As ridden in this year’s Dirty Reiver by our despatch guy – James Love.
Transition Rapture cyclocross bike tweaked for gravel with luggage and larger volume rubber. In addition to the single water bottle on the downtube (which stayed put despite all the bumps and lumps best efforts) I also used a hip pack that has a holster for another water bottle. Simple 1×10 drivetrain with Shimano SLX Dynasys mountain bike rear derailleur. Praxis 11-40t 10speed cassette matched to a 38t single ring – a wide enough range, good for winching up, cruising along and speeding down. Happy to have a clutch! B-Labs oval 38t chainring for easy(er) spin and secure chain retention. Gevenalle CX Hydraulic shifter and brake combo. Powerful TRP Hylex hydraulic disc brakes with a 10speed Shimano mountain bike compatible shifter set to friction for makeitwork analogue shifting! Lights and luggage/baggage. Lights were a requirement for the event with some people finishing in the dark. I used mine (front and rear) when the snow fell. Cockpit. Alpkit feedbag and top tube bag were full of goodstuff! – cheese oatcakes, beef jerky, a chunk o’ red wine salami from the local market, chocolate, seeds, protein balls, Skratch Labs fruit drops energy chews and more + I ate plenty at the 2nd feed station! 3.2mm thick Lizardskins dsp bartape. Comfy. Fitted fresh the evening before! Bar tape and tyres. I used tried and trusted WTB NANO’s. 40c volume and tubeless with 36psi front and rear…they worked a treat on the range of surfaces and there was no flats for me! A firm but fair BROOKS Cambium C15 saddle supported me well. More luggage in the large Ortleib saddle bag. This contained tools, tube, more food and was used to stash my jacket when the sun was out. It also worked well as a rear mudguard. Simple mucky nutz gut fender mudguard ziptied to the down tube kept the filth off my bottle and me.
Overall the bike worked well, rolling along nicely. Any changes for next year? A smaller saddlebag and some more engine tuning I think!
My experience and those of grit.cx contributors Giles and Rob can be found here – Dishing the Dirt on the Dirty Reiver episode 2
