The first Storm King was designed in 2019 with the concept of clearing 700×50 tires. This was an evolution of the Barlow gravel bike (originally conceived in 2016) with its 700×40 tire clearance. Gravel courses were getting more demanding and customers were looking to explore further into the backcountry. The Storm King was created to meet that demand.

One of the things that became evident while designing the original Storm King was the toe overlap that was being created with the larger volume tires. The Barlow handled great on the road and on gravel, but when the terrain got technical, the bike became a little too “twitchy”. The obvious solution was to slacken the head angle a little bit to make the handling more predictable, and while this did push the front wheel out a bit more from the cranks, it did not really solve the toe overlap issue.

The idea of “Aggressive Geometry” came about while studying mountain bike designs and from general riding experience. A longer front center for the bike combined with a shorter stem could put the rider in the proper position relative to their fit numbers and give the full toe clearance needed to avoid toe overlap. The bike handled the way it was supposed to handle and the rider could confidently put in the max tire size that the bike was designed for and not worry about tight/ technical trails.

This particular bike was also the first Storm King to utilize our custom 3D printed dropouts and chainstay yoke. These pieces allowed us to explore the possibilities of better quality control with chainring and tire clearance on the frame, as well as better brake alignment for the rear brake. We have been using the dropouts and yokes ever since and look to continue our expansion in the use of 3D printing technology as time moves on.

Based on these design elements, the Storm King and the GP version are now capable of running 29×2.25″ tires using the same aggressive geometry that started back in late 2022. The Chris King show bike from that year was the first true “Aggressive Geometry” bike we built, but this particular bike added in the 3D components to complete the modern design you see before you.

As this bike was going to the Enve Builder show in 2023, we went with our “Maker’s Choice” anodization and just went crazy with the finish. And to complete the ensemble, this was our first completely internal routed bike utilizing the Enve In-Route Gravel fork and Aero stem for a super clean look.

• Frame: Storm King anodized & bead blasted with “Maker’s Choice” theme
• Fork: Enve In-Route Gravel Fork
• Headset/ BB: Chris King Aeroset 3 Headset/ T47 30X BB: Black
• Cockpit: Enve Aero Stem and SES AR Bar/ Enve G-Series Dropper Seatpost/ Enve Black Bar Tape, Sage Beccus Saddle
• Drivetrain: SRAM Red D1 AXS Shifters and Calipers/ SRAM Red XPLR D1 Rear Derailleur with XG-1271 10-44 Cassette. Cane Creek eeWings Titanium Crankset with Wolf Tooth Chainring with custom anodized finish
• Wheelset: Enve G23 wheels Schwalbe G-One AllRound 700×45 Tires