Staring down the barrel of the Mavic Haute Route Rockies seven-day test event, I wondered whether to bring a superlight race bike for the 52,500ft / 16,000m of elevation gain or a plush endurance bike with fat tires, disc brakes and low gears for the substantial amounts of dirt roads and steep climbs. I punted, and brought both.
- Giant adds thru-axles and tubeless to TCR Advanced line
- How Trek just revolutionized road bike design
- Mavic Haute Route Rockies announced
As Haute Route prepares to launch its first mega-fondo in the United States — and its first event featuring many miles of dirt roads — its parent company OC Sport invited a few journalists, ex-pros and VIPs to ride reconnaissance on the route while they tested the sizeable logistics involved in guiding 600 amateur riders through the mountains of Colorado.
Like many Colorado cyclists, I ride dirt roads quite a bit, with the low-traffic and quiet as much of a draw as the engaging surface itself. I usually just ride a normal race bike with 25mm clinchers, as my rides will usually be 80% road, 20% dirt, and the dirt is fairly tame.
ADVERTISEMENT
For the Mavic Haute Route Rockies, I brought two bikes that bookend the wide spectrum of what a road bike looks like these days.
The Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 is a 13.9lb flyweight climber, with carbon clinchers shod in 23mm clinchers and Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 52/36 in its stock configuration.
- The course: Six 100mi stages, each with 8,000ft gain and often 15% dirt, one 11mi uphill time trial
- The horses: Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 (rim brakes) with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 52/36 and 11-28, Mavic Kysrium SL wheels; Trek Domane SLR Disc with Shimano Ultegra Di2 50/34 and 11-32, Mavic AllRoad Pro wheels; both with Mavic 28mm tires
- The equipment goals: Comfort, efficiency and control for long climbs, fast descents and dirt roads
Di2 about 2 DiE
Again? Really?
Which bike? And the important stuff
- bring a pair of high-quality 25mm and a pair of 28mm clinchers; that way you can swap for the rougher stages and have back-ups
- bring a saddle you love; not like, love
- drink Skratch or something similar constantly
- find a group of similar ability and settle in; it’s much faster and much more fun in a bunch
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/2afH7qI
No comments:
Post a Comment