Bikes of the Accursed Race No2 2025

Christian Dupraz

Age: 48

Cap number: 12

Location: Berne

Bike: Salsa Cutthroat with SRAM 12s (32 x 10-50) and bar end shifter , Cross King protection (29x2.2), Brooks saddle. New headset.

Key items of kit: Exped Bivy poncho, etrex 20, layers for colder weather.

Frame type: Hardtail - Fully Rigid

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Thorsten Brönner

Age: 49

Cap number: 35

Location: Munich - Germany

Bike: CUBE PHENIX C:68X SLX

https://www.cube.eu/de/cube-phenix-c-68x-slx-teamline/845500

Key items of kit: Sram X0 Eagle AXS™ Transmission, 12-Speed, Electronic Shifting System

Sram XS-1295, 10-52T

Magura MT8 Pro PM, Hydr. Disc Brake (160/180)

Newmen Advanced SL X.A.30 Carbon, 28/28 Spokes, 15x110mm/12x148mm, Tubeless Ready

Schwalbe Racing Ray/Ralph, Super Race, Addix Speed, Kevlar, 2.25

Light: Supernova

Bags: Ortlieb, Apidura, ACID

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: Yes

Joep van Luijt

Age: 34

Cap number: 23

Location: Eindhoven

Bike: Specialized Epic HT 2021, SRAM axs groupset, SRAM Level brakes, specialized fast trak and air trak tires.

Key items of kit: Apidura frame bag + blatter, Tailfin top tube and rack, 44000mah of powerbank for support gloworm lights. Sleep setup, Nemo Tensor, reusable emergency bivy and sea to summit spark sleeping bag.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: Yes

Pierre Bischoff

Age: 40

Cap number: #TARNo2cap32

Location: Sorens

Bike: Trek Super Caliber Gen1

Key items of kit: Front (Sleepingbag / Biwak / Isomat / Gloves ) Backpack: Second Bikejersey Set, Raining Jacket, Down jacket, First Aid, Suspension Pump, Tire Milk, Little Bit Nuttrition Frame Park: Biketools, Spokes, derailleur, Multitool, pliers, Breakpads, Batteries for Light (Lupine Betty and Supbernova Airstream), 2 Powerbankcs in Total 30.000.

Frame type: MTB - Full Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Elias Backmund

Age: 31

Cap number: 16

Location: Freiburg, Germany

Bike: Radon hardtail from 2017-ish, Shimano XT 11-speed 34/11-51. Fox 32 SC 100mm front suspension. Brakes are Shimano XT as well, 2-piston front and rear, with Galfer disks. and some badass looking Koolstop pads. Handlebar is the one and only proven Surly Moloko, repurposed from my travel bike, with a set of arm rests from Ride Farr for super-aero-energy-saving mode and relaxing the hands, where the route allows it. Front wheel: Self-built DT swiss XM421 with SON 110-15 dynamo hub powering lights and powerbank. Newmen back wheel came with the bike, Evolution rim and Fade hub. Both wheels have 25mm inner width, rolling on Schwalbe Rick XC tires with 2,25" width. Dropper seatpost from Crankbrothers for descending a bit more relaxed. Lights are mixed and matched. Dynamo lights: SON Edelux in the front, Supernova TL3 Mini in the back. Battery lights: Lupine Blika for spotting the bears in the front, Lezyne Strip Drive Pro in the back.

Key items of kit: Frame bag: Revelate Designs Rifter XL fits the frame wonderfully, with plenty of space for spare parts an food. Front roll: Revelate Designs Pronghorn. Seat bag: Ortlieb Seat-Pack QR, compatible with dropper seat posts. Top tube bag: Tailfin 1,5 liters for charging and all other loose ends. Charging a Waveshare solar powerbank with 6V directly from the dynamo through a barrel jack. Riding with a Uswe 8L backpack and a 2L water bladder.

Urs Mannhart

Age: 49

Cap number: 36

Location: La Chaux-de-Fonds

Bike: Sour Crumble

Key items of kit: This should be the brand new Sour Pasta Party, that I have ordered back in November. But it is not. Christoph Süße from Sour can tell you the details. Instead it is a last minute second hand Sour Crumble. Quite a long vehicle – giving the road cyclist I am a bit of confidence in rocky downhills. On top of the front roll there is my red rain jacket – usually it's color attracts some insects, and it is nice to give a bug a lift if she or he wants it – on lonesome roads it can cheer you up to have the company of a non-human animal who is out there alone unsupported all the time.

Behind the seat post there is my bivi. On a rear rack from Tumbleweed I am carrying my biggest bag, an ordinary dry bag from Wiliwilitree. There is a dynamo in the front hub; the rear light attaches smoothly to the rack. Since the dynamo power will not be sufficient, I'm also carrying a powerbank. My luxurious item is a pair of long sleeping pants, built with a tender garment.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Steel

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Arnold Gutsche

Age: 45

Cap number: 10

Location: Neuhaus, Austria

Bike: CUBE REACTION C:62 SLX

Key items of kit: PRO Discover Bags, Rhinowalk Saddle Bag, Garmin 1040 Solar…

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: Yes

Joss Ridley

Age: 48

Cap number: 25

Location: Essex, UK

Bike: My bike is a Quirk Overland - steel frame with a Rockshox SID Ultimate SL front suspension fork. SRAM XX transmission but with a 1x 42T Hope crankset upfront. The frame was made only 60km away from where I live, so in that spirit I tried to keep the majority of the components local as well - mostly Hope and the carbon rims and seat post are from Beast in Germany. 55mm Renee Herse Fleecer Ridge tyres complete the set up.

Key items of kit: I usually use Restrap bags, but as I’m touring home from Zurich, I picked up a Tailfin rack with a Cargo Pack so I can run panniers on the way home. I’m using a Son 28 Dynamo hub so I can charge as I go and to power my kLite front light at night.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Steel

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: Yes

Florian Büchele

Age: 33

Cap number: 3

Location: Graz, Austria

Bike: Canyon Lux Trail Vittoria tires, Apidura bags, a lot of 3D printed bits

Key items of kit: Hydration vest, dynamo lights, warm/waterproof clothing, tools and stuff...

Frame type: MTB - Full Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Michael Niven

Age: 39

Cap number: 30

Location: Lichfield, UK

Bike: Canyon Exceed CF7, Vittoria set up, Barzo 2.35 on the rear, Mezcal 2.25 up front. Shimano XT groupset.

Key items of kit: Rab sleeping bag, exped sleeping mat, Vango Helium F10 tent, first aid kit, Apidura bags from expedition and backcountry range.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 45mm-50mm

Electronic shifting: No

Alastair Clifford

Age: 35

Cap number: 09

Location: Kent

Bike: A yeti arc, in the only coloured allowed. Fox 34 with lockout at the front, dynamo front hub and a full gx group set for robustness. Tailfin frame bags, and aeroe bar and rear bags. Some TT clip on bars to save the wrists a little as possible.

Key items of kit: Bivvy with an arch. Might be comfortable, but probably not. A blow up sleeping matt, air pillow for ultimate luxury and sleeping bag. I've gone fairly light, I prefer more sleep and move faster. I'll be using a running bag my dearest mother has stitched reflective tape all over. Looks mint and lights me up like a beacon!

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Annie Dunlap

Age: 26

Cap number: 37b

Location: Ansbach, Germany

Bike: I’ll be using Canyon’s Grand Canyon 7. Jones bar for comfort and singlespeed for steeze.

Key items of kit: I have a variety of bags tried and true from a great training block this winter/spring. The mantra “I love my body. I love my bike.” will keep me movin’ back to Shkodër.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Aluminium

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Hannah Vet

Age: 29

Cap number: 37a

Location: Ansbach, DE

Bike: I will be riding the Canyon Grand Canyon 9.

Key items of kit: I am using Aeroe front and rear rack, custom frame bag from Gramm and feed bags from fishski to keep it colorful and fun.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Aluminium

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Frieder Backu

Age: 53

Cap number: 19

Location: Munich

Bike: Cube Phenix C:68X SLX

Key items of kit: Cumulus sleeping bag, Tailfin and Apidura bags, SON Dynamo, Forumslader

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 45mm-50mm

James Van Der Hoorn

Age: 37

Cap number: 22

Location: Brighton, England

Bike: Specialised Epic 8 Comp

Key items of kit: Apidura 6ltr back country saddle pack and 11ltr handlebar bar, Shimano XTR pedals, SON dynamo with Igaro C1 Pro front light and Igaro R1 Rear light. Yeti Passion 3 sleeping bag with venture solo hooped xl bivy and alpkit cloud base mattress. iphone 15 with quadlock for navigation. Tailfin SFM mounts on front forks with 1 cargo mount and 3 bottle cages. Arcteryx Zeta waterproof jacket, Peak Performance helium jacket, and Assos Mille GTO bib shorts.

Frame type: MTB - Full Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: No

Christophe Dijkmans

Age: 33

Cap number: 14

Location: Liege, Belgium

Bike: Cannondale Scalpel HT with a Lefty Fork 120mm. Carbon wheels with Hutchinson Kraken and Skeleton 2.3. SRAM XX1 AXS and Shimano XTR Brakes. Fizik Argo Vento Adaptive with OneUp Dropper seat post V3. Deda Aerobars

Key items of kit: Full Tailfin bags kit. Proto Aeropack and Frame pack from R&D Division + Long Toptube pack 2.2L Albion gears to keep dry and warm. Outdoor Research Helium bivy, Therm-a-Rest Uberlite and Cumulus X-Lite as sleeping system. Exposure lights. Garmin Edge 1040 Solar.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Carbon

Wheel size: 700c (29")

Tyre width: 50mm+

Electronic shifting: Yes