Singular Cycles Kite Titanium Gravel Bike Review: New Fork and Other Refinements – Josh Weinberg | The Radavist | A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors.

The updated Singular Cycles Kite Titanium is an evolution of the original steel Kite, one of the first gravel bikes to accommodate large tires. Like, really large tires. While the titanium frameset has remained a popular option in Singular’s catalog, the UK-based brand just launched a revised version that features an entirely new titanium fork with 3D-printed crown and UDH-compatible rear dropouts.

Josh, who is consistently interested in testing chubby tire gravel bikes in his home turf of southern Arizona, spotted a prototype Kite Titanium earlier this year at the MADE show. That particular Kite happened to be Singular owner Sam Alison’s personal build, and he let Josh keep it in the U.S. for a couple of months before sending it back across the Atlantic. Read on below for Josh’s impressions of the quick and capable Singular Kite.

Longing for Chubby Tire Gravel Bikes

Looking back at the drop-bar bikes I’ve reviewed over the years, a consistent theme emerges: I like plentiful tire clearance. Now, most bikes I tend to be attracted to and, in turn, bring in for review or purchase tend to be more geometrically congruent with traditional gravel bikes than drop-bar mountain bikes but still accommodate wide tires. I’m talking about a minimum clearance of 700c x 45, averaging around 700c x 55/29 x 2.0”.

Given the terrain I typically ride – from Coconino County in Northern Arizona, throughout my home of Phoenix, and down into the state’s Southern Borderlands – my typical rides move quickly through rolling landscapes that often include sections of mild to moderate singletrack. Since I do not often load up a bunch of luggage for these rides, I prefer bikes with comfortable yet efficient geometries (more on that later), and metal frames. I also gravitate towards wide tires to increase traction and dampen road/trail vibrations.

Without even realizing what it was at first due to the wholly redesigned fork from the previous version, the Kite Ti I saw hanging in the Singular Cycles booth at MADE instantly looked like it would fit the bill for my preferred terrain.

Singular Cycles Kite Titanium Quick Hits

Titanium frame with size-specific tubing profiles
Advertised tire clearance of 29×2.1″ or 27.5×2.4″
- 700 x 45 (possibly 48) with fenders
42/52 tapered internal headtube
External cable routing
Dropper post compatible
Matching titanium fork with tapered steerer
Three bottle cage mounts on frame and a pair on fork
Rack and fender mounts
Flat mount brakes for 180/160 mm rotors
Available in sizes small through XL with custom options upon request
22.5 lbs built up as reviewed (sans bottles and bag)
$3,000 for frame+fork+Hope seatpost clamp
Frames are in stock in the U.S. and ship for free

Original Steel Kite (photos: Singular Cycles)

Kite Evolutions

Similar to the trip down memory lane I took during my review earlier this year of the Singular Swift, I think it’s important to look at the evolution of bike models to understand the design intent of current models. This holds true with a brand like Singular that’s been around for nearly twenty years and is continually evolving rather than reinventing. And the Kite, in particular, has come a long way since it first appeared in the brand’s catalog.

Nearly fifteen years ago, when the first version of the Singular Kite was released into the world, Gravel was only beginning to cement its foundation as a standalone cycling discipline. The uppercase G was intentional there because, while folks (including myself) were always riding road and ‘cross bikes off-pavement, it wasn’t until later in the decade that we started seeing bikes developed specifically for riding and racing on dirt roads become prolific.

Around 2012/13, brands like Salsa and Niner drew on their mountain biking pedigrees to design what were essentially road bikes with longer wheelbases, higher stack, and room for knobby tires to cater to the rising popularity of events in the midwest US like Michigan’s Barry-Roubaix, or what is now referred to Unbound Gravel in Kansas.

Steel Kite with carbon fork (photos: Singular Cycles)

Sam Alison rode a lot of cyclocross then and used his cross bikes to explore forest roads and off-piste zones when he wasn’t racing. The first iteration of the Kite was his version of a cyclocross bike with fairly standard geometry, save a slightly lower bottom bracket drop for stability, but with clearance for 45 mm tires.

With its oversized steel tubing, lugged steel fork, and canti brakes, the Kite was a stunner, and I hear they ride as nicely as they look. Yet they fulfilled only a niche market as riders began to want modern accouterments with their off-road drop bar bikes. By 2016, with the disc brake-equipped 700c/650b Peregrine already in the Singular lineup, Sam redesigned the Kite with larger diameter steel tubing, disc brake compatibility, and a tapered headtube with a carbon fork.

Titanium Kite with segmented fork (photos: Singular Cycles)

A few years ago, Sam brought the Kite back into the mix when Singular began offering custom titanium frames in addition to their steel stock models like the Peregrine and Swift. Taking cues from the legacy steel frames, the titanium redesign saw even larger tire fitment and a segmented fork.

Custom frames sold well, so it made sense for Sam to commission a size run of titanium Kites in a stock configuration. Now that those are gone, a revised titanium Kite has landed with many of the same elements that originally made it popular but with a revised fork and rear dropouts.

The “Feel” of Titanium

When built correctly, with calculated butting, wall thickness, and overall tubing profiles, titanium bikes can offer a spirited and smooth ride quality unlike any other. Titanium is lighter and stronger than steel, which allows builders to dial in ride characteristics with fewer tradeoffs for weight or rigidity than alternative materials.

As we learned in Ti Talk with No. 22 Bikes, a lot goes into “tuning” titanium to a particular rider. Obtaining titanium’s legendary “feel” is more often associated with custom builds than production bikes for several reasons.

First, with only three to five sizes available in a given production bike model, there is less opportunity for customization based on individual ride styles or preferences.

Second, production models must undergo strength and fatigue testing that makes them more robust than custom-made frames.

Sam Alison loves the way titanium bikes ride. He’s designed many steel and titanium frames, offering both materials in the Singular lineup. He has decades of experience working with his builders to hone the favorable aspects of each. As a versatile gravel/all-road frameset, he chose to have Kites made in titanium because of its ride quality, high strength-to-weight ratio, and strikingly clean appearance.

A debatably under-marketed aspect of Singular’s design model, Sam explained that each Kite size features different tubing profiles. This is not uncommon among higher-end frames made overseas (Otso, Esker, Tumbleweed, etc.) since bigger riders tend to weigh more than smaller riders.

Still, I think it’s interesting to call out within the current collective interest around small-batch production metal bikes, as this rider-centric approach attempts to bridge some of the gaps between custom and production. Using 3 Al 2.5V butted titanium, Kite front triangle tubing diameters grow with each frame size:

Kite Ti Tubing Diameters

Slight variations in wall thicknesses and butting lengths across the size run also exist.

Segmented fork version (left); 3D-printed crown (right)

A New Fork and Other Frame Details

The previous version of the Singular Kite featured a titanium segmented fork similar to the one used on the lauded Gryphon drop bar touring MTB. As John mentioned in his review, these forks are designed to “flex in all the right ways.” And for the Gryphon’s use case – “built with touring in mind but is an ample ally unloaded on your favorite dirt roads, double track, and singletrack alike” – this makes a lot of sense.

But the Kite isn’t a drop-bar MTB; instead, it’s a gravel bike. So, when it came time to update the frameset, Sam turned to additive manufacturing to give the Kite a new look and feel and further distinguish the model from others in the Singular catalog. Not having ridden the previous fork, I am told by Sam that the resulting new design is objectively stiffer and more responsive.

Note: The production fork will have slightly revised mounts from this prototype. The upper will be slightly higher to accommodate a typical rando-style rack, and the lower will be in the correct position for a lowrider pannier rack.

The new Kite also gets updated 3D-printed dropouts. Seamlessly welded and finished, these add an elegant UDH-compatible solution to the frame’s rear end. The non-drive side dropout accommodates a flat-mount brake caliper with up to a 160 mm rotor, which, with how powerful modern braking systems are, is plenty for this bike. For reference, the fork can fit up to a 180 mm rotor. The asymmetrical chainstay yoke remains the same as the previous version and is similar to what is used on other Singular frames like the Swift and Gryphon.

While I understand the drive-side appearance of the yoke is utilitarian form following function to retain a narrow Q-factor, clear a large chainring, and wide tire, it’s the only part of the bike now that seems to speak a different design language. With the new svelte rounded fork crown and dropouts, the yoke’s flat shape and abrupt juncture, along with the ovalized chainstay, look somewhat out of place. It is certainly not a dealbreaker, but I think seeing a revised yoke would be cool.

All cables are externally routed, and plentiful attachment points for water bottles, racks, and fenders come stock. Dropper and dynamo cables are the only routing exceptions, as they run internally through the fork and seat tube, respectively. Custom frames are available via special order for folks who would like different mounts, geometry, or tubing selections from what is available on standard models.

Geometry

The Singular Kite is what I would consider a do-all drop bar bike. Its geometry reflects what the industry seems to have landed on for the all-road/gravel category, capable of feeling at home in varied terrain, dressed up in a number of different component and wheel/tire configurations. This is a single bike that can be used for multiple disciplines: plump gravel tires and wide rims for dirt road summer riding and narrow rims with skinny tires and mudguards for winter training.

I’ll talk more about fit below, but Sam is a tall guy (my guess is about 6’4″), so his personal bike reviewed here is size XL. Since angles change with each size, I’ll refer to those associated with the XL Kite. The 71.5º head tube angle, 72.5º seat angle, and 75 mm bottom bracket drop are right around where I like them for longer rides. These numbers are slightly steeper than those of my Scarab Paramo Ultra adventure gravel bike, yet nearly identical to some light touring/all-road framesets like Ritchey’s new Montebello or the No.22 Drifter Adventure John reviewed last year.

The Kite differs from these models in its generous tire fitment and the frame design that makes it possible. The chainstays are on the longer side at 445 mm, giving an overall wheelbase of 1073 mm in XL. Combined with the custom-designed chainstay yoke, you can shove 29 x 2.1″ and even some 2.2″ tires in the rear end. On paper, the 611 mm stack height in XL seems a little short, yet the overall dimensions of the frame with a nearly horizontal top tube and proportional tapered head tube are aesthetically pleasing.

Additionally, the lower stack will push most riders toward the one-piece high-rise titanium Laing stem available from Singular, or others like the Sim Works Anna Lee. As seen in these photos, the frame + fork + stem + seat post titanium combo looks like it was meant to be.

Fit and Ride Characteristics

At 6’0″ with a 33″ inseam and short torso relative to my height, I almost always fit between Large and XL bikes. From the markings on Sam’s used seatpost, I could tell it sat around a couple of inches higher out of the frame than it did when installed for myself. I ended up with more of a “French fit” with less saddle-to-bar drop on this build rather than a more substantial difference, as I typically prefer. Thus, if I were to purchase a Kite, I would size it down to a large. Referencing the overlay pictured above from Bike Insights, the Large outlined in black would be slightly smaller in all the right places.

To be clear, the XL was not uncomfortable for me. The reach and stack with a 90 mm tall/long stem felt good, even on longer 50 – 70-mile rides. However, too little (or too much) saddle-to-bar drop can inhibit core engagement and cause long-term shoulder and upper back stress. Additionally, the smaller size would offer increased standover, more space for a dropper post, and room to move around when out of the saddle.

Sam’s build weighed just over 22 lbs in size XL, which is impressively light. While none of the parts stand out individually as particularly weight-weenie-ish (except maybe the Ingrid crank or carbon hoops), it’s a simple and efficient kit that accentuates the frame’s utility. The oversized front triangle tubing and robust fork felt enjoyably stiff on flat sprints and out-of-saddle mashing. The Kite gets up to speed quickly and holds it. When climbing, the rear end feels planted, and the 2.1″ Mezcals offer plenty of cushion and bite into dirt roads and trails. To lighten up the whole package even more while also increasing compliance, I would love to throw a leg over this bike rolling on a set of BERD wheels.

The all-road-oriented geometry shines when maneuvering, as the Kite’s front end is nimble and responsive. After all, it’s not only designed for large tires; ideally, folks will be using the Kite as a road bike as well. I will offer a sentiment of caution. Sometimes, those chunky boi tires inspired me to push it a bit on rougher roads and singletrack, hitting small jumps and ripping through loose and chunky sections. While not likely the use case Sam had in mind for this bike, it held its own just fine.

But, the front center is much tighter than progressive gravel bikes like my (former) Amigo Bug Out or Sklar Super Something, and therefore, the Kite’s steering axis felt sensitive in comparison when riding out of jump landings or rocky/loose descents. Offering something similar to ENVE’s flip-chip would be a welcome addition to this already feature-packed fork, allowing further versatility in tuning the bike’s trail numbers when riding in rougher terrain or carrying loads.

TL;DR

Like its namesake bird of prey, the Singular Kite is quick and sure-footed, ready to attack climbs and glide through rough roads. With the updated fork and dropouts, the frameset will look balleur built up with everything from deep wheels, slicks, and fenders to knobby XC tires and racks with bags. The new fork also positions the Kite as the dedicated gravel bike (with all-road potential) in Singular’s catalog alongside the Gyphon drop bar MTB touring and steel Peregrine all-rounder.

At $3,000 for the frameset, it is certainly not the cheapest production metal gravel bike on the market. However, when considering the price of custom alternatives, plus the fact that it is one of the only titanium bikes equipped with an in-kind titanium fork, the Kite presents a clear value proposition. Additionally, Singular has recently established a hub in Portland, OR, where all their frames will be in stock and shipped for free within the continental U.S.

Preorders open today for the updated Kite Ti over at Singular Cycles.