3T Extrema Italia | Frameset

The 3T Extrema Italia frame is super responsive, durable, and comfortable, with a unique look and feel. It provides ample tire clearance up to 700x57c, offering traction comparable to the best cross-country mountain bikes but with a much faster aerodynamic rider position and frame.

The product features triple mounts on the fork legs for a universal cargo holder. It is compatible with wireless dropper or suspension posts, allowing the Extrema Italia to tackle the user's preferred terrain.

THE ALL NEW EXTREMA ITALIA

The Extrema has been fine-tuned for speed and all-day comfort. This makes it the ideal choice for multiday bikepacking trips or races and adventures on the toughest terrain. Comfort, traction and speed in equal measures.

3Touring geometry offers a comfortable yet efficient road-inspired position with very agile handling despite the large tires. And large they are, up to 29”/700c with 57mm WAM (width as measured). This ensures you have enough tire volume to tackle tough terrain with confidence and control.

So the Extrema is capable of responding well even on the most technical terrain, allowing to stay on the bike where you otherwise would have had to climb off for the dreaded hike-a-bike. At the same time it allows going fast when the terrain eases off.

3T MORE INTEGRALE TECHNOLOGY

Running cables internally can be nice and potentially reduce aero drag, but what is the point if you end up with a very wide and bulky headtube with oversized bearings to house the cables? Also, usually integrated systems make maintenance and rider position adjustments a nightmare.

Our MORE Integrale system uses the exact same headtube shape for internal and external cables and gives you all the benefits without the drawbacks:

• You can make small height adjustments to the MORE Integrale without disconnecting or resizing the brake hoses.

• You can swap MORE Integrale stem lengths without needing to disconnect and bleed the brake hoses.

• You have the freedom to choose any of our 3T INTEGRALE bars to best fit the ergonomics & functionality you desire.

• Should your adventure take you far from home, the MORE stem can be removed completely for travel without the need to disconnect the brake hoses.

• The Extrema paired with the MORE stem is compatible with 1X & 2X Sram and Shimano electronic groupsets

IT ALL STARTS WITH THE TIRES

To make the fastest possible gravel bike, you need to start with the tires. Tire choice determines comfort & grip, but it also determines how you can shape the frame to redirect airflow.

To aerodynamically engineer the frame around the tires, you need to know what their REAL measurements are. Not what’s on the label, but how they really fit. That’s REALFAST aerodynamics. It’s not easy however, as the tire dimension depends on the rim you use, tire pressure, and of course how accurate the manufacturer’s claimed size is.

We took hundreds of measurements to know the real tire widths (which we call WAM - Width As Measured and RAM - Radius As Measured) and engineered the frame around that data.

SO WHAT TIRE DO YOU NEED?

The most important dimension is the WAM as that directly correlates to traction, puncture resistance, aerodynamics and rolling resistance. The WAM you need depends on three factors:

Terrain (traction, puncture resistance)

Rider skill (how much grip you need for control)

Rider speed (the slower you go, the more you bump/sink into the terrain)

The graph on the left indicates the WAM you need, and based on the rim width you use, you can find our favorite tires for each WAM here. Please note that running a front derailleur on any big tire bike will limit the tire width you can fit.

REALFAST AERODYNAMICS

Balancing aerodynamic efficiency with the demands of rugged gravel terrain requires meticulous engineering. The challenge lies in optimizing the bike’s aerodynamics without compromising its ability to tackle variable surfaces. The Extrema is optimized around massive 29”/700c tires with 50-57mm WAM (Width-As-Measured).

Our solution is a downtube design that cleans up the airflow mess as it passes over the front wheel and meets the frame. The downtube is 60mm wide right behind the front tire and gets even wider as it gets close to the BB. This redirects the airflow over the frame from the front wheel and shields the bottles for a complete aerodynamic system.

Additionally, the head-tube features an elongated aero profile with an aggressive truncation at the back. This creates a sharper front end that’s is much narrower between the two headset bearings. These features paired with your riding position make for an adventure bike that is seriously fast and ready for anything.

Aerodynamics and stability is further improved when Extrema is paired with 3T super-wide 45/40 LTD wheels.

EXTREMA ITALIA VS RACEMAX ITALIA

While the Racemax Italia focuses on fast courses and tarmac/gravel mixed riding, the Extrema Italia is designed exactly as it sounds: for the toughest race courses and fast adventures.

The RaceMax frameset is fastest with 29”/700c 35-46mm WAM tires. That’s when its top speed rivals the best road bikes out there. So whether you’re on asphalt, easy or tougher gravel, you can be sure you have the fastest setup.

The Extrema offers even more traction and control as it is optimized for 29”/700c 50-57mm WAM tires. It is designed for the toughest terrain at high speed for long rides. The Extrema features our 3Touring geometry with a higher stack and shorter reach when compared to Racemax to make the Extrema the ideal choice for adventure racing and bikepacking adventures. The wireless dropper and suspension seatpost compatibility along with fork accessory mounts add to the versatility of this unstoppable race adventure bike.

Extrema Italia delivers the same Bottom Bracket and Headtube stiffness values we engineered for RaceMax Italia and that we recommend as optimal for a fast gravel platform. Thanks to an updated layup and thinner seattube, the Extrema offers increased vertical compliance compared to the Racemax Italia.