Cinelli King Zydeco 2

The perfect off-road speed weapon - as long as the gravel is pristine

- Words Jack Evans Photography Chris Teagles

Founded in Milan in 1947, Cinelli is one of the world’s oldest surviving bike brands. It is perhaps best known for its Hour record-setting Supercorsa Pista bike and more recently the Vigorelli track/crit bike, but Cinelli also has off-road heritage. When it was released in 1985, the Rampichino was Europe’s first mountain bike, Cinelli claims. Then, 25 years later came the alloy Zydeco cyclocross/gravel bike, followed in 2020 by a carbon version, the King Zydeco. Now we have the King Zydeco 2, an updated carbon gravel race bike that sits above the alloy Zydeco in Cinelli’s range, and alongside its handmade steel Nemo Tig adventure gravel bike.

‘We want to separate the carbon race model from adventure gravel because gravel is really segmenting,’ says Cinelli’s head of product, Fabrizio Aghito. When Cinelli started designing the bike three years ago, gravel races were booming, and these racers became the company’s main target.

When Cinelli started on the bike three years ago, gravel races were booming, and these racers became the main target

‘We wanted to create a product intended for fast gravel use on real gravel, like white roads, not singletrack,’ says Aghito. ‘I would recommend the King Zydeco 2 to a rider who likes to compete, more than the rider who is an adventurer.’

Cinelli says the King Zydeco 2 frame kit - including the frameset, seatpost and cockpit - is 14% lighter than before, with much of the weight reduction coming from the integrated cockpit and seatpost clamp, as well as reduced tube thicknesses. The Columbus carbon frame and Futura Cross fork weigh a claimed 1,000g and 550g respectively.

As well as being lighter, the King Zydeco 2 is also stiffer, especially in the bottom bracket area. This has been achieved by constructing the down tube and chainstays using continuous carbon fibres to ensure the bottom bracket shell has minimum joins to improve solidity.