Bikes of Mittelgebirge Classique 2023

Karsten Morisse

Name: Karsten Morisse

Age: 59

Cap number: 49

Location: Melle, Germany

Bike: Rose Backroad (1. Gen), Shimano Ultegra R8000, Shimano Hub Dynamo for electricity. Rose GC Forty Wheels and Maxxis Re-Fuse 32mm tyres.

Key items of kit: Apidura packs.

Gerhard Kohl

Name: Gerhard Kohl

Age: 56

Cap number: 41

Location: Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany

Bike: My trusted bespoked steel frame Randonneur from Meerglas inspired by the great french randonneur bicycles and proven in many Brevets. My transmission is 11sp with down tube shifters, a 42/26 combo at the front and a 11-36 cassette at the rear wheel. I'm a slow guy on the bike and will need any help from a low gear transmission on the hills. Wheels are 650B Pacenti rims with a SON dynamo hub at the front, and a White Industry hub at the rear. 42mm Rene Herse EL tires with tubes. Front light is an SON Edelux II and the rear light is from Compass, all wired internally and with an steerer cap switch for easy on/off switching. A Lupine Rotlicht and an Exposure Lights Diablo as backup and for fast descents during the nights. Fenders from Honjo and center pull brakes from Compass. The front and saddle bags are from Gilles Berthoud. The Gilles Berthoud leather saddle and a Grand Bois Randonneur drop bar with arm rests are my comfort warranty.

Key items of kit: I travel as light as possible, since my loved steel bike is heavy enough. And getting older, I appreciate the comfort of a dry bed and a warm shower, therefore I will look out every day for a stay at a local boarding house and skip carrying a sleeping bag. All stuff must fit into the front and saddle bag. A musette bag for extra food is used only when really necessary.

I don't want to mess around with charging my equipment by hunting down power outlets and being as independent as possible, therefore the most important key item is my SON dynamo combined with a "Forumslader". It will power everything: My lights, my Wahoo Bolt and if needed my phone. And the 3rd empty bottle cage for the occasional coke to carry me through the dark hours.

Fanny Bensussan

Name: Fanny Bensussan

Age: 37

Cap number: 135

Location: Paris, France

Bike: Vitus Zenium Road

Key items of kit: Miss Grape bags, DHB equipment, Hutchinson Sector tyres, Sinewave front light.

Dominik Bokstaller

Name: Dominik Bokstaller

Age: 40

Cap number: 44

Location: St. Gallen, Switzerland

Bike: Frameset: Stevens Arcalis, Groupset: Shimano DuraAce. Wheels: Stayer custom / SON-Dynamo / Tune KingKong. Bearings: Bottom Bracket & Hub-Bearings by C-Bear. Suspension Stem: Vecnum freeQENCE.

Key items of kit: Bags: Packs Cutsom Framebag, Ortlieb Saddlebag, Apidura Aerobarbag.

Reflective Safety-Cake at the back 🧁

Philippe Ernst

Name: Philippe Ernst

Age: 43

Cap number: 116

Location: Athens, Greece

Bike: Specialized Aethos 2022. Sram force 48/34 front & 10/33 rear. Continental GP 5000 tires 700x30 tubeless. Saddle Specialized power pro. Wheels DT Swiss ERC1400 Dicut.

Key items of kit: Apidura racing packs (7l saddle bag, 2l long tube bag, 4l frame bag and 7l packable musette). Velocio apparels for cold & wet weather. Lezyne 1300xl front light and 2 Lezyne 300 rear lights + Go’lum head light with helmet strap. Food Maurten, clifbar and Gu chews all in frame bag. 2 water bottles.

Laurens Van Gucht

Name: Laurens Van Gucht

Age: 37

Cap number: 138

Location: Ghent, Belgium

Bike: Orbea Orca OMX, ultegra Di2 11s groupset, Powerbox crank with 50/34 chainrings and a 11-30 cassette. Apidura race series top tube, frame and saddle pack. Sleeping kit consists of a Therm-a-Rest Neoair xlite sleeping pad and a Vesper quilt.

Key items of kit: The tiny hole in my sleeping pad also serves as an alarm clock.

Lucas Becker

Name: Lucas Becker

Age: 28

Cap number: 118

Location: Nantes, France

Bike: I will be riding my Focus Izalco Max that follows me since 2019. Nothing except the frame and fork is left original. A dynamo hub up front, SRAM Red 10 speed mechanical with trp spyre brakes (because its light). Knowing from last year especially the black forest can have some pretty steep grades so I was happy with 30/32 as the smallest gearing. Having changed the transmission, 34/30 is the new gear ratio, so lets see how it will go this year.

Key items of kit: Self-made bags, Survival blanket, Haribo, Supermarket Sandwiches.

Andreas Roelfs

Name: Andreas Roelfs

Age: 39

Cap number: #92

Location: Munich, Germany

Bike: Cube Agree C:62 SL

Key items of kit: Mal schauen wie am Ende vom Tag dann wirklich aussieht

Jens Zickermann

Name: Jens Zickermann

Age: 35

Cap number: 77

Location: Mannheim, Germany

Bike: Myrad bike.

Key items of kit: Frame Bags.

Johannes von Freydorf

Name: Johannes von Freydorf

Age: 39

Cap number: 119

Location: Karlsruhe, Germany

Bike: Canyon Grail AL 7 with SRAM Rival 1×11 (38T front / 10-42T rear). new(ish) ZIPP 303s rims set up tubeless with 32mm Continental Grand Prix 5000. Brooks Cambium C17 saddle.

Key items of kit: rear to front: VAUDE saddlebag carries my quick-setup sleep system. Apidura Framebag for spare tubes, powerbanks, rain jacket, 1st aid kit and trowel. Toolbox strapped into the suicide-bottleholder under the frame. Fidlock bottles for hydration (maybe i'll tape two additional bottleholders to the front forks, we'll see). Restrap Top Tube Bag for snacks & supplies. Apidura Backcountry Food Pouch plus for "stuff". Ortlieb drybag for "all the rest" Voilé-strapped under the comfy Profile Design Aerobars. Sigma strap-on-lights and a wahoo elemnt roam should do the trick with navigation in/and the darkness.

Joachim Vogel

Name: Joachim Vogel

Age: 54

Cap number: 16

Location: Boeblingen, Germnay

Bike: Storck Grix, Shimano Di2 RX, Acros Allroad wheels.

Key items of kit: SON dynamo hub.

Philipp Ketterer

Name: Philipp Ketterer

Age: 35

Cap number: 1015

Location: Offenburg, Germany

Bike: Cervelélo Caledonia 5 with SRAM Force eTap

Key items of kit: Topeak saddle bag, Topeak top tube bag, Agu frame bag, SON dynamo hub with supernova lights.

Florian Vogel

Name: Florian Vogel

Age: 52

Cap number: 65

Location: Germany

Bike: BMC Roadmachine

Key items of kit: Sattelpack + Lupine Light.

Rainmar Hönecke

Name: Rainmar Hönecke

Age: 57

Cap number: 39

Location: Bad Oeynhausen, Germany

Bike: Norwid Skagen Disc (Reynolds 953 – Edelstahl Rahmen), Shimano DuraAce FC-R9100-P 2x11, Kompoentix Laufräder mit SON-Nabendynamo, Supernova M99 DY PRO, Garmin Edge 1040 Solar.

Key items of kit: Ortlieb fork packs, Restrap Satteltasche, Rab Schlafsack Mythic Ultra 180 Long.

Silvia Wendnagel

Name: Silvia Wendnagel

Age: 54

Cap number: 193

Location: Freiberg, Germany

Bike: I ride my trusty Rose Pro SL, my first bike I bought when I started to ride road bike three years ago. Aluminium frame, Shimano Ultegra, rim brakes. Saddle Ergon Pro W.

Key items of kit: I use an Apidura handlebar bag for electricity stuff and some snacks. A foodpouch for nuts etc., Revelate Design frame bag for toiletry, suncream, more snacks. The Ortlieb Back Pack I use for sleeping bag, clothes, rain jacket, repair kit, tubes etc.

Laurencery Elie-Naël

Name: Laurencery Elie-Naël

Age: 35

Cap number: 1018

Location: Faux-la-Montagne, France

Bike: Spezialized Diverge 2020

Key items of kit: Sacoche Zéfal pour selle, cadre et tube supérieur. Dodo en bivy.

Christian Siegert

Name: Christian Siegert

Age: 35

Cap number: 125

Location: Stuttgart, Germany

Bike: Cervélo Aspero with Shimano GRX groupset.

Key items of kit: Bags: Apidura, Ortlieb, Cyclite, Cervelo. Others stuff: Zipp, Easton, BBB, Hutchinson, Leyzne, Garmin. Lights: Lupine, Knogg, Leyzne.

Hubert Stratmann

Name: Hubert Stratmann

Age: 51

Cap number: 53

Location: Roggenburg, Germany

Bike: Roadbike: Canyon Ultimate CF SL (2018); size: 2XL. Wheelset: DT Swiss PR 1400 DICUT 32 OXiC. Crankset: Shimano FC-R9100 - 180 mm. Stem: Redshift shockstop suspension.

Key items of kit: Sleeping back: Sea to Summit - Spark Sp II (long). Insulated Mat: Sea to Summit - Ultralight Insulated Mat (large). Pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight.

Cyclite handle bar aero bag 4,9l, Apidura racing long top tube pack 2l, Ortlieb Seat-Pack 16,5l, Ortlieb Frame-Pack Toptube 4L.

Wessel Kremer

Name: Wessel Kremer

Age: 32

Cap number: 123

Location: Amersfoort, the Netherlands

Bike: I changed a few things compared to my Race Around The Netherlands: I have a full frame bag now in which I have a 3L bladder plus my tools and essentials. On the toptube there's a bag for snacks. In the saddle bag i put my spare clothes, rain jacket and my sleep system (bivvy, sleeping bag and mat).

I will remove the paniers that you see on the photo.

Key items of kit: For me comfort is key, so I went for a variety possible hand positions and a not too agressive setting.

My secret weapon: my amazing grandmother (beppe) made me a souvernir for during the trip :). The best mental support there is.

Hans-Werner Breuer

Name: Hans-Werner Breuer

Age: 65

Cap number: 89

Location: Weil am Rhein, Germany

Bike: OPEN U.P. Custom painted in a colour of volvo. Shimano GRX 1x11. Panaracer Gravelking 35 TLC. SON Delux hub dynamo.

Key items of kit: The headlight is a eDelux II and the rearlight is a Lupine Rotlicht Max. All bags are coming from Restrap - 14l saddle bag, frame bag medium, bar bag small.

Peter Adam

Name: Peter Adam

Age: 39

Cap number: 48

Location: Bonn, Germany

Bike: Canyon Ultimate CF SL with Shimano Ultegra Di2 2x11 50/34 chainrings 11-34 cassette. Custom built carbon wheels with DT Swiss Hub / SON dynamo, Conti GP5000 28mm.

Key items of kit: Bags: Mix of Apidura frame bag, Restrap toptube & saddle bag

Electronics: Lupine Rotlicht rear, Supernova M99 Dy Pro and a Appcon Dynamo/USB converter to charge my Karoo 2 as long as I am moving fast enough...

Sleeping: No name bivy and a down jacket, Sea to Summit isolation mat.

Robin Hogger

Name: Robin Hogger

Age: 61

Cap number: 80

Location: Bruxelles, Belgium

Bike: Lapierre Pulsium 700 with Shimano Ultegra Di2 50/34 with 34 tooth rear cassette. Hunt Tubeless Carbon 30mm and tyres are 28 + 32 mm Conti 5000. Profile Missile aerobars, side-loader bottle cage and a waxed chain.

Key items of kit: Hammock, dyneema tarp, under+overquilt (but usage depends on forecast). Sqlplus 610 saddle. Aero-monkey. Custom framebag from Alpkit, Apidura saddle and top tube bags. Son Deluxe plus Sinewave revolution. Bryton rearlight/radar. Garmin 1030 plus and battery pack.

Seb Cario

Name: Seb Cario

Age: 39

Cap number: 87

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp. 2021 with Roval Alpinist CLX II wheels and SRAM Rival Wide gearing. Custom Aerobar made from ProfileDesign and PRO Missile components.

Key items of kit: Restrap Race Bags, SuperNova Airstream 2 Upside-down, Gore C5 Shakedry insulated Jacket.

Nicolas Lindert

Name: Nicolas Lindert

Age: 28

Cap number: 11

Location: Traunstein, Germany

Bike: Trek Emonda SL 6.

Key items of kit: Ortlieb Seat Pack and Cyclite Frame Pack.

Roger Hegglin

Name: Roger Hegglin

Age: 56

Cap number: 43

Location: Steinhausen, Schweiz

Bike: Lauf Cycling True Grit, SRAM XPLR AXS Rival Gruppe 1x12, Gabel Plattfedersystem Lauf, Easton EC70AX Laufräder Carbon, Continental 5000SR 700x32, Garmin 1040 Solar, Lampen Trelock und Sigma.

Key items of kit: Taschen Brook und Topaek, 2 Stk Arschbomben, 1 kg Riegel und Snack's :), leichter Schlafsack inkl. Matte, Ersatzbatterie und Powerbank, viele Snacks.

Bastian Wegner

Name: Bastian Wegner

Age: 38

Cap number: #76

Location: Wiesbaden, Germany

Bike: OPEN MIN.D. "Oak Green" with Campagnolo Ekar with 40 to 9/42 and Wolfpack tires in 28mm width ( Tube).

Key items of kit: Aerobar with Cyclite HandleBar Aero. Apidura Frame and Top Tube bag. Blackburn Seatpack.

William Soler

Name: William Soler

Age: 35

Cap number: 32

Location: Nantes, France

Bike: This year I will be riding an almost brand new Cinelli Veltrix. Last year, I rode 2022 edition of MGC with another bike but it was stolen during a bike trip to the Pyrénées. We'll see wich is the best!

Groupset: Shimano 11 speeds with a mixing of Ultegra and 105 parts, a 11/36 cassette for the big percentages and a compact 50/34 chainrings. I'll mesure my power with the Assioma axle, saving my stamina for the really steep climbs! I'll be rolling with Just Riding Along Wheels (model: Mahi Mahi disk) mounted with SONdelux Dynamo hub to feed all my electronic stuff and lights. For the tire I will use Continental GP5000 28mm with latex tubes for the decrease of rolling resistance. The saddle is from an Aventon wich I think is a the perfection for me

Key items of kit: Bags from front to rear; -Norfee handlebar bag that can be mounted also on Aerobar wich was a key point for me: for storing the kitchen and all food items -Deuter Top tube bags for the little things cable, trackers...(they're very thin so the legs don't rub against them) -Restrap Frame bag; I will put every items for wich I need a fast access (power bank, tools, locking cable, etc...) -Apidura Expedition downtube bag for some tools and spare tubes -Ortlieb saddle bag two for every clothes and hygien items

For the light: -a K-Lamp EXR 1100 front light -a Lezyne 1300 XXL front light -a Cateye Viz 150 rear light (very powerfull, but need to recharge every 10 hours) -a Cateye tight kinetic (less powerfull but almost 100 hours battery life) And to complete all this stuff, a STOOTS Kiska 2 headlamp for when I'll need to check things off the bike.

For the navigation I'll be guided by a new wahoo Elmnt Bolt 2, I'll be keeping a Garming Forerunner 935 watch for alternative navigation if the Wahoo fails (I hope not!).

Nicolas Malet

Name: Nicolas Malet

Age: 32

Cap number: 52

Location: Bretagne, France

Bike: Genesis Equilibrium Disc 2015, SRAM Rival 1x with a 11-42 hub and an absoluteBLACK 42t chainring, Dynamo front wheel Son 28.

Key items of kit: Bumpak handlebar bag, Beacon Sinewave and Pajak Radical Ulz sleeping bag.

Erik Schiller

Name: Erik Schiller

Age: 32

Cap number: 54

Location: Dresden, Germany

Bike: I will ride my comfy Salsa Warroad Allroad bike with SRAM Rival AXS eTap 40/10-44, 34mm Schwalbe Pro One Tires (Tubeless) on 40mm Custom Carbon Wheels w/ SON Dynamo by Lightwolf Studio. I have also attached Syntace C3 Aerobars w/ SRAM Wireless Blips.

Key items of kit: I put all my stuff into the Tailfin Aeropack, Apidura Top Tube Frame & Tool bags. My Sleeping Kit consists of an ultralight bivy by Borahgear, Sea to Summit UltraLight Air mattress & Nordisk Fever Ultra sleeping bag. Navigation is done by the Garmin Edge 1040 Solar w/ my Garmin Enduro 2 watch as a backup. My smartphone is attached on the stem with a peak design mobile mount. My water supply is carried by two Elite Fly 950 ml bottles & an additional Katadyn BeFree 1l water filter. Main Lights are the SON Edelux II & Lupine Rotlicht Max. All my electronics are charged by the NC-17 Connect APPCON 3000 Dynamo Charger. With all this stuff I am hopefully prepared for the MittelgebirgeClassique :-)