Two pieces of gear I found particularly interesting:
He won on some type of 40mm Kenda slick prototype, while most other riders rode 32-35mm. That’s a big width gap to roll up on in a race you want to win. He must have tested those extensively and felt really good about them. I really, really love wider tires, but when things get above 35mm I get antsy going wider … especially when my gravel races have long sections of road or hardpack.
Interesting that he thought the pre-loaded bacon strips taped to his mount were a quicker solution than a Dynaplug Racer tool … which seems like it would be faster in a jersey pocket.
PS - I’m a huge Alexey fan … he and Larry Warbasse more or less are the lone riders representing the Michigan peloton🤘(Alexey = Barry Roubaix and Iceman winner)
I rode it and def saw a trend of super wide file tread to no tread on MTB set ups or 650b gravel bike set ups…looks promising and with low enough pressure and a little file would’ve been nice on that course.
I went with a 30mm file tread and did not inspire confidence but my wheels and tires held (just not me or m7 computer mount)