Fuji Jari Carbon 1.3 2021

The Fuji Jari Carbon 1.3 is a really fun bike to ride, whether as a stripped back, lightweight gravel machine or loaded up for adventures further afield. It has a great ride quality, geometry that flatters – especially when the terrain becomes tricky – and a decent spec list for the money.

I bonded straight away with the Jari Carbon. Everything just feels right: the riding position is easy to set up for the kind of saddle-to-handlebar drop I like, and the geometry makes it easy to ride off-road, without making it dull on the tarmac.

> Find your nearest dealer here

Designed for the gravel and adventure market, it's no surprise that's just where the Jari Carbon is most at home. The head tube angle is a touch slacker than you'd find on an endurance road bike, but not so much that it makes the steering ponderous or boring.

The front end gives you the confidence to tackle fast and technical downhills without the Fuji ever feeling a handful or out of control, while it involves you with plenty of feedback – you can really enjoy yourself if descending is your thing.

The 25° flare of the handlebar helps a lot too, allowing a broad hand position for extra stability and control in the drops. The wheelbase isn't massively long either, which also gives the Fuji a nimble feeling.

At under 9.74kg the Jari feels light. This allows you to bunnyhop and flick the bike around at speed, while ensuring that climbing doesn't become a chore.

Stiffness levels are exactly where I want them to be for a gravel bike with performance intentions, especially around the bottom bracket, and in the front end and fork.

This helps when attacking hills or sprinting, and also stops unwanted frame flex when the bike is loaded up – something you can do quite readily, thanks to the various mounting points around the frameset.

Comfort is also impressive, though, which definitely helps on rides which cover plenty of hours, or even days. The Fuji has a firm frame, but thanks to the swooping, narrow seatstays there is plenty of compliance at the rear end, backed up by the 40mm tyres.

I rarely wear padded mitts (winter gloves only if it's cold) and found the front end also does a great job at dampening a fair amount of the vibration from hard-packed surfaces.

The Jari Carbon is a very versatile machine. It easily takes on the role of gravel-bike blaster, while remaining happy to be a bit more grown up and reserved for those trips where you just want to cruise along and enjoy the view.

Frame and fork

Fuji's original Jari range is based on an aluminium alloy frame, but for the new Carbon lineup it's used its lightest C15 ultra-high-modulus carbon fibre – Jari says it's race-quality – to create a frame that weighs less than 1kg.

It's a good quality frame and fork. There is none of the buzzy, harsh feel of some entry-level frames, and it feels solid when out on the road.

The Jari has a tapered head tube that grows from 1 1/8in at the top to 1.5in at the base. This is mimicked by the full carbon fibre steerer of the fork.

The down tube is a chunky affair that aids stiffness, and the seat tube flares where it meets the bottom bracket for a solid junction between front and back.

The Jari Carbon is set up for threaded bottom bracket bearing cups, which I think is better longterm solution on a bike that's going to spend a lot of its life on muddy or dusty trails.

To resist damage to the frame, Fuji has added a metal insert on the driveside chainstay in case of chainsuck, and a shield under the down tube to protect against rocks and things being thrown up by the front wheel. A chain keeper is also included.

There's also a Mylar wrap to protect the head tube from handlebar bags, and a rubber section under the top tube that's ideally positioned for shouldering the bike.

Fixtures and fittings

You have mounts on the fork, a bento box mount on the top tube (you get the bento box included), and three bottle cage mounts which offer plenty of adjustability.

> 27 of the best 2021 gravel bikes & adventure road bikes

There are also provisions for mudguards, a rear rack and a dynamo cable route on the fork. Should you want to switch to a 2x chainset, there is also a mount for a front mech.

The cables and hoses all run internally – the routing is well thought out – and none of it rattles inside the tubes. Everything else is as you'd expect, with 12mm thru axles front and rear, and flat mounts for the brake calipers.

Geometry

The Fuji Carbon comes in six sizes, from XS through to XXL. We have the large which is nominally a 56cm bike – it gets a 560mm seat tube and effective top tube length, with a 170mm tall head tube.

It has a bottom bracket drop of 68mm and a 48mm fork offset, with a trail figure of 64mm. The wheelbase works out 1,027mm.

The head angle is 72° while the seat angle is 73°, which still gives you a forward-focused position for getting the power out. All of this adds up to reach and stack figures of 379mm and 592mm, respectively.

Finishing kit

The Jari Carbon 1.3 is based around a 1x Shimano GRX groupset, with a few deviations.

It uses GRX RX600 STI levers matched to a RX812 rear mech, which has a clutch to stop the chain flailing around everywhere. You can read about all the GRX components here in Mike's review. The Fuji also uses GRX for braking, specifically RX400 calipers and 160mm rotors.

It's a really good groupset. I've ridden countless bikes with it now and it offers the same excellent shifting and braking of Shimano's road groupsets, with the ergonomics for off-road performance – such as in the flat front section of the brake lever.

The Fuji has an FSA Omega chainset set up to run a 1x 40T FSA chainring. Looking at it, you can tell it's designed for a 2x set up, and it just looks a little clunky with the single ring in place. It doesn't look as smooth as the GRX option, for instance.

The cassette is a Shimano Deore 11-42t, so you are getting a good spread of gears. My main gravel route has plenty of steep climbs and descents on a whole range of surfaces, and I always had the ratio I needed.

> How to get ultra-low gearing for gravel bike adventures

If you spend a lot of time on the road, though, the cassette can feel a little gappy and you'll spin out on even the mildest of downhills.

Oval Concepts supplies the main finishing kit with its 3D-forged 6061 alloy stem, 27.2mm alloy seatpost and 25 degree-flare handlebar.

As I mentioned earlier, that wide flare is a big help. I usually ride bars with a 16° flare, but I found the Oval Concepts one put my hands in a comfortable position whether on the hoods or down in the drops.

The saddle is also Oval Concepts. It's entry level with cromo rails and decent padding, but I got on fine with it.

Wheels and tyres

The wheels are Alex Boondocks 5, with tubeless ready alloy rims and 24 spokes either end. They stood up to plenty of abuse on the trails, and don't feel overly heavy either. Under hard acceleration they spin up quickly enough without too much effort, and to be honest they just get on with the job, regardless of weather conditions.

WTB provides the rubber in the form of 40mm tubeless-ready Riddler TCS tyres. Testing was very dry and they work well on a range of surfaces including mud, chalk, grass and gravel. The tread pattern bites in well enough, and even when the going gets a little soft they still cope admirably.

Like many gravel tyres though, they aren't really designed with the UK, in mind so if (when) it's wet and muddy the tread will soon be overwhelmed. They were supplied with tubes for testing, and I had no issues with reliability throughout the test period.

> 29 of the best gravel bike tyres for 2021 — get the right go-anywhere rubber

Value

The Jari Carbon 1.3 is £2,799.99. It may be a bit mix and match for finishing kit, but it still offers good value against something like the Canyon Grizl CF SL 8 Matt recently tested for off-road.cc.

The Canyon is £2,999, but you are getting a full GRX 800 groupset there – the top flite mechanical version.

There is some tough opposition out there though, such as the Orro Terra-C which gets a GRX800 groupset again and some impressive finishing kit for just £2,599.99. It doesn't have the array of mounting points for load-lugging the Fuji does, though.

Another gravel bike I'm currently testing is the Vitus Substance CRS 2. It comes with a quality carbon frameset, plenty of mounting points and the same GRX components as the Fuji. It also gets a 2x GRX chainset though, and a £1,999.99 price tag.

Conclusion

There are better-equipped bikes out there for the money, but the Fuji has a very good frameset at its heart. It's backed up by strong geometry and great comfort levels, and it's a fun and involving bike to ride.

Verdict

Fun bike with a real mixed bag of components, fitted to a very good frameset