Unbound Tech Gallery Part 1: Disc wheels, five new bikes, strange two-valve wheels and a five-week-old kitten

Starting with some new bikes, and of all the ones we’ve found, the one that caused the biggest buzz among our readers was this, the unbranded bike that’s very obviously a Pinarello.

We’re pretty confident it’ll be the new Grevil F, and it differs from the existing bike quite significantly. Especially at the rear, where the seatstays are now dropped and given a time-trial-bike style rear triangle.

Each of the bikes here at the race was painted in this funky colour, and Sharpied over by hand in this unique design. We managed to catch Axelle Dubau-Prévot and get these photos on Thursday.

The other main difference is the slightly less liberal use of kinks and waves at every opportunity. Instead, the down tube is a simple straight line from top to bottom.

Next up is this gorgeous-looking bike in the tech expo, from New York brand No. 22 Bicycle Company.

It’s a road bike, but I think you’ll forgive its inclusion. It’s called the Reactor Aero, and there’s a lot about this bike that breaks from the norm.

Case in point, the way the top tube and seat stays connect around the seat tube.

The brand says it’s the world’s first truly aero-optimised titanium race bike.

The brand uses 3D-printing technology to achieve the design, with the seat tube being made from carbon.

We’re back onto gravel tech now, and this too is an aero bike. It’s from Italian brand Wilier, and was raced by 2023 winner, Ivar Slik.

Slik tells us it’ll be the new Rave, and unlike the existing model which is designed to work as both a road and gravel bike, this is all-in on gravel racing.

It boasts an aero-up-front, lightweight-out-back design, with big tyre clearance and a stealthy raw carbon finish.

The exact tyre size it could fit wasn’t confirmed, but Slik has 50mm Schwalbe tyres fitted here and there’s plenty of room to spare.

Another new bike we saw is this unnamed Factor, the first of two new Factors I saw here, which is designed for race performance over longer distances, with big clearance, front suspension and mounts for bags on the frame.

The seat tube curves around the rear wheel, but keeps its distance to ensure big tyre clearance.

The Rockshox fork has room for 50mm tyres, but we presume a rigid fork will be available too, which would likely allow more.

The seat tube flattens off at the base, and the chainstays are highly sculpted into a flat middle section. Combined, we expect this will allow the rear triangle to flex for increased compliance.

It was ridden by Factor’s founder, Rob Gitelis, in the 200 race. Unfortunately Gitelis crashed and broke a rib, and after 60km of suffering on, he pulled the pin. No doubt these motivational notes helped keep him smiling.

The final new bike to feature in part one is this Ribble, ridden by the Ribble Outliers team that comprises former WorldTour rider Harry Tanfield, and a rider who’s really been impressing so far this season, Ben Thomas.

The playbook here is very much on trend, with an aero frame and big clearance.

This is Ben Thomas’ bike, and he’s running 50mm Schwalbe G-One RX Pro tyres here.

There’s plenty of room for more at the front, but it looks like 50mm might be its limit at the rear.

The brand that really leads the charge on wider tyre clearance is Lauf. The Seigla launched in 2022 – three years ago – with space for 57mm tyres, and here is a wild build created by Lauf, Hed and Continental-sponsored rider, Chase Wark.

The least subtle of his tech mods is the inclusion of a rear disc wheel from Hed, made specifically by the brand for this race, as a modified version of its new StillWater gravel wheels that launched this week.

The wheels are 50mm deep, with an internal rim width of 28.5mm, and an external width of 37mm.

I’m unsure if this branding is specific for Wark’s bike or being carried into the range, but it gives me American Diner vibes.

The other unsubtle hack comes at the front of the bike, courtesy of the Profile Design hydration fairing, straight out of triathlon.

That held around 600ml of water. He had two one-litre bottles on his frame, and then these two bottles behind his saddle, into one of which he’d put his spares.

And because he never uses them, he chopped the drops off his handlebars.

His bike was fitted with SRAM’s Red AXS XPLR groupset, but with a 50T aero chainring from Wolftooth.

I also spotted Chase wearing a time trial helmet the day before the race, but he opted for the Abus Gamechanger road helmet for the race.

Back to the bike’s big USP though, and Wark had Continental’s newest XC race tyre, the Dubnital.

He had them in a size 55mm (2.2in)

Wark’s tyres weren’t the biggest we spotted among the elite racers, though. Jasper Ockeloen took that crown with the Schwalbe G-One Speed tyres crammed into the frame of his Canyon Grail.

It’s tough to make out under the mud, but they were a size 2.35in (60mm).

Another thing we managed to find beneath the mud was Keegan Swenson’s and Tobin Ortenblad’s clever tech hack, which comprised running two valves on each wheel.

Ortenblad explained why. He told me that they drilled their rims to allow them to run a flat inner tube inside their tubeless tyres, as a last-resort fix in case of an irreparable puncture.

Swenson’s bike also had another hack to protect the paint of his bike. He’d taped beneath where the zip ties hold his frame bag in place.

He’d also taped around his seatpost as a bit of additional protection against it slipping.

That’s a nice segue into the next section of this gallery, which will focus on the various tech hacks found at the race and around Emporia in the lead-up. This is Russel Finsterwald’s bike, complete with a third bottle cage beneath the downtube, wrapped with a Boa strap from a Silca Mattone seat pack.

Finsterwald also had his SRAM Blip shifters set up in the Mark Cavendish-style trigger position.

He also had a bit of motivation written on his handlebar.

A lot of the hacks were motivated by speeding up puncture repairs, and so there was a lot of Co2, plugs, and multitools mounted onto frames in ever more creative ways.

Ian Boswell went for the slightly slower access, but more aerodynamic solution of running Apidura’s frame bag and top tube. I tested an early prototype of these bags last year and, and was told at the time that they’re worth up to seven watts of free speed.

Daan Soete went with the more lo-fi method, with a Co2 canister taped to the rear of his frame, right in the firing line of all the mud from the rear wheel.

This rider had taped an inner tube and tyre lever to the base of their down tube. Another last-resort solution in case of an irreparable puncture.

This rider had chosen to strap it to their top tube instead, and was using a reusable strap instead of electrical tape.

This is a double hack. The correct cable routing for the Di2 front derailleur has the cable running behind the mech and into its port, but wider tyres are at risk of catching the cable and unplugging it, leaving you unable to shift at the front. Instead, this rider had wrapped it around the front of the mech for safety. He then taped it in place for a second layer of security.

Less a tech hack and more a logistical hack, but Andrew L’Esperance had written the contents and destination on his bottles, to help his team deliver his nutrition strategy at the right time.

A few riders were spotted using this gel bottle from Precision Hydration. It mounts onto the top tube and lets you fill it with a 300g ‘Flow Gel’ for high-carb fuelling without having to reach into your pockets over rough ground. It also means your plastic wrappers stay at home and don’t litter the trail when you inevitably drop them amid the fumble.

This hack is an aero one, with a simple bit of electrical tape over the mounting bolt holes on the fork.

This is more of a comfort and safety hack, offering a little extra grip and cushioning on the tops of these aero bars, to maintain their aero performance without having to tape them.

This is a simple one using a strip of cotton bar tape wrapped around the driveside chainstay to quieten the chain slap and protect the paint.

This is a great example of hacks you rarely find outside of a gravel race. A tubeless tyre plug tool, preloaded with the plug, taped to the chainstay and ready to fire in case of a puncture.

There was clearly a plug or Co2 canister taped here too, but all that remains is the tape.

The same can be said here.

Beneath this stem, there’s a small mount that houses a spare chain link and a tyre plug tool. It comes from a brand called Muul.

With all the rain in the lead up, there was a lot of talk about mud before the race, and so paint-stirring sticks were another common find at Unbound as riders wanted something to unclog their frames with.

Jasper Ockeloen came up with a clever way to mount his to his bike, using velcro to stick it to the underside of his top tube.

On race day, I spent an hour at the first aid station watching pit crews fix bikes, refuel riders and have them on their way in an F1-style stop-and-go. Head to our Instagram to see a slowmo video, where Rosa Klöser was given a wheel change amid the chaos. This is Petr Vakoc’s pit table, complete with spare shoes, a new saddle, a mud stick, chain lube, sunglasses, an entire chain, plugs, a rear derailleur, and even what looks like a beer although I guess that’s not for him.

It’s clear from this gallery that at the pointy end of the race, everything has been thought of and optimised. Chase Wark is among the most attentive, but for all his aero tricks and optimisation hacks, he clearly had a sense of humour. His shirt plays gravel cycling’s favourite XC tyre off against America’s favourite fast food joint. The spirit of gravel might have life in it yet.

Despite the elite riders’ bikes being highly tuned with a purpose to everything, the amateurs are a little more liberal with what goes onto their bikes. This one, for example, was spotted with a small dinosaur strapped to the stem. I sincerely hope it stayed on for race day, because the thought of a dinosaur having the ride of its life, whoopin’ and hollerin’ for its owner to go faster, is pretty much the only thing fuelling the final few captions of this gallery. That and the photo of the kitten I know is coming up.

Undoubtely the best photo that will feature in either of these galleries (and probably any of our future galleries), this little guy was just five weeks old. I didn’t get his name, but he and I are best friends now.