{"id":437713,"date":"2026-01-28T02:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T02:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/437713\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T02:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T02:45:09","slug":"gravaa-declares-bankruptcy-despite-race-winning-performances-of-its-pressure-adjusting-hubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/437713\/","title":{"rendered":"Gravaa Declares Bankruptcy Despite Race-Winning Performances of its Pressure-Adjusting Hubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While it might have seemed like yet another gimmicky product, Gravaa\u2019s pressure-adjusting hubs were raced to high-profile victories that demonstrated their usefulness in the right situations. In fact, Marianne Vos won the 2024 Gravel World Championships and her 14th World Championship Rainbow Jersey while using the system. Last year, Team Visma Lease-a-Bike raced the Gravaa hubs to another victory at Paris-Roubaix under Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot.<\/p>\n

We first reported on Gravaa\u2019s innovative pressure-adjusting hubs<\/a> back in 2021. The system, which became known as KAPS (Kinetic Air Pressure System)<\/a>, promised onboard, on-the-fly tire pressure adjustments via a unique hub design and handlebar-mounted controls, and seemed very promising. After all, we can think of plenty of times when it would be advantageous to adjust tire pressures without getting off the bike or even slowing down. The perceived performance benefits were backed up by those race-winning performances on the cobbled streets of Paris-Roubaix and the highly variable road surfaces of Gravel World Champs.<\/p>\n

\"studio<\/a>The oversized Gravaa hub requires special brake rotors, which were included with purchase.<\/p>\n

So, we were a bit surprised to hear that Gravaa recently filed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, it seems that just because something is a good idea and performs as intended doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s destined for commercial success. While the Gravaa system has enjoyed publicity from its partnership with Team Visma Lease-a-Bike, the aforementioned victories, and has been on the market and available to consumers, it sounds like sales volume wasn\u2019t quite high enough to keep the brand afloat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement from Gravaa\u2019s Commercial Director, John Zopfi, he said, \u201cTo truly scale, two critical elements remained: a full tubeless setup and a lower price point. The tubeless setup was planned for launch in Q1. The lower price could only be achieved through volume. To reach volume, we needed to scale up. To scale up, we needed capital and firm commitments from potential volume customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>A look at the doodads inside one of Gravaa\u2019s early hubs (photo from Gravaa\u2019s Facebook).<\/p>\n

That statement highlights one of the shortcomings of the Gravaa system: the lack of a commercially available tubeless-compatible system. We were told that one of the biggest issues with tubeless compatibility was keeping sealant from getting into the hub. Apparently, the membrane used to keep sealant out of the valve\/hub worked but required regular cleaning for the system to function properly. While that might be tolerable for pros with team mechanics, that would not be ideal for everyday consumers. It sounds like Gravaa finally had the issue solved, but unfortunately, not quite soon enough to improve the brand\u2019s financial situation.<\/p>\n

And despite the fact that anyone running tubes or tubulars has been able to purchase complete wheelsets with Gravaa hubs, the price has been another barrier to entry. Complete road and\u00a0gravel wheelsets with Reserve carbon rims cost \u20ac3.900 and rise to \u20ac4.400 with DT Swiss GRC500 rims. Even the most budget-friendly option, a limited-edition build with Handgespaakt rims<\/a>, was going for \u20ac2.995. But as mentioned above, Gravaa was stuck in somewhat of a Catch-22 type of situation: they needed to scale to lower prices, but lowering prices was dependent on increasing volume, which required scaling, and so on\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Gravaa<\/a>The Gravaa x Handgespaakt complete wheelset.<\/p>\n

So, is that the end of the Gravaa system? Maybe, but maybe not. \u201cWhat happens next is still uncertain. A curator has been appointed and will assess whether parts of the company, technology, or brand may continue under new ownership,\u201d said John Zopfi. \u201cAt this stage, I simply don\u2019t know what that will look like or who will be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the performance benefits of Gravaa\u2019s pressure adjustment system, we doubt it\u2019s the last we\u2019ll see of it, or at least something quite similar. We\u2019ll keep you posted if we hear of any new developments.<\/p>\n

gravaa.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More While it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,181628,181629,181630,181631,181632,181633,181634,82,181635],"class_list":{"0":"post-437713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-gravaa","12":"tag-gravaa-kaps","13":"tag-gravel-biking","14":"tag-hubs","15":"tag-kaps","16":"tag-pressure-adjusting-hubs","17":"tag-road-biking","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-tire-pressure-control"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}