Much in the way in which that the Tour Down Under offers a primary glimpse on the highway peloton’s gear for the season forward, the Santa Vall, primarily based in Girona, is quick positioning itself as gravel’s equal.
But whereas WorldTour groups are sometimes made up of a uniform assortment of completely and professionally prepped bikes, freshly pressed jerseys and pristine white sneakers, the metaphorical gravel paddock is a bit more… eclectic! As such, the tech highlights you may discover under are too.
Teams do exist, and the handful of signed riders are certain by the workforce’s sponsors identical to on the highway. However, for many gravel racers, their gear selection typically displays a winter spent negotiating partnerships and contracts with manufacturers. In most instances, it’s a cobbling collectively of the manufacturers they genuinely wish to use.
Just this weekend, for instance, Castelli unveiled its ‘workforce’ – however was at pains to level out that it’s hardly a workforce within the conventional sense, however fairly a group of self-employed privateers that share Castelli as a equipment sponsor.
I – Josh, the tech editor right here at Cyclingnews – have been on the bottom on the race all weekend, getting caught into the motion (within the open race, I’m not that quick) and rubbing shoulders with the professionals on the end line, digicam in hand able to shoot. I’ve focussed totally on the professional riders’ setups, however a number of the tech highlights under are additionally courtesy of the beginner area.
I’ve noticed every part from the anticipated huge tyres and 1x groupsets to intelligent puncture-repair-quickening hacks, Classified groupset setups, cool paint jobs, custom-geometry carbon bikes, and even a wheel-tyre mixture that SRAM wouldn’t advocate.
There are quite a lot of pictures on this one, so that you may must go seize a drink!
I’ll begin with some techy finds, and there is no doubt that marginal positive factors exist on this planet of gravel, as seen right here, with this SRAM XO Eagle mech full with the circa-$500 outsized pulley wheel system from CeramicSpeed.
This one, courtesy of the beginner area, is a reasonably unknown wheelset model known as Gulo. At first look, the spokes look to be material, like these from Berd, however the American model makes use of carbon fibre bonded in an identical method. The model guarantees improved vibration absorption. I feel these are the GGA44 Ultra Wide Aero, which pairs a 30mm inner rim mattress with a hooked bead and a 44mm deep rim.
Here’s a more in-depth have a look at these carbon spokes and the silver ferrules they join into.
Speaking of Berd spokes, I managed to search out some laced to a rim branded up as ‘Neo’ – not one I’m acquainted with.
This obtained an inclusion for a few causes. Firstly, a reasonably cool paint job, for my part. And secondly, a shout out to Guava Bikes, the brand new model primarily based right here in Girona, who hooked me up with a motorbike for the race. The Spot is a playful bike, with good tyre clearance, a proprietary cockpit, and a considerably relaxed geometry designed extra for having enjoyable on the paths than for racing, but it surely nonetheless fared very properly on the latter this weekend.
Speaking of enjoyable paint jobs… the proprietor of this Rose bike went wild on the stickers and I feel it seems cool.
My favorite paint job from the weekend needs to be this bike. It belongs to Alex Miller, the Namibian gravel champion, and its colors replicate these on the Namibian flag.
Complete with the 12-ray solar, wrapped across the rear of the top tube.
The colors actually look nice on his Giant Revolt Advanced.
Complete with colour-matched aero cockpit.
He is among the riders on the brand new Italian Swatt Club workforce, though with the mud splatter right here the title appears extra applicable for a biking workforce.
Fun paint jobs do not should be unique to the bikes. At the Castelli team-that-isn’t-a-team launch, every rider had their very own jersey design they usually have been all of an identical ilk to this. Could you think about any of those within the WorldTour? No, me neither.
While many riders spend hours toiling over their bike setup to make sure every part is ideal, others slap a bit of fabric beneath their Garmin mount to cease it slipping and rubbing the carbon and name it accomplished.
Speaking of an ideal setup, how’s this for consideration to element? Rosa Klöser has taped excessive and backside gaps on her quantity board to seal the hole and stop it from appearing like a mini parachute. She additionally taped down the edges to clean over the be a part of between the seatpost and the quantity. Colour me impressed, Rosa.
This was additionally a properly completed answer. Many riders, as we’ll see under, are compelled to tape instruments to their bike to make them simpler to seize within the occasion of a difficulty. This Rose bike had what I presume is a 3D-printed instrument holder for a Dynaplug and multi-tool, positioned neatly on the top-tube mount often reserved for a small bag.
Others simply caught to the tried and examined prime tube bento field strategy, full with large Pas Racing branding since you gotta preserve them sponsors blissful! Or possibly Simen Svendsen simply has a behavior of forgetting who he races for. Who is aware of.
This one was cool too. On Morgan Aguirre’s bike, a small aero enhance courtesy of those little rubber sleeves, which fill within the small hole the place the handlebar transitions from flat to spherical.
This Argonaut belonged to Aguirre’s Pas Racing teammate Matthew Wiebe. It is carbon fibre, and {custom} constructed to his most well-liked geometry. Despite being simply 6ft tall, I’d guess the top tube on that’s round 110mm, which is tiny for a motorbike that massive. Oh to be younger and never have a sore again!
The wheels on that bike are from Argonaut too, and Wiebe tells me you’ll be able to solely get them when shopping for a body. The foremost cause for together with this picture although is the brand new(ish) G-One RX Pro tyres he has fitted. I used them this weekend they usually actually impressed. Perhaps not the quickest rolling on the tarmac, however get them onto any off-road descent and the grip was insane! Old roadie Josh right here was passing individuals on descents for enjoyable (which was helpful as a result of they got here straight previous once more on the climbs!)
Rosa Klöser was operating a 50mm model on the Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheels they usually blew up so massive that the tyre clearance was trying a bit dangerous. I did not have any verniers with me on the end, however I’d say they have been near 60mm throughout.
The Zipp 303 XPLR wheels have been a typical sight on the race. They boast a 32mm inner rim, which is as huge as something on the market in the meanwhile, however their hookless nature means the record of appropriate tyres is fairly slim. Most riders caught to that record, however I did spot a number of rule-breakers. I’m uncertain whose bike this was, however a 45mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H is just not one thing SRAM would advocate you employ. Likewise the Hutchinson Touareg and Continental Terra Speed I noticed on my travels.
The Zipps could be the widest, however different manufacturers are beginning to catch up. Here is a brand new wheel from the Chinese model EXS, discovered aboard the bike of Luis León Sánchez. Their inner width is 30mm, and the Spaniard had wrapped them in 47mm Specialized Pathfinder tyres. More on his bike later.
Another uncommon discover, albeit a barely extra well-known model, was the Fara F/Gravel, of which I noticed a grand complete of 1. It belonged to Pas Racing’s Svendsen, and considerably apparently, he’d zip-tied down the cargo door that sits on the down tube. Presumably, he is nervous concerning the door coming off and jettisoning his bottle with it, which is a good concern given the variety of free bottles I encountered alongside the route. Fair play to the organisers Klassmark although, who despatched a sweeper across the course after the riders to gather all of them.
The different enjoyable factor about that Fara bike was these handlebars. Launched final 12 months, they provide a modular match with two decisions of attain discovered beneath these oval covers. He’s additionally turned his levers in as a result of aero.
Speaking of turned-in hoods, this is Klöser’s bike once more. The cockpit she was operating had a width of 37cm, however given how a lot she’s turned in these SRAM Red hoods, I’m guessing there’s round a 32cm hole on the narrowest level.
Another for good luck: Here’s one of many Classified x Rose bikes, the workforce that Thomas De Gendt calls house.
Meanwhile, as some look to maximise the aero positive factors on their cockpits, others slap a digicam up entrance. Although Dylan Johnson did discover it to be quicker, so who is aware of their motivations!
Chad Haga went one step additional although. In addition to the GoPro adaptor sitting there beneath his pc mount, he additionally had a bell on his handlebars. This shot was taken the night time earlier than the race although, so it is unclear whether or not he stored it on. I hope he did and that he gave it just a little ding-ding simply as he was about to assault.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no scarcity of motion cameras on the fronts of riders’ bikes. Everyone’s an influencer nowadays, particularly right here in Girona! I simply really feel for the poor out-front mount bolts – they’re going to have actually put in a shift over the previous few days.
Now let’s get into a number of the puncture-repair-quickening hacks. The 3D-printed mount up above was by far the smartest of them, whereas the following couple of are primarily constituted of… tape. My grievance with this setup is the shortage of a Co2 adaptor. Why tape a canister to your body, after which spend 20 seconds fishing the adaptor out of your pocket and screwing it on?!
Same bike, extra tape: This one is a tubolito internal tube hidden behind the top tube. , light-weight failsafe in case your puncture cannot be plugged.
More tape right here on Team Amani’s Jordan Schleck’s bike – little question undoing a few of Factor’s laborious work by taping a tube to the underside of his cockpit.
He’d additionally taped a small plastic field of instruments onto the underside of the highest tube. Stay tuned for extra of Schleck’s bike although, it isn’t one you may wish to miss.
Different rider this time, however extra tape.. and I imply much more! If he will get a puncture he’ll spend 45 minutes unravelling that earlier than he can begin fixing it.
His Pas Racing teammate ought to provide some ideas. I’m uncertain whose bike that is, however he’d opted for bottle cages with additional clips for a Co2 canister and a Dynaplug instrument (there on the drive aspect if you happen to look carefully). Perhaps not essentially the most aero of choices, however not less than he’ll save time if he has any points.
Chad Haga adopted an identical strategy, with the Arundel cages accompanied by a Co2 canister (no adaptor although!) and a pump, whereas a Topeak Ninja Master instrument pack is mounted beneath the down tube bottle.
Greg Van Avermaet opted for a extra minimalist strategy. In lieu of a saddle bag, he is merely taped a spare tube and levers beneath his saddle, then used the Boa-dial strap that comes with a Silca Mattone saddle bag to carry all of it in place. This is on the end of stage 1, throughout which Van Avermaet punctured, so his tyre plug and Co2 had been used up, however I imagine he merely put them in his pocket like a Belgian highway professional would.
One of his teammates, nevertheless, did have a Dynaplug Racer taped to his stem, in a neat-ish answer.
Said teammate additionally had a tube taped like so.
Perhaps unsurprising, given Van Avermaet’s time with the model throughout his highway profession, he has shaped a partnership with BMC for his new gravel workforce’s bikes.
They have been all aboard the Kaius 01, colour-matched on this fluoro yellow and blue.
Among his different sponsors was the chain waxing model Cyclowax
He was additionally aboard Shimano’s GRX wheels…
…which have been wrapped in Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC tyres.
From one Belgian ex-WorldTour hitter to a different, that is Thomas De Gendt’s faux bike.
I say faux as a result of his personal bike from the Classified x Rose was lacking a very-sponsor-appeasing purple chainring – see under – and so was left within the resort for this pre-race presentation. Instead, I obtained his workforce supervisor’s bike, which was arrange largely the identical.
It has been reported that the purple Classified 52T chainring may be seen from the International Space Station. Cyclingnews was unable to confirm this declare.
Despite being his supervisor’s bike, I believe it was going for use the next day by one of many workforce, because it was stickered up with the stage 1 profile map.
Another former WorldTour professional now, and this time it is Luis León Sánchez and his Giant Revolt Advanced Pro, full with {custom} paint, super-wide wheels, large chainring, and super-slammed stem.
While most riders go for a fundamental sticker with their title, the Spaniard’s is labored into the paint job. I’d counsel avoiding copying the professionals on this tactic, because it most likely harms the resale worth. When you have spent over a decade on the prime of the game although, it is probably accomplished the alternative!
The Spaniard’s bike is a reasonably tech-heavy setup. We’ve already seen these EXS wheels, and this SRAM Eagle 10-52T mountain bike cassette may have proved helpful on the sharp climbs that peppered the course, particularly on stage 1.
Especially given it was paired with this aero 1x SRAM cassette, additionally 52T in measurement.
Being a professional, it is maybe unsurprising that he is slammed the bike too…
And I imply SLAMMED. He’s eliminated as a lot {hardware} as doable to get that stem as little as he can. He may wish to have a phrase with Matthew Wiebe about that Argonaut.
Like most riders utilizing 1x groupsets on the race, he was utilizing a sequence catcher. This one comes from the well-known American model Ok-Edge. Small tangent: I had the pleasure of assembly Ok-Edge’s Tim Kelley simply final week. Nice man. And a cool model that makes nice merchandise.
Those super-wide EXS wheels are seemingly known as the FG50. They aren’t listed on the model’s web site, and Sánchez tells me the wheels are model new. They are paired with Specialized Pathfinder Pro tyres – Sharpied out, so do not inform anybody – in a 47mm width.
I did not have any verniers with me, however the tyre clearance on that Revolt is nice for as much as 53mm with change, so no points right here.
On the topic of huge tyres, this is Chad Haga’s Felt Breed, full with Reynolds wheels shod with Maxxis Aspen mountain bike tyres in 2.25in, or round 57mm.
Rear clearance is commonly tighter although, and so Haga was operating a narrower tyre, on this case a Maxxis Reaver in 45mm.
Haga tells me his 2025 bike is not fairly prepared, and so that is his setup from 2024, however nonetheless, the eye to element is attention-grabbing, together with the CeramicSpeed OSPW on the again there, on an SRAM GX derailleur paired with a 10-52 Eagle cassette, a 46T 1x SRAM Force entrance chainset, together with a Ok-Edge chain catcher.
There was a mixture of preferences between mountain bike pedals and highway pedals. Among the professionals, I’d guess round 70% leant in direction of highway pedals, however given day one included two sections that wanted to be accomplished on foot, I’d be shocked if a few of them did not have points clipping in once more afterwards.
While Sánchez, Haga and Klöser have been pushing their tyre clearances, Jordan Schleck of Team Amani has to take the prize! Coupled with the small Factor Ostro Gravel body, the tyres actually look monstrous.
The clearance is not more than a few millimetres at some factors.
The entrance tyre was a Vittoria Mezcal mountain bike tyre in a 2.25in (57mm) – that is 12mm (or 26%) larger than Factor’s really useful 45mm clearance!
Like Chad Haga’s Maxxis Reaver, Schleck’s Vittoria Terreno Dry on the rear was a barely extra modest 45mm.
My 120g of carbs per hour fuelling technique would not agree, however the sticker’s cool. As is the sticker protecting the opening the place a top-tube bag may in any other case be mounted.
🤘
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