First Look 👀 : 4130 Road v2

First Look — State Bicycle Co. 4130 Road

We basically took our best-selling 4130 Fixed Gear and made it a road bike.

Same timeless look. Same durable chromoly construction. Same simple, approachable feel. Now with gears, drop bars, and a bike that handles a much wider range of everyday riding.

This isn't trying to reinvent the road bike. It's doing the opposite — bringing it back to basics.

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What It Is

A classic steel road bike built around the proven 4130 chromoly platform this company was founded on. It's designed for people who want a real road bike without needing electronic shifting, hydraulic brakes, carbon everything, or a massive price tag.

It feels familiar and timeless, but everything about it is functional and modern where it needs to be. Commute on it. Ride it around the city. Take it out for a 30 or 40-mile weekend ride. It doesn't need to be overthought.

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The Frame

The heart of the bike is the same thing that has made the 4130 Fixed Gear such a staple for us: double-butted 4130 chromoly, TIG welded, with a matching chromoly fork.

Steel is durable, comfortable, and has a ride quality that just feels right on rough city streets — it takes the sting out of cracked pavement in a way aluminum doesn't. It also has clean, traditional lines that aren't going to look dated in two years. Timeless styling is a huge part of this bike.

Two water bottle mounts, a 1-1/8" threadless steerer, and a 68mm English threaded bottom bracket shell. Nothing proprietary anywhere on it.

Double-butted 4130 chromoly, TIG welded. Clean, traditional lines.

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The Biggest Change: The Shifters Moved to the Bars

Version one used down tube shifters — charming, and a reach every time you wanted a gear.

This one runs integrated drop-bar shifters, so shifting happens where your hands already are. It's more precise, more intuitive, and it means you shift when you actually need to instead of when it's convenient to let go of the bar. If you rode the last generation, this is the difference you'll feel first.

The rest is deliberately uncomplicated:

• Simple 1x8 drivetrain — no front derailleur, no unnecessary complexity, no front shift to fumble on a climb
• 42T CNC-machined chainring paired with an 11–28T cassette
• Plenty of range for everyday riding, commuting, and most urban environments
• Fewer things to adjust, maintain, or replace — and cheaper consumables when you do

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38mm Tires, Because Real Roads Aren't Perfect

Most road bikes at this price ship on 28mm tires. We're putting 38s on it, and it's the single best decision on the build.

Potholes, cracked pavement, construction plating, rough bike lanes, the occasional gravel shortcut — that's what most people are actually riding. A 38mm tire at lower pressure absorbs all of it, adds grip in the wet, and dramatically reduces the odds of a pinch flat on a curb you didn't see.

And it doesn't make the bike feel slow or cumbersome. Wide tires at correct pressure roll about as fast as narrow ones on real surfaces — the speed penalty everyone remembers from skinny-tire road bikes was mostly a comfort penalty in disguise. It gives the bike a much bigger usable range than the road bikes a lot of us grew up on.

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Rim Brakes, and Why That's Fine

Rim brake bikes aren't dead. They're light, simple, inexpensive, easy to maintain, and they work.

A dual-pivot caliper has maybe six moving parts. You can see all of them. Pads cost a few dollars and swap in minutes with an Allen key. There's no fluid, no bleed kit, no rotor to true, and nothing that requires a shop visit.

For this bike and what it's designed to do, there's no reason to add complexity just for the sake of checking a box. There's something genuinely refreshing about a bike where almost anybody can understand how every part works.

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The Colorways

Sapphire / Chrome

Deep, saturated blue with a faint violet lean and a high-gloss finish, set off by mirror decals that shift between silver and chrome depending on the light. It's the loudest of the three without being loud.

Sea Foam

Pale mint-teal with a pearl finish and a subtle fade toward the head tube. Paired with gum sidewalls and polished silver components, it's the one that stops people on the street.

Black & Tan

The understated option. Black frame with tan accents — the version you buy if you'd rather the bike didn't announce itself, and the easiest of the three to lock up without thinking about it.

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Simple Doesn't Mean Disposable

We've kept the bike on established, readily available standards, so you can actually work on it and change things.

• 1-1/8" threadless steerer, 31.8mm bar clamp, 27.2mm seatpost
• 68mm English threaded bottom bracket
• Square taper cranks, 110 BCD
• Standard 8-speed freehub and a standard derailleur hanger
• 100mm front / 130mm rear quick release hubs

You can buy the complete and just ride it exactly as it comes. Or pick up a frameset and turn it into your dream steel road build. Upgrade the wheels, drivetrain, cockpit, tires — make it as basic or as ridiculous as you want.

There are still a ton of great rim-brake road components out there, and comparatively few new platforms to use them on. This is one.

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Sizing

• 49 cm — Riders 5'5" – 5'8"
• 52 cm — Riders 5'7" – 5'10"
• 55 cm — Riders 5'9" – 6'0"
• 59 cm — Riders 5'11" – 6'3"
• 62 cm — Riders 6'2" – 6'7"

Sizes overlap on purpose. If you fall between two, the smaller size gives a more nimble, upright fit and the larger one stretches you out. All sizes share a 425mm rear center and 45mm fork offset, so handling stays consistent across the range.

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Full Spec

Frame	Double-butted, TIG welded 4130 chromoly steel, two water bottle mounts
Fork	4130 chromoly steel, 1-1/8" threadless steerer
Shifters	Sensah Reflex, 1x8, drop-bar integrated
Rear Derailleur	SunRace RD-R81-SD, 8-speed
Cassette	SunRace CSM86, 11–28T, 8-speed
Chain	KMC Z8, 8-speed
Crankset	Forged 6061 aluminum, 42T, 110 BCD
Bottom Bracket	Sealed cartridge, square taper, English threaded, 68 x 110mm
Brakes	Dual-pivot alloy calipers, 55–72mm reach
Wheels	700c double-wall alloy, 27mm depth, 32h; sealed bearing hubs, QR
Tires	CST Metropolitan Escape, 700 x 38c
Cockpit	Aluminum drop bar, 420mm width / 125mm drop / 80mm reach; 3D-forged alloy stem
Seatpost	SBC aluminum, 27.2 x 350mm
Saddle	Polyurethane with steel rails
Pedals	Nylon flat pedals, included

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The Bigger Idea

Bikes have gotten increasingly complicated and increasingly expensive. There's absolutely a place for that technology, but not every ride requires it.

This bike is about stripping a road bike back down to the things that actually matter. A great steel frame. Comfortable tires. Enough gears. Simple brakes. Good ergonomics. A price that makes sense. And a bike that looks good enough that you actually want to ride it — yet still isn't something you'd be afraid to lock up on a bike rack.

If you love the simplicity and look of the 4130 Fixed Gear but want gears and a little more range, this is basically that bike. It's the 4130 you already know, just built for the road.

Simple on purpose.

Full geometry and specs are available at statebicycle.mom/pages/size-charts-full-specs.

Available now. Shop here: https://www.statebicycle.mom/collections/4130-road-bikes-8-speed