Evil Bikes

The Chamois Hagar GRX Gravel Bike

Evil Bikes could be considered the hard-partying younger sibling of the bike world, with their cheeky paint color names and rowdy geometry. The Chamois Hagar is precisely what we should have expected when Evil designed a drop-bar bike: genre-defying and stoke-providing. The Hagar may not be called purely a gravel bike, for it is much more nimble to ride, but nor is it simply a drop-bar mountain bike, for it is much more efficient on smooth surfaces. The Chamois Hagar GRX leaves it to you to define where and how you want to ride and will happily come along for the journey, be it gravel or dirt, singletrack or fire road, adventure commute or bikepacking trip.

Where most companies start from a road bike to get to a gravel steed, Evil started from the opposite end of the spectrum with their mountain bikes like the Following to create a stable and fast gravel machine. The Hagar’s geometry might make the pure gravel racers balk: a 66.67° headtube angle, long top tube, 80mm bottom bracket drop and designed around a 50mm stem. These mountain-inspired features all contribute to the superior off-road handling. The Chamois Hagar climbs with more agility than an XC mountain bike, and with clearance for a longer travel dropper post thanks to the sloping top tube, we can descend with greater confidence than most rigid bikes too. The frame’s unidirectional carbon construction provides the stiffness we need for responsive maneuvering on trails and keeps the frame light so we have less weight to haul up the next pass. The slack headtube and 57mm fork offset give the front wheel greater contact with the ground for smoother handling especially at speed while descending on rough terrain or singletrack. Riding a rigid bike off-road can feel choppy already, so the 80mm bottom bracket drop helps keep the wheels planted both as we pedal through washboard and rocks as well as through corners. With the headtube angle and fork offset placing the wheel further out front than on a typical gravel bike, Evil eliminates the chance for side-swiping our toes with the wheel on those tight turns.

The Chamois Hagar is ready for the kind of rides that make most gravel bikes quake. Clearance for 50mm tires allows us to run ample tire width and tread for greater grip through corners and greater comfort on rough roads or trails. The 700c wheel size rolls better over smaller obstacles and bumps. For our longest rides or overnight adventures, the Hagar boasts six bottle mounts (seven in sizes medium and up) between the frame and fork. There’s plenty of attachment points for water bottle cages, cargo, and a top-tube snack bag, so we can load up everything we need on our bike and not our backs. Since riding on all roads can also mean riding in all weather, the frame is weather-sealed to keep moisture and contaminants out, and has rubber panels on the chainstay and downtube for further protection. Internal cable routing for drivetrain and dropper post keeps the moving parts protected from the elements as well as the frame lines looking sharp.

A frame that’s ready for anything needs a groupset that can keep up, and Shimano’s GRX group is the natural complement with its gravel-centered design. Wide-range gearing makes climbing up to that next pass feel less daunting, and the powerful flat-mount brakes keep our speed in check on the way back down the trail. The GRX rear derailleur’s clutch mechanism and construction better handle the small, frequent bumps of gravel riding, to avoid accidental shifts and chain slap. Evil spec’d the Chamois Hangar with a suite of gravel-ready components to ensure we can keep rolling on varied terrain with optimal handling and efficiency. The WTB Proterra wheels and Venture tires help resist puncture and grip through corners, while the Easton AX-series handlebar’s slight flare gives us a stable position for launching the attack to the snack stop.