This is a 6 month review of my 2025 Wilde Earth Ship. I had it painted custom Nordic Teal.
I am 5’ 9” with long legs and a shorter torso. The bike is a size Medium, with a 550 effective top tube measurement and it fits me well.
Specs:
Sram Force Xplr full group
Enve AG25 wheelset
Specialized Pathfinder Pro 47’s
Chris King headset + BB
Zipp Service Course SL 90mm stem
Zipp Service Course SL 42cm bars
Zipp SL Speed seatpost
Specialized Romin Saddle
160mm rotors
Bike weight 21.5lbs
Build quality is great. Filet braising looks smooth. I’ve ridden this bike in a variety of terrain and conditions now and feel like I have a decent feel for whipping it around. First and foremost, it’s very smooth and stable. For real. The road bike geo with Wilde’s Waypoint gravel fork rake and long seat stays make a rough path feel like a rolling a classic road bike on smooth tarmac.
On road it’s obviously can feel a bit sluggish at times. Also I am getting old and probably weigh more than I should haha. On a long and challenging climb in California rough, dry dirt, I was wishing for a bit less compliance and maybe lighter tires as I was working hard to get it up some double digit grades. I took it back as soon as I started descending. The Earth Ship is incredibly stable flying down dirt or road. I take descents on this thing way faster than my other bikes. It’s just planted.
I’ve been recently riding it on the east coast in the woods. I changed my fit up a little and moved my seat forward a bit into a more racy position. I was rolling on gravel trails at full bore and it was butter. I was also surprised by how it gracefully handles the rockier, rooty MTB trails. I was out and about with MTB’s on full squish who looked surprised that I was pushing this whip up these trails. When I got up more towards the front of the bike to climb, it rode nicely up short technical climbs.
I’m enjoying getting to know this bike.
So in short, this bike handles rough terrain and sketchy descents with grace.
Pros:
– stable af
– smooth af
– nimble and confident on shorter, rugged climbs
– descends like its glued to the ground
– quality steel, US built
– all communication with Wilde (Jeff) was easy and pleasant
Cons:
– can feel sluggish on long, steep climbs
See you out there ✌🏼
by spaceboy921