Iceland’s Lauf pushes smoothness in the pursuit of speed
Words Sam Challis Photography Tapestry
With the release of the Úthald, Icelandic brand Lauf has completed its transition from the dark side. The company started in mountain biking with its unique leaf spring suspension forks (indeed, the brand’s name originally was Lauf Forks), which it then tuned for gravel. In another step in the right direction, a complete gravel frameset followed in 2017. Lauf is now an established name in gravel, having superseded that first True Grit model with the Seigla, but the Úthald marks its first steps into the light of full-blown road riding.
Just like the innovative forks Lauf started out with, the Úthald’s design and rationale is somewhat unconventional. It’s designed to be a fast road bike, but not in the traditional sense of full integration and sharp handling. Úthald translates to ‘endurance’, because Lauf thinks that to be fast, the rider must be comfortable and confident. It’s the reason the bike comes with 32mm tyres as standard.
‘We wanted to make a sensible road bike,’ says Benedikt Skúlason, Lauf’s CEO. ‘Not panniers and mudguards sensible, but a pragmatic approach to fast riding, something that is fast and doesn’t just feel fast.
‘Without meaning to sound arrogant, making another [Specialized] Tarmac isn’t hard really. We’re using the same vendors in the Far East as the big companies and could use the same geometries. We wanted to introduce something with a genuine point of difference.’
Fast fit
Geometry is certainly an area where the Úthald stands out. Skúlason says Lauf has learned a thing or two about geometry while designing its gravel bikes. The idea for the Úthald was born out of their development several years ago.
‘We were early into gravel and, given that the recipe for this type of bike wasn’t really defined yet, it was exciting because we could really experiment. We figured out a formula to have a “fast fit” for the rider.’
By this, Skúlason means the longer reach and lower stack more akin to race bikes that lets the rider adopt an aggressive position. As the rider makes up so much of the system drag, optimising their frontal profile will always have a bigger effect on aerodynamics than any frameset features. It’s for this reason that the Úthald has external cables and a conventional bar and stem.
‘The bike is aero where it can be without disadvantage, such as in the extended head tube and slim back end,��
