I spent the summer of ’22 riding a Corvus Crow Pass. Corvus calls the Crow Pass an adventure bike and it lives up to that classification. My typical week includes three or four rides on a drop bar gravel/adventure bike. I have excellent mixed surface riding right out my front door. It’s not the Baja Divide or anything close to that kind of extreme terrain, but it provides me with lots of low-impact recreation. I’ve never been a one-trick pony. In the summer, I ride many miles that are not on a fat-bike (gasp!) I like to mix things up between mountain bikes, gravel bikes, singlespeeds, klunkers, and (of course) fat-bikes. The majority of my time in the saddle and the mileage that I ride in the summer is on something that the industry has started to call an adventure bike. I would call it a drop bar mixed surface bike. My own version of an adventure bike got to take the summer off and I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to ride the Crow Pass.

Corvus is an Alaskan Brand and the Crow Pass is an Alaskan version of the new and popular adventure bike platform. In my mind adventure bikes go beyond what I would classify as a gravel bike. Adventure bikes can run wider tires than gravel bikes. You might even consider these things drop bar mountain bikes.

The Crow Pass rocks a titanium frame with a carbon fiber fork and our demo came with a Shimano GRX drivetrain and 29? Hunt Wheels. Check out the build specs below.

As you can see the Crow Pass demo that I tested came equipped with some top-notch components. The Shimano GRX shifty bits and brakes clearly outshined what I’m used to riding on my Salsa. They should because the Sram Apex and TRP mechanical disc brakes that I’m comparing them to are set at a lower price point. It’s worth noting that Corvus specs the Crow Pass with powerful four-piston Shimano brakes so they’re off-road ready.

The Crow Pass exceeded my expectations in nearly every category. The ride quality was incredibly satisfying. Near the end of the test period, I did a back-to-back comparison of the Titanium Crow Pass with the Carbon Fiber Salsa Cutthroat that I usually ride to see if I could feel the difference. Everything that people say about the feel of Titanium came into clear focus. The Crow Pass felt more supple and forgiving compared to the carbon bike. I’m no rookie to riding titanium mountain bikes. Over the last thirty years, I’ve owned Ti bikes from Litespeed, Moots, and Matt Chester. The only improvement that I would make on the Crow Pass that I tested would be a wider bar, but that’s something that could be addressed during the order process.

The bottom line on this bike can be illustrated by recalling the scene from the movie Wayne’s World when Wayne and Garth meet Aerosmith. They fall to their knees and say “We’re not worthy” repeatedly. I don’t think that what I ask my drop bar bike to do, in the grand scheme of things, comes close to challenging the abilities of what the Crow Pass could accomplish. This is a bike that can handle multiple roles from pavement, gravel, and singletrack in serious rugged environments. It’s more capable than the demands that my bicycle lifestyle requires. If I had to give it a score it would tend to be something like an eleven out of ten sort of thing. I don’t ask my drop bar bike to be my mountain bike and my bikepacking bike, but if you do…the Crow Pass could handle it with aplomb.

For more information about the Crow Pass visit – https://corvuscycles.com/product/crow-pass/

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE: https://fat-bike.com/2022/10/corvus-cycles-crow-pass/