CURVE - Kevin of Steel 4 Frameset - PRE-ORDER

£1,795.00

Kevin of Steel has been on sabbatical for a while. Not because we forgot about it. More because we wanted to get it right.

The new KOS4 keeps the same spirit as the last Kevin of Steel: a reliable, versatile, heat-treated chromoly* steel gravel bike built for real adventures, long rides, rough roads, bikepacking, commuting, and whatever else you define as gravel this week.

But it has been brought properly up to date.

* Yes, we've changed the tubeset. Read more in the specifications below.

THE KEVIN OF STEEL IS BACK!

The geometry now follows our current titanium GXR4, our flagship gravel platform. That means a proven gravel fit, wider tyre capability, improved handling, and a higher front end on the larger sizes compared with the previous Kevin of Steel. The size range has also grown, with XXS and XXL now available in limited numbers.

The KOS4 features increased tyre clearance, clearing up to 700c x 51 mm / 29 x 2.2” at the rear, with room for even more up front — up to 29 x 2.4” with the Ride 415 fork. KOS4 also gets internal dropper post routing through the bottom bracket shell, so you can get low if the trail gets rowdy.

We kept Kev on leave by the pool until the new design passed the standards we expect from a true Curve adventure bike, including full ISO 4210compliance. That took longer than planned; nearly three years, in fact. We now truly understand why so many brands neglect thorough testing for steel bikes - it’s tough! But if Kevin was going to come back, it needed to be done properly. The KOS4 frame uses top tube and down tube gussets to improve durability and help the frame meet our strict testing requirements.

Mounting points have also been improved. The KOS4 includes rear rack mounts, fender mounts, top tube bento mounts, and five bidon mounts, including the offset down tube mounts popularised on our GMX+ model. The offset and underside down tube mounts allow riders to run three bottles while still using a full-size frame bag, even on smaller frame sizes, giving you more range on bikepacking adventures.

Up front, the KOS4 is built around the Ride 415 VGM fork. It is a serious fork, with tyre clearance up to 29 x 2.4”, adjustable offset, and Curve’s through-leg VGM mounts. Each fork leg is rated to carry up to 8 kg, giving riders a total of 16 kg of fork-mounted load capacity. Extra water, micro-panniers, fire extinguishers, full-sized pumpkins - go for it. The Ride 415 has also been tested to MTB standards, which means it’s a super robust gravel bike upgrade.

At the back, bespoke cast dropouts bring SRAM UDH and Transmission (T-type) derailleur compatibility to the steel Kevin platform, just like its titanium cousin. Kevin has always been versatile. Now it is more compatible with modern drivetrains too.

We are relieved and proud that the Kevin of Steel is finally back from sabbatical! Now stronger, more capable, and even more reliable.

CONTACT G!RO TO PLACE YOUR ORDER

Bigger Clearance & Dropper Compatible

The KOS4 features increased tyre clearance, clearing up to 700c x 56 mm / 29 x 2.2” at the rear, with room for even more up front — up to 29 x 2.4” with the Ride 415 fork. KOS4 also gets a stealth dropper port on the back of the seat tube, so you can get low if the trail gets rowdy.

Now with a single sided yoke for reduced weight and retained stiffness through the bottom bracket area.

MORE Mounts

Mounting points have also been improved. The KOS4 includes rear rack mounts, fender mounts, top tube bento mounts, and five bidon mounts, including the offset down tube mounts popularised on our GMX+ model. The offset and underside down tube mounts allow riders to run three bottles while still using a full-size frame bag, even for smaller frame sizes, giving you more range on bikepacking adventures.

Including the Ride 415 VGM fork that has the ability to carry 8kg per fork leg, meaning you can be fully loaded for any adventure on the new KOS.

UDH Compatible

At the back, bespoke cast dropouts bring SRAM UDH and Transmission (T-type) derailleur compatibility to the steel Kevin platform, just like its titanium cousin. Kevin has always been versatile. Now it is more compatible with modern drivetrains too.

These dropouts are unique to Curve and KOS4 and features a 160mm native Flat Mount spec. So you will not have to use an adapter plate when running a 160mm rotor. And with a +20mm plate, you can even run a 180mm rotor!

TECH SPECS

Frameset

Frame - Curve Kevin of Steel 4
Fork - Curve Ride 415 VGM
Headset - Curve Integrated 42/52 mm semi-internal
Seat Clamp - Curve Alloy 31.8 mm
Other - Curve Cocky Headbadge, 12 mm Front & Rear Axles, spare rear derailleur hanger (UDH)

Tubeset

It is true that we've moved away from the Columbus Zona tubes we used in the main triangle on earlier generations of our trusty KOS.

For KOS4, we opted to use a high-quality Taiwan-made chromoly tubeset. Part of the reason was the increase in cost to import Italian-made steel for manufacturing in Taiwan. Sticking with Columbus Zona would have meant a much less affordable frame for our customers.

In addition, the move to Taiwan-made steel allowed us more control over the tube specs in terms of diameter and wall thickness. Metallurgically, the tubes we use are identical to Zona. Both are made from seamless, double-butted 25CrMo4 steel tubing (also widely known as 4130).

However, unlike Columbus Zona, the tubes we use for KOS4 are also fully heat-treated for added strength and durability.

We've not given our tubeset an official label or sticker, which some other brands like to do for marketing purposes. The lack of a label does not make our tubeset inferior - we just prefer to stay genuine instead of making up fancy names.

We do, however, have some examples of labels that we could have used if we wanted to:

D.A.F.T. - Definitely A Fine Tubeset
SWELL - Seriously Well Engineered Linear Tubes
JTS - Jimmy's Tubing System
HEFT - Heat-treated, Engineered For Toughness
BUTTS - Beefy Under Tension, TThin elSewhere
MEH - Mostly Engineered, Honestly
OKAY - Obviously Killer Alloy, Yo

What do you think? Should we have used one of those labels instead?