What To Pack For Over 300KM On A Mountain Bike! | Swiss Epic Bike Check & Kit List

Hello and welcome to a very special bike and kit check as myself and Blake find ourselves here in the Swiss Alps for the Swiss Epic, a five-day multi-stage race. We've got some exciting rigs to talk about and kits, so let's get started. I'm really excited. Shall I go first? You go first. Let's do it. To tackle then, the 11,500 meters of climbing we'll be racing plus the 350k. I've chosen my Canyon Luxe Trail. Now, this is a size large. I am six foot on the dot. It's a 67-degree head angle, 76-degree seat tube angle, and a 480-mil reach. Travel is 115-mil out back with 120-mil up front. Kicking things off at the front of the bike, let's take a look at some of the equipment I've chosen and why. We've got Vittoria Mezcal race compound tires. Now, these are their brand new compounds, 29 by 2.4 with the older Tannels. I'm a sucker for a Tannel. That's on a Reynolds 309 front carbon wheel with a Reynolds hub as well. RockShox Sid suspension with the twist lock lockout, and we've got SRAM's level ultimate brakes on there as well, four-pot at the front. Inside there, there's no insert, but there is 23 PSI. When it comes to the cockpit, we've got Ergon GXR push-on grips in pink because they look cool. Now, these are actually pretty worn grips. You can see grooves in them, but they basically mold directly to my hands, so that's why I keep them on there. They might look worn, but they're comfortable, so that's the main thing. Garmin Edge 840 solar is going to be keeping track of all my data and my numbers and actually directions whilst we're riding around. We've got the full SRAM access going on, wireless dropper and gears as well. Handlebars, 760-mil uncut. They're actually Canyon CP0037 bar and stem combo, and it's the equivalent of a 50-mil stem with a six-degree upsweep and I think an eight-degree back sweep. Yes, eight-degree back sweep. Moving on to the center of the bike, there's a lot going on here, so bear with us. Up top, Ergon SM men's team saddle, carbon rails to keep the weight down, 125-mil access dropper, and a little top tip I like to do here, there's some duct tape just wound around there. It doesn't take up space, it doesn't take up any weight, but duct tape literally fixes almost anything. Moving on into the bike then, we do have frame storage inside there. I might keep the GPS unit. There'll also be either a gillette or a very thin coat because when we're up there, the weather can change in an instant. Double bottles, 500-mil each because you're going to need a lot of fluid as well. When it comes to carrying spares, I'm not too much of a backpack kind of guy unless it needs to be done, so I like to attach things to the bike. Now, Topeak Elementor strap with a power lever X on there, tucked inside those are also some power links specific for this bike, of course. We've also got a PE's canister, and actually, if we look in here, there is another sneaky canister with a PE's inflator on the end there as well. I've also got a pump on this side as well, tucked down the side. It's the Race Rocket from Topeak as well, plus a sneaky multi-tool. Check this out. This clever gizmo in here is the Topeak BB hiding tool. Genius. It's essentially a multi-tool in there with a chain breaker tucked inside the spindle of your bottom bracket. Now, whilst we're talking bottom brackets and that kind of way, we've got a SRAM XX chain set, cork power meter on there. I do like to work by number, so with that connected up to the Garmin, it means I know exactly how much power and heart rate with the old Garmin strap I'm putting out exactly. Crank brothers, egg beaters, or 11s, tie pedals, trying to keep the weight down again as well. That's kind of the middle of the bike. Let's move on backwards. When it comes to braking, we've still got the SRAM Level Ultimate out back. It's a 160-rotor rear, the center line, and actually, I should have said a 180-mil rotor up front. Big mountains, big descents, you're going to need some power. It's actually a two-pot brake on the back as opposed to the four-pot on the front. 12-speed SRAM AXS XX rear mech. Now, you might be noticing that I don't look very stock-ish. Something looks a bit different. Yes, we've got the ceramic speed upgrades. Very lucky to have that on there. Anytime you can save a bit of energy, extra watts, go faster, anything it can do to help is always a bonus in my book. That's the OSPW-X rear cage. That's specific for that mech. Actually, there is a ceramic speed bottom bracket in that as well. These things just keep on spinning, so less resistance is always better. That's my bike. What about the kit? My bike there, as you saw it then, 25.5 pounds. Whilst weight is crucial, it's not the be-all and end-all. Comfort does matter, eh, bud? It does. Before we move on to my shred rig, let's talk about the kit. Now, in the rule book, we have to be wearing the same race tops so they kind of match, so they know who we are and- Same team. Same team, exactly. We are a team. We are. Let's go team. Go team. When it comes to shoes, we're both running Shimano XC9 Aspires, obviously, with the Crankbrothers cleats in the bottom. Likewise. GMBN, obviously, XC race tops. Now, we do have multiple different colors. We actually got the purple and this one. Depending on the day, we need to switch up because it's five days. It is five days. Smith ATAK Mag glasses for me with the tinted lens. I can swap them out to clears if needs be. I've gone for the Smith Vert Pivot Lock, and this is the meta bone. It goes nice color with these helmets. Yes. Funnily enough, the helmets, Smith Trace Helmets with the MIPS system in it. Safety, lightweight, cool, just good for being in all day. I noticed you got a backpack. Yes. I'm a sweaty guy, and I like to drink a lot of water when I'm out there. I've opted for carrying water on my person. I've gone for the Camelbak Chase 4. Super lightweight race vest right here. You got bits here for some gels, which I'll be coming to in a minute. I got my gels in here. Inside here, the bladder is a 1.5 liter capacity, which is enough to carry what I need. I got the GMBN Camelbak Podium bottle in my Topeak bottle cage, which is carbon. In here, I've got all my essentials. I got my tools. I've gone for the same tool as Rich in the BB, which is super key, and it's really lightweight. You don't need to carry much in here, but I've got CO2 cartridges. I got my inner tube, all my gels and essentials. Also, I do have a very lightweight coat tucked in there as well. This is my Orbea Oiz M Team Spec. This is a medium-sized frame. I'm five foot eight, but the best thing about this is this is a one. You can actually go on their website and change the colors of your bike and the spec to whatever you want, which is really cool. I went for the red and black, patriotic sign to GMBN. This bike is 120 mil of travel, so front and rear. I got Fox 34s on the front here, and I got a lovely little Fox rear shock over there. With this bike, it's classed as an XC marathon lightweight trail bike, and it is lightweight. This bike comes in at 24.8 pounds. Kilo's on the screen right now for you viewers. That's really lightweight. I'm used to bigger bikes because I'm more of a slope-style freeride kind of guy. Let's talk about the wheels, 29-inch front and rear. I'm running the FSA SLK carbon wheels on the front and on the rear. The tires I'm running are the Vittoria Mazcal. I've opted for the trail versions, which gives you a thicker sidewall, a more durable sidewall because I'm a bit nervous of slicing a tire, especially when it gets a bit rocky. Now, I'll talk about tire pressure. On the front, I'm running 24, and on the rear is a 26 PSI. In the rear, I've actually opted for an insert just in case I hit a rock. To keep the air in my tires, I've gone for the PT's valve, tubeless valves. The unique thing about this, you can chop and change the colors to whatever you want because they do multiple colors. Over here, I've got the spoke key just in case one of my spokes comes loose and I need to tighten that up on the trail, which is pretty handy. On the rear, I've got a valve core key, which I can remove the core to insert more sealant just in case I need to add a little bit more. Timing chip, just to make sure I get all my times in. Five stages I've got to do. There's some big downhills. Talk about downhills. I need some braking power. I'm running the Shimano XTR brakes, front and rear. On the front, I've opted for a 180 rotor, and on the rear, a 160. It cuts down the weight, but also gives me a lot more stopping power on the front. What MT means is you can change your drivetrain to whatever spec you want. I went for the XTR version of that because I like the mechanical feel to me changing the gears on the bike. You've got a 34 tooth on the front right here, and you've got a big range of 1x12 on the rear. I've got this Topeak BB hiding tool, which is what Rich has got on the bike. You basically don't have to carry much tools on your person. It's all hidden inside your BB, which I think is very clever. The pedals I'm running on my bike are these Crankbrother Eggbeaters. I went for the twos because I couldn't get my hands on the super lightweight ones, but I quite like these. I thought there's not much platform there because I'm a flat pedal kind of guy and I'm running them. Lightweight. I've laid in my bike with stickers. On the top here, we've got each stage that I'll be riding. Obviously, tomorrow is stage one. I've got stage one here, which is basically how many meters I'll be climbing. It gives me my water stops, my food stops, and also if there's a mechanical stop, I can get there. Also, it's got the highest point. Tomorrow, we'll be going at 2,500 meters elevation. We'll be climbing quite high. Moving up to the cockpit. Now, to capture all my data because I want to reminisce in this stuff when I'm stopped on my hotel bed and go, wow, I did that today. I'm running the new Garmin 1050, which is new to the market, but it's rather big. I like it because it's more visually stimulating when I'm looking at numbers and my climb pro when it comes to a climb, which I don't really want to see, but it'll be cool to see where their end is and the end of the course. I can use that for navigation. Every day, each stage will be dropping their GPX files, which I can download to that and I can follow it on race day. Cockpit. This is the OC carbon bars. This is the OC MP10, so mountain performance carbon bars, 760 in width from the factory, which is great because that's the perfect width for me. It's got a nine-degree sweep on it and we've got the Ergon GXR large push-on grips. Really nice and foamy. I've been riding these for a little bit, so I've got a little bit of thumb indentation there just bedding into my hands when it comes to these big days. Again, XTR brake levers here with the carbon blades, XTR shifter. The cool thing about this lock is you've got three different modes to lock and lock your suspension. You've got fully locked out, you've got medium, and you've fully open, which is great when it comes to those rough descents. This is called the Squid Lock from Orbea. I'm going to drop a post on this bike. This is the Fox Transfer SL. That means it's down or up. 125 mil of travel there, so perfect for my little legs. On top of this is the Ergon SM Men Team saddle. These are carbon rails right here. Again, lightweight. Running the same saddle as Richard, which is pretty key. It's cool and I like it. That is my bike. Absolutely love it. Well, there we go then, buddy. That is our bike. That's the kit that we have used at the race. If the video is out, go check it out. Yes, thank you very much for watching, but take a look at these two. I bet they're so stoked they're finished. Regrets. Cup of tea? Cup of tea.