Unbound Gravel is a gruelling occasion and so the space, topography and terrain requires vital consideration to element on the subject of gravel gear decisions.
Given the sharp rocks that pepper the course, a straightforward mistake corresponding to selecting the incorrect tyres and even inflating them to the incorrect strain could make or break a rider’s race.
What’s extra, over such lengthy distances, aerodynamics will play a big half too, particularly with the probability of long-range assaults, as was the case in final 12 months’s girls’s race, which was received with a protracted solo effort by Sofía Gómez Villafañe.
Unbound’s standing as the largest gravel race within the calendar, even outweighing the UCI Gravel World Championships for lots of riders, signifies that competitors is fierce.
With each second, watt, and gram mattering greater than ever earlier than, riders have taken their marginal beneficial properties to the intense. From optimising drivetrains to aero tips, or saving valuable seconds skipping feed stops with outsized bottles or discovering methods to hurry up puncture repairs, there are tech hacks galore on the bottom in Emporia, and listed below are the most effective of what we have discovered.
Beginning with final 12 months’s winner, Ivar Slik, who’s aboard the similar bike as final 12 months, the Wilier Rave SLR, albeit in a brand new colourway (Picture credit score: Wilier)
He is utilizing a one-piece aero cockpit, however with out the aero extensions he cleverly added final 12 months, following their ban for 2023 (Picture credit score: Wilier)
Shimano supplies the stop-and-go, courtesy of its 11-speed GRX Di2 groupset (Picture credit score: Wilier)
That is regardless of the sighting of a new 12-speed GRX groupset on the race aboard this bike, belonging to Taylor Lideen, who’s driving the 352-mile XL route (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain Pictures)
Slik was additionally operating the extensively revered Schwalbe G-One RS gravel tyres (Picture credit score: Wilier)
Onto the ladies’s winner final 12 months, Sofía Gómez Villafañe, who’s aboard the S-Works Crux, full with Pathfinder Professional gravel tyres, a 46T chainring, an Eagle XX1 rear mech and the big 10-52 Eagle cassette (Picture credit score: Specialised)
On the underside of her prime tube, she’s caught a picket paint stirrer from Ace {Hardware}, simply in case she must unclog mud from her drivetrain or tyres (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Her stem is slammed, with what appears like a -17 diploma rise (Picture credit score: Specialised)
She’s additionally operating SRAM’s wi-fi ‘Blip’ shifters. Apparently, regardless of their sticky underside, she’s chosen to tape them into place simply to be protected (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Ethan Overson, in the meantime, is trusting his Blips will keep put and has foregone the additional tape (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Because it has accomplished for 3 years now, Specialised has created a {custom} paint job for the Diverge for Unbound. This 12 months, it is on the Diverge STR and it is a design that pays homage to the Specialised Technical Assist Program that the model ran in 1988, as proven right here on Sarah Sturm’s bike (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Her bike is one of some operating this new Ok-Edge chain keeper, which mounts to the down tube’s bottle cage bolts (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Alison Tetrick was one other with the {custom} Specialised paint scheme, and in putting her personalised art work onto the highest tube, she’s additionally coated excessive tube mounting holes. Whether or not it is a hyper-marginal aero achieve or a easy accident, we do not know (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Rob Britton additionally has personalised art work on his bike, with this beautiful full-custom design dressing his Issue Ostro Gravel, which is full with a pretty big 50T 1X chainring (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Isabel King additionally has her personal prime tube art work, this time offering motivation. The small writing beneath the hand reads ‘I really like you’ (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Elsewhere, Matt Beers is predicting punctures and desires to make sure that his instruments are inside speedy attain when it occurs (Picture credit score: Specialised )
Howard Grotts has had the identical thought. He is acquired his tyre plugs primed and ready, taped round his brake hose able to seize and stab into his tyre. He is additionally taped a substitute chain hyperlink onto his hose too. He is even gone to the element of folding the tape again onto itself to create a pull tab (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Alexey Vermeulen is one other. He is caught them onto the underside of his out-front laptop mount, virtually giving his bike a pair of antennae (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Apparently, Howard Grotts is utilizing an eTap AXS battery marked up with a Specialised emblem and ‘off-road’. We do not know any particulars right here, however would speculate that that is extra a labelling system introduced in by Specialised mechanics for its sponsored athletes, slightly than a brand new off-road-specific AXS battery (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Grotts was additionally utilizing 47c tyres, which appeared to be a reasonably widespread selection among the many bikes we have seen (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Unbound XL rider, Jack Thompson, had a body bag added to his, in addition to an Publicity Toro MK11 bike gentle fitted beneath his Ok-Edge out-front laptop mount (Picture credit score: Specialised )
Ian Boswell had a bling golden 10-50 cassette, matching chain, and an aero 48T chainring. He additionally has a light-weight TPU Pirelli SmarTube spare interior tube taped beneath his saddle, simply in case punctures take their toll (Picture credit score: Specialised)
He was additionally utilizing Look X-Observe pedals, slightly than the Shimano XTR possibility favoured by many (Picture credit score: Specialised)
Hannah Shell’s Cervelo Aspero 5 is painted in a shocking rose pink end, full with 11-34 cassette, 48/31 chainrings, 42mm Hunt Limitless wheels wrapped in 40mm Pirelli Cinturato RC tyres, with a Garmin Edge 1040bike laptop up entrance (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
She additionally has a Cervelo-specific top-tube bag mounted behind the stem (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Speaking of prime tube luggage, this is an aero-optimised model on John Borstelmann’s Ventum, referred to as the Xlab Stealth Pocket 500. Borstelmann can also be utilizing a Shockwiz Tyrewiz tyre strain sensor, however apparently, solely on the entrance wheel (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain Pictures)
Starla Teddergreen is utilizing the pioneering BMC Kaius 01 One, which options very slender 36cm extensive handlebars and a progressive geometry (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
She’s additionally utilizing 60mm deep Hunt 60 Limitless wheels, shod with 40c Maxxis Rambler tyres (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Kiel Reijnen’s steed for the day is the Trek Checkpoint SLR, full with aero SRAM chainring like a lot of others, and the identical Cinturato Gravel RC tyres as Shell above (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
One other Checkpoint will likely be discovered beneath Paige Onweller, whose pastel paint job actually caught our eye. As did the shallow HED wheels and unbranded tyres (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
She’s additionally acquired a spare Pirelli SmarTube, like Boswell above, however this one is wrapped round her prime tube utilizing a KOM Biking Body Strap, beneath her bolted-on Bontrager prime tube bag. She’s additionally utilizing chrome steel Bivo bottles (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
We touched on Ethan Overson’s bike earlier, together with his SRAM Blips, however this is the side-on. It is fairly the premium setup, together with his Pinarello Grevil frameset fitted with the wave-profile Princeton Carbonworks Twin 5550 wheels and SRAM Purple eTap AXS groupset (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
It is also fitted with an SRM Origin Carbon energy meter chainset, which is fitted with a WolfTooth chainring (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
In different ‘premium setup’ information, a couple of riders had been seen utilizing CeramicSpeed’s Outsized Pulley Wheels. We have not noticed anybody utilizing the OSPW Aero, although. This right here is the bike of Innokenty Zavyalov, who has another attention-grabbing tech hacks aboard his Lauf Seigla to spotlight… (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
The primary is the leafsprung Lauf Grit fork, which affords 30mm of journey due to the pivot level and people three carbon ‘leaves’ (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
The slick Rene Herse Snoqualmie tyres are one other attention-grabbing selection in a race the place most riders are going for no less than some shoulder tread (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
These fabric-like Polylight spokes from Berd are one other. They’re touted because the lightest spokes on the planet (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
However most notable of all, in our opinion, is his choice so as to add padding to his Imaginative and prescient aero handlebars, taping only a three-inch part close to to his stem, to allow consolation within the ‘pet paws’ place following the ban on aero bars within the race (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain Pictures)
Dylan Johnson is one other to have taken the identical method, wrapping his bars as soon as, then including padding, then a second coating of tape, which seems to be a special make. Or no less than, a special sample (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Is he planning to go for a solo assault? His whole setup definitely appears primed for a time trial effort, with the saddle slammed ahead on its rails, and his lengthy stem placing him right into a stretched-out aero place (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
Kerry Warner has opted for a special method to beat the ban on aero bars. This wild contraption discovered on Warner’s Kona Libre CR DL is the ‘RR’ from Coefficient, coated in the identical model’s Grip Tape, which is able to little question add consolation and safety when driving within the aero place. (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
And at last, aero hacks, unreleased groupsets and tech tips are cool and all, however Sherman the Beagle must be our scoop of the week to date 🐶 (Picture credit score: SnowyMountain)
