This weekend, the Catalan centre of European pro cycling that is Girona is playing host to one of the biggest gravel bike races in the world, The Traka.
With four race distances on offer covering 100, 200 and 360, and 560km, thousands of cyclists, pro and amateur alike, are descending on the small town in northern Spain.
While most of the professional riders used the early-season Santa Vall race to unveil this season’s sponsors, The Traka is ‘the big one’ on this side of the Atlantic, and so Instagram is currently awash with bike checks and big reveals.
For most, that means unveiling their spec choices: SRAM’s aero chainrings and Zipp’s ultra-wide XPLR wheels are getting a great showing, and thanks to the testing done by Dylan Johnson, stocks in mountain bike tyres are likely outperforming the Dow Jones this week.
But for Alec Briggs, the Canyon-sponsored British athlete and owner of race team, Tekkerz, he’s unveiled what’s possibly the most eye-catching bike in all of Spain.
While the Canyon Grail frame and Lightweight wheels are worthy of a second glance on their own, it’s the custom paint job that’ll stop you in your tracks should Briggs pedal past you on his way to Espresso Mafia this weekend.
It is designed as a replica of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car; an icon of its era and actually a rather fitting metaphor as a road car famous for its off-road exploits, given gravel as an off-road evolution of the road bike.
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It is complete with the World Rally Blue base colour and fluoro yellow-green decals, with the addition of the Tekkerz team’s T-Rex logo. The Lightweight wheels have even been painted gold to replicate the iconic gold rims on the car that was raced by Scottish rally legend, Colin McRae, to World Rally Championship success in 1995.
Those gold Lightweight wheels, which we believe are the Obermayer Evo model designed primarily for the road, were painted post production. Briggs admits that the paint adds “a fair bit” of weight, but that he’s working with Lightweight on something from the factory that would keep the weight down. Could it be that you could soon buy gold-painted Lightweight wheels? (Image credit: Will Jones)
Despite being a gravel bike, the groupset is also set up more like a road machine. Briggs has specced it with a 52-36 Dura-Ace chainset, paired with Ultegra derailleurs and an Ultegra cassette. (Image credit: Will Jones)
These Shimano M540 SPD pedals are very off-road oriented though, and are widely regarded as being bombproof. (Image credit: Will Jones)
With the World Rally Blue base coat, the iconic flouro yellow-green Impreza WRX STI decals decorate the head tube up front. The Impreza comet swirl wraps around the Tekkerz T Rex, and the Subaru Six Stars logo sits on either side of the down tube, reversed here on the driveside just like on the car. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here’s a closer look at the dinosaur logo, for which there isn’t really a backstory. “We could have done that whole professional team logo thing, but nah, we’re doing things a little differently all round so we’ve got a dinosaur instead,” the team explained at launch, to which Briggs bluntly added “F*** it, made my team logo a dinosaur.” (Image credit: Will Jones)
The fork itself is also features the Six Stars logo alongside the Tekkerz World Cycling Team wordmark, and further up, the Tekkerz T-Rex adaptation of the Alpine Stars logo sits just below the fork crown. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Tekkerz was founded in 2017, and has been home to some serious talent over the years, including Jacob Vaughan, Megan Barker, and the nicest guy in cycling, Neil Phillips, who has a 2nd place at the Transcontinental Race under his belt. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The word Tekkerz is a shorthand version of the word technique. It was popularised by Sky Sports 1’s Saturday Morning football show, Soccer AM, throughout the 00’s. Which used “Unbelievable Tekkers” as a segment showcasing the prior week’s examples of impressive footballing skill or showboating. (Image credit: Will Jones)
That Six Stars logo is featured on the seat tube junction too, and atop the Canyon seatpost is a Fizik 3D printed saddle. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The hot topic of discussion this weekend, as at any gravel bike race, is tyre choice. Briggs has opted for the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Cinturato Gravel S comes in 40, 45 and 50mm widths. It’s unclear which he’s gone for but the available space in the fork here suggests he’s gone for the narrower 40mm. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The saddle of choice is the Fizik Antares Evo Adaptive, and Briggs has slammed it rearward. (Image credit: Will Jones)
“Playing Colin Mcrae rally on the PlayStation when I was a kid, trying to replicate the slides playing scalextric and even going as far as buying a clapped out WRX STI that was an endless headache is why I wanted to do this bike,” Briggs shared in an Instagram post about the bike. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Lightweight Pentagon SL hub is used, with the spokes tied and soldered from the factory to add stiffness. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Like most gravel bikes, the Canyon Grail boasts top tube mounts for a snack box or easy-access spares. (Image credit: Will Jones)
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