. And with the oversized tubes and strong construction, it can take a few knocks without doing too much serious damage.

Wheels and tyres

That tyre clearance is a major element of the design. The stock tyres are WTB Riddler Comp in a 37mm width, which can roll across most terrains as it is, but the Arkose can take up to 45mm on a 700C wheel, and the wheels can be changed out for 650Bs, which increases clearance to 2in. You can also fit road tyres if you aren't planning to do too much off-road riding.

Although you can fit a wide variety of tyre sizes, the Arkose has a setup of thru-axle on the front and quick-release skewer at the back. This axle configuration has been slightly left behind by the latest thru-axle 'standards'. Still, if you were to upgrade wheels, it's reassuring to know that most disc wheels can be converted easily to quick release and thru-axle. It's also true to say that some bike designers and engineers think that from a purely engineering perspective a rear thru-axle is superfluous on a road bike – but it does simplify the setup.

The wheels that come with the bike, WTB i19 rims on Novatec hubs, are good enough for most types of riding. They spin up nicely and are relatively good for holding speed while also being robust enough to deal with everything I threw them at. The rims are also tubeless ready, if you wanted to ditch the inner tubes.

The WTB tyres are fairly good for multi-surface riding, although I did get a couple of punctures in the review period. They have really stiff beading, too, which makes them a bit of a pain to get back on.

Groupset

The Arkose 3 is a well-specced bike for the money, with Shimano hydraulic discs and a 105 groupset, plus Praxis Alba M30 chainset. It has a good gearing range for mixed terrain, with 48/32t rings on the front and an 11-32t cassette out back; I certainly never felt that I was running out of gears for either climbing or descending.

The shifting from Shimano's 105 groupset is crisp and reliable, even under load, and Pinnacle has used the long cage 105 derailleur, so no struggle getting into the larger sprockets on the 11-32 cassette.

Braking is courtesy of Shimano's RS505 hydraulic discs with RT66 160mm rotors. These stop the bike well and allow for reliable control and shaving speed where necessary. Pinnacle has also used flat mount callipers which look neat on the frame too.

The only element I'm not a huge fan of are the shifters themselves, which are slightly bulbous and, I find, not as comfortable as SRAM Rival or Shimano R600, especially on longer rides.

Frame and fork

Pinnacle has gone for a 6061-T6 heat treated alloy frame, with a double butted top tube and triple butted down tube. It's not the lightest, but it's sturdy and stiff for the huge variety of surfaces it's designed to conquer. It also has internal cable routing, which makes maintenance a little more difficult but gives a clean look. Welding on most of the frame is pretty smart, especially on the main junctions, though there are some messier looking bits, especially around the rear brake calliper.

The fork is carbon with a tapered steerer and oversize construction. It offers predictable steering, and manages to suck up a lot of the impact of rough surfaces.

As I mentioned earlier, there are eyelets for a rear mudguard and mounts on the down tube for a Crud Catcher type, so you can be protected front and back, which is handy for year-round commuting and more casual rides.

Also, with bikepacking as part of its remit, there are three sets of bottle cage bolts, two in the usual places and an extra set under the down tube.

Geometry

The Arkose 3 offers a relaxed endurance position thanks to a 71.5 degree head angle and 589.5mm stack height. This is ideal for the kind of all-day multi-terrain riding the bike is designed for, and it's also good for commuting.

Pinnacle has put particular focus on lowering the bottom bracket and increasing the wheelbase, and it always felt secure and reliable on every type of terrain I tried it on. I also think I would have needed to put my cleats on my heels and wear clown shoes to get any kind of foot/wheel overlap.

Finishing kit

Pinnacle has used its own finishing kit on the Arkose 3. Starting with the 6061 alloy adventure road bar, with a 130mm drop and 8 degree flare, this feels secure and not at all flimsy or flexy. The flared drops are a nice touch and help with control when riding on rougher surfaces. The stem is an 80mm aluminium unit with -/+ 7 degree angle, which again does the job without fuss. On our test bike this sat on a couple of 10mm spacers and below a 5mm spacer, so there is ample opportunity for adjustment.

The seatpost is also Pinnacle's own: a 27.2mm diameter offering, 350mm long, with an external seatbolt clamp. On top, the Pinnacle Race Men's saddle has a fair amount of padding and a slight curve. I found it perfectly comfortable for longer rides.

Weighing it up...

The sort of bike that's capable of mixing it up on a variety of terrains while lugging you and potentially a load of bike packing gear is never going to be feathery light – particularly if it's metal framed and equipped with disc brakes. So it's to the Arkose 3's credit that at 10.02kg it's at the lighter end of the do-it-all adventure bike weight range for bikes of a similar price.

By comparison the Ribble CGR weighs in at 10.7kg and the Genesis Croix de Fer 20 11.7kg. Given that the Praxis chainset and the wheels aren't the lightest, there's definitely scope for dropping some weight from the overall package should you want to.

Overall

I really liked the Arkose 3. I used it as my commuter for around a month and found it a great option for casual, slower riding. Thanks to the big tyres, reliable braking and robust frame, it's a strong contender for a winter commuter.

Its rrp of £1,250 is good for a diverse bike that can be used for a wide range of riding, especially when you consider the spec.

It isn't going to win a road, cyclo-cross or gravel race (well, probably not), but it will reliably get you from A to B across any terrain while keeping you comfortable in the process. You might not cover as much ground on a four-hour ride as you would on a more stretched-out machine, but you will do so in more comfort – whatever the type of ground.

Likewise, it's not the lightest bike you can get for the money, but the gearing means you won't fail to get to the top of the hill – you might just get there a little slower.

> Buyer's Guide: 18 of the best 2018 gravel & adventure bikes

There's a lot that can be changed for whatever kind of riding you want to do, whether you want to go for fatter, thinner or tubeless tyres, ride on smooth roads, gravel, mud or potholed lanes. It's a reliable bike that does everything it needs to well at a decent price.

Verdict

All-rounder that can go anywhere while providing a good degree of comfort for most types of ride