Shave the hairs off your tyres: Dylan Johnson’s Unbound Gravel bike is a Frankenbike of the very best order

June 4, 2024

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Among the many veteran riders of the elite fields on the Unbound Gravel, tools alternative is essential. There’s an understanding that sturdiness outweighs marginal good points to succeed over the 200 miles of rugged terrain.

For anybody unfamiliar with the evolution of gravel bikes during the last decade, tyre clearance and compliance numbers have elevated to raised meet the calls for of tough roads like these featured all through the Flint Hills of Kansas. It’s usually agreed upon that crucial facet of any setup is tyre alternative. For most mavens, tyre choice will depend on the course circumstances however as a result of aggressively sharp flint gravel at Unbound, puncture safety is a serious consideration.

Felt-UN1TD rider, Dylan Johnson, put collectively some of the putting, well-thought-out builds that led him to complete in tenth, comfortably with the primary chase group behind race winner Lachlan Morton. Utilizing the Felt Breed Carbon frameset, Johnson pieced collectively a sturdy frankenbike rig full with Reynolds street wheels, slender aero bars, a mixture of SRAM and Shimano, and 29 x 2.2in Continental Race King mountain bike tyres, which he claimed to be shaving the hairs (aka vent spews from manufacturing) off the night time earlier than the race.

Dylan Johnson's bike at Unbound Gravel

Felt claims the Breed Carbon has as much as 50mm of tyre clearance. After all that’s merely a advice, and Johnson pushed the boundaries as you’ll be able to see. He additionally admitted in a pre-race bike test video posted to his Instagram that he could be spending the night earlier than the race shaving the vent spews (little hairs) off the tyres, saying they’re “worse than leg hair.” (Picture credit score: David Kennedy, Cyclingnews)