Bikes. Belgian Waffles. Beer.
The BWR race series tour makes its next stop near Asheville NC for it's fifth time in North Carolina. These events are a party for everyone, combining thrilling races, amazing food, and refreshing beer from dozens of vendors. This year BWR is stepping it up by working with local groups to help raise money for Hurricane Helene victim relief. A new course for 2025 will deliver on the hilly, challenging, and varying terrain you've come to expect from a proper BWR race. With three race distances, there's something for everyone whether you're wanting the full, life-changing experience or just a dose.
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BWR races pose an interesting choice for participants: what bike to ride? With terrain that varies from fast road to singletrack and everything between. Cater too much toward the rough stuff and you'll be rollin' slow along the faster sections. Go too roadie? Well, you'll be suffering and potentially hike-a-biking through the single track.
If we were lining up at BWR - North Carolina and were buying a bike from TPC for the race, here's what we might ride and why:
ENVE MOG:
Why:
ENVE is known for their top-tier carbon manufacturing and their framesets are no exception. The MOG frame is fast, responsive, and stable. Depending on your single-track skills you can run as wide as wide as 50mm tires for added control and comfort or a 40mm tire for a balance of speed and control. As with many modern gravel bikes, the MOG features ENVE's "Cargo-Bay" downtube storage which allows you to carry any flat-kit necessities tucked out of the way with ample room for a packable windshell jacket or extra snacks. If you need more storage, there's a convenient bag mount on the top tube for easy-access snacks. Sure, you can mount any velcro bag on a top tube with straps, but who wants to wear through the paint on their fancy frame.
This particular ENVE MOG has an excellent gear range with a 46x10 gas pedal gear and a forgiving 46-52 combo for when you need to be a mountain goat. For BWR, personally, I would swap the tires for something a little wider (likely 40-42mm) and a bit lighter of a wheelset for raceday. Otherwise, this bike is pretty top notch!
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Cervelo Aspero:
Why:
In the world of gravel bikes that blur the lines between road and gravel, the Cervelo Aspero leans pretty dang hard towards the road side. The geometry and handling feels very much like a road bike, but with clearance of up to 42mm tires. This option would be a huge advantage on faster sections and would hold its own on singletrack for riders with better than average bike handling skills. One of our staff's most successful years riding SBTGRVL was on a poorly-geared (1x11) Aspero. Despite the lack of gear range, it was still an incredible bike for the champagne gravel.
With its 2x drivetrain and deep dish carbon wheels this particular Cervelo Aspero will have no problem leading from the front. The shorter crank arms will even give you a bit of extra clearance maneuvering the bike over rocks and roots.
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Allied ABLE:
Why:
One of us was working for Allied when the ABLE was launched at Unbound Gravel 2019 and was lucky enough to be working the booth at Unbound Gravel when both of Allied's men's and women's riders delivered one of the best debut's a brand could ask for: double wins and course records. The consensus? The ABLE was fast.
This is the original design of the ABLE, which features an elevated chainstay to provide more tire clearance while maintaining a short, nimble chainstay length for awesome handling. They've since redesigned the ABLE and moved the chainstays lower, which none of us have ridden, yet. We have, however, spent dozens of rides on the original ABLE exploring gravel all over Northwest Arkansas and Wisconsin and can attest, it's a nimble-handling, responsive, and fast bike.
This ABLE takes the unique ride style a step further with a Classified rear hub. Due to the driveside chainstay being elevated, this design of the ABLE could not be spec'd with a front derailleur. Not a problem for most graveleurs, but for cyclists still appreciating the options of a 2x drivetrain, the Classified rear hub offers a solution by offering 2 gears in the rear hub via an "integrated epicyclic (or planetary) gearing system". If you love diving into the weeds, you can read the white papers here. What this means for racing BWR? You get the responsiveness and handling of the ABLE with a better "go-fast" gear than the ABLE traditionally could provide.
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Trek Checkpoint ALR Driftless
Why:
Ballin' on a Budget
Sure, carbon frames offer performance advantages, but aluminum manufacturing has come a long way and delivers a great ride at a great price. It's also more resilient to abuse, which brings peace of mind on rowdy gravel. The Trek Checkpoint ALR finds a great balance of confidence and performance at an incredible value. You can run 700x45mm tires to cater more towards the offroad sections of the race or slim it down with 38 or 40mm tires for efficiency on the fast sections.
This specific Checkpoint ALR is the limited edition "Driftless" paint, which features a subtle topographical design throughout. It's also been upgraded with SRAM Rival eTap AXS and upgraded aluminum wheels. Meaning you get high quality electronic shifting and a smooth riding for under $2500.
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Santa Cruz Highball C Drop Bar
Why:
While this list isn't exhaustive of the amazing gravel bikes we have at TPC, we felt this one needed to be included. Hardtail drop bar conversions are all the rage these days for races with a mixture of single track and fast paced sections. More often you'd see a bike like this Highball being raced at something like Leadville or Big Sugar, but for riders who want speed, but also want to feel under control and confident on the chattery single track, this specific Santa Cruz Highball C Drop Bar conversion is an incredible bike. Weighing in at just 21lbs 15oz, it's lighter than many gravel bikes on the market even with it's 100mm travel RockShox SID Select+ front suspension and Reverb AXS dropper post. It currently has 47mm gravel tires installed, which leave plenty of space to clear any mud you may accumulate OR you can choose to max out the tires and install 2.35" tires for ultimate rowdy-mode. This bike blurs the lines between gravel and mountain biking - just like modern day gravel races like BWR.
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