Our garage · Provara's own · 2025

A Yoeleo Altera for PNW gravel passes

A gravel bike for Pacific-Northwest mountain passes — fast on the road in to the dirt, and well-geared for the climb out the back.

A champagne Yoeleo Altera G21 gravel frame on a workshop stand against a red cedar fence — SAT C45 carbon wheels with tan-wall Speedero tires and SRAM Force XPLR E1 with a Quarq spider power meter. — Yoeleo Altera G21 in Champagne — for the fire roads and the alpine passes above them.

Around here, gravel doesn't mean flat farm roads. It means a 30 km road approach, then a fire road that climbs 1,500 vertical meters to an alpine pass nobody else is on, then a descent down the back over surfaces that change every two switchbacks. The right bike for that is fast on tarmac, planted on rough, and geared low enough that you don't dread the climb.

This Altera is ours. The frame at $1,420 is the value driver of the whole build — Yoeleo's been quietly putting some of the best tube shapes and finishing on a gravel chassis at this price point, and the Champagne colorway is genuinely beautiful in real light.

Pairing the Altera with Yoeleo's own SAT C45 DB Pro NxT wheels was deliberate: same brand designing the frame and the wheels means the rim spacing, hub flange and tire clearance are spec'd together rather than approximated. 45 mm of depth is the right gravel compromise — quick on the road in, predictable in the crosswinds you get above the tree line.

SRAM Force XPLR E1 is the value pick in the 13-speed gravel hierarchy. Same 10-46 range as Red, same shift quality on dirt, half the price for the rear derailleur. The Quarq spider power meter goes onto the Force crank instead of paying for the Red PM crank — accurate watts, lower spend, and Force cranks are still very light.

The saddle is a 3D-printed Selle Italia — the lattice one. Five-hour days on rough surfaces are where saddle choice stops being cosmetic, and the lattice construction is the most comfortable race-shape perch we've ridden.

The build

Frame	Yoeleo Altera G21 DB Frameset, Champagne — $1,420 (the value driver of the whole build)
Wheels	Yoeleo SAT C45 DB Pro NxT Gravel — 45 mm carbon, hooked, gravel-specific
Groupset	SRAM Force XPLR E1 — wireless, 13-speed, 10-46 cassette
Crankset	SRAM Force XPLR with a Quarq spider power meter
Saddle	Selle Italia 3D-printed — the lattice one
Tires	Tan-wall gravel tubeless
Use case	Pacific-Northwest gravel — fire roads, abandoned logging spurs, mountain passes

What we'd change next time

Next time we'd run a slightly wider gravel tire (45 mm instead of 40) for the chunkier bits — the Altera has clearance and the rolling-resistance penalty disappears on rough surfaces.
We'd add a top-tube bag mount preset. Long days mean snacks; not having to strap one on every time would be nicer than it sounds.

Want one like it?

Spec yours in the configurator — we'll propose a final build to approve before anything's ordered. Orders open July 2026.