The Chirp Chirp brand is by far the youngest of our titanium suppliers, having been founded by two friends in Berlin just four years ago. The first and so far only model is the Lark, which translates as "lark". By their own admission, the bike was created out of necessity because the market did not offer anything suitable for the adventurous duo and their territory, which is characterised by cobblestones and soft sandy ground. The frames of the Lark are manufactured in China and, for environmental reasons, are transported exclusively by rail to Germany, where they are finally assembled according to the customer's wishes.
The Chirp Chirp Lark: On MTB trails
The defining feature of the Lark are the tyres, which are huge for a gravel bike. The fork and frame leave room for thick mountain bike tyres up to 2.2 inches (55 millimetres) on 29-inch wheels, and with the Vittoria tyres fitted, the volume is almost exhausted. The tyres take a lot of punishment off-road and roll surprisingly well on hard surfaces. If it gets muddy, they also reach their limits early on, but there is room for unrivalled grippy tyres from the mountain bike range.
Otherwise, the bike appears pleasantly simple; standardised components are installed, the brake lines and shift cables are routed on the outside of the frame for easy maintenance and save annoying fiddling when changing positions or shift cables. The bike's riding position is decidedly sporty, although this is less due to the frame than to the components. A seat post with a lot of offset and the wide Ritchey handlebars with a lot of reach lengthen the position on the actually comfortable frame. However, with only four roughly graduated sizes, it will usually be necessary to find the right riding position with the components anyway. One compromise required by the enormous tyre size is that the Lark can only be ridden with a chainring with a maximum of 42 teeth.
Sporty looks are deceptive
Our drivetrain with mechanical SRAM Force shifts gears less comfortably than modern electronic gears, but the price is limited. The sporty look with carbon rims is somewhat deceptive, as the bike is one of the heaviest in the comparison: the very heavy frame with the (optional) titanium fork weighs 2800 grams, wide tyres and aluminium add-on parts mean a total weight of almost ten kilos. At the customer's request, the manufacturer will also fit higher-quality parts to the bike, but it will be difficult to achieve a weight of less than nine kilos. The frame set costs 2999 euros, a slightly lighter carbon fork with adjustable pre-bend is available as an option, as is a matching bag set.
Chirp Chirp Lark - Info & test grade
- TOUR grade: 2,6
- Price: 5500 Euro
- Weight of complete wheel: 9.9 kilos
- Frame sizes: XS, S, M, L (test size greased)
Geometry
- Seat/top/head tube: 560/565/150 millimetres
- Stack/Reach/STR: 592/372 millimetres/1.59
- Stack+/Reach+/STR+: 647/554 millimetres/1.17
- Wheelbase/caster: 1030/63 millimetres
Equipment
- Drive/gear shift: SRAM Rival/Force XPLR (1x12; 40, 10-42 t.) | Grade: 2.5
- Brakes: SRAM Force (160/160 mm) | Grade: 1.5
- Tyres: Vittoria Mezcal XC Trail 53 mm (eff.: 53 mm) | Grade: 2.0
- Impellers: Acros Allroad Disc Carbon
- Impeller weights: 1681/2184 grams (front/rear)
Advantages and disadvantages
- Plus: Plenty of tyre clearance, maintenance-friendly design, lifetime warranty
- Minus: Heavy frame, only four roughly graded sizes
Jens Klötzer
Editor
