Shave the hairs off your tyres: Dylan Johnson's Unbound Gravel bike is a Frankenbike of the highest order

(Image credit: David Kennedy, Cyclingnews)

Among the veteran riders of the elite fields at the Unbound Gravel, equipment choice is key. There’s an understanding that durability outweighs marginal gains to succeed over the 200 miles of rugged terrain.

For anyone unfamiliar with the evolution of gravel bikes over the last decade, tyre clearance and compliance numbers have increased to better meet the demands of rough roads like those featured throughout the Flint Hills of Kansas. It’s generally agreed upon that the most important aspect of any setup is tyre choice. For most pros, tyre selection depends on the course conditions but due to the aggressively sharp flint gravel at Unbound, puncture protection is a major consideration.

Felt-UN1TD rider, Dylan Johnson, put together one of the most striking, well-thought-out builds that led him to finish in 10th, comfortably with the main chase group behind race winner Lachlan Morton. Using the Felt Breed Carbon frameset, Johnson pieced together a robust frankenbike rig complete with Reynolds road wheels, narrow aero bars, a combination of SRAM and Shimano, and 29 x 2.2in Continental Race King mountain bike tyres, which he claimed to be shaving the hairs (aka vent spews from manufacturing) off the night before the race.