Bikes of the Southern Divide 2024

Colin Deady

Age: 48

Location: Berkshire, UK

Bike: Specialized Diverge Comp E5 2021 running 1x GRX with 11-46/38T and Rotor power meter. Rene Herse 48mm Oracle Ridge endurance casing knobbly tyres. K-Edge catcher for zero dropped chains.

Key items of kit: Tailfin Aeropack, frame and top tube bags. Restrap bar bag, feed pouches and rear top tube bag.

Ravemen PR1200 front, and large Knog Cobber rear lights plus a couple of Specialized Stix as backup.

GPS via Wahoo Bolt 2 with Smartphone running LocusMaps, and Corus Pace 2 smartwatch as backups.

Morsa raised dual-mounting arm for light + Wahoo.

Lofoten 1 ULW tiny tent, Alpkit Cloudbase mat. Kathmandu 3 season sleeping bag.

5000kcal food just for first day. 1 tiny plastic duck from a friend.

Rupert Nevile

Age: 56

Location: Hampshire

Bike: Enigma Endeavour - Steel single speed with Hope running gear and wheels. USE aero bars

Key items of kit: Mixture of Restrap and Tailfin bike bags. Exposure lights. Garmin 1040 head unit. Helium/Rab sleep system

Lee Jackson

Age: 46

Location: Warwick

Bike: Fairlight Secan with Hunt dynamo wheels and Pirelli Centauro M 45mm tyres. A mix of Apidura, Restrap and Wizard Works bags with Neoair Thermarest mat, Sea to Summit pillow, Cumulus bag and Alpkit bivvy.

Key items of kit: Hoping the Brooks C17 keeps things comfy at the back.

Mara Cope

Age: 47

Location: Ipstones

Bike: Bianchi Arcadex

Key items of kit: Ortlieb frame and saddle bag.

Thijs Kooy

Age: 43

Cap number: 50

Location: The Netherlands

Bike: Wikkit L-Niño

Key items of kit: Tailfin rack top bag Custom made frame bag Agu handle bar bags

Wendy Koopman

Age: 40

Cap number: 49

Location: The Netherlands

Bike: Wikkit L-Niño SL

Key items of kit: Tailfin rack top bag Custom made frame bag Agu handlebar rags

Paul Franklin

Age: 55

Cap number: ?

Location: Babcary, Somerset

Bike: Reilly Gradient

Key items of kit: Tailfin top tube bag, Ortlieb seat pack, Revelate frame and feed bags.

Dave Nichols

Age: 57

Cap number: 57

Location: Northamptonshire, UK

Bike: Planet X Titus Silk road with Fox 32 Rhythm fork. Conti 2.2 Race Kings.

Key items of kit: Bar, seat and frame bags all Restrap.(I won these in a competition 😁) Phoxx 1 V2 tent Klymit sleeping pad Vango ultralight 50 sleeping bag Lucky but sometimes very useful item.. Swiss army knife...

Paul Glasspoole

Age: 39

Cap number: 9

Location: Penzance

Bike: Mason Bokeh 3

Key items of kit:

This is my 1st multiday bike adventure so im packing pretty much everything and the kitchen sink. As for the bike

•Hunt 4season superdura with son dynamo •pirelli cinturato M 45mm •shimano 12speed DI2 a blend of ultegra/105 to allow for the remote shift buttons •fizik argo adaptive r3 •Klite ultra lights •restrap race bags

Craig Ritchie

Age: 50

Cap number: 22

Location: Ashtead

Bike: Specialized Diverge

Key items of kit: Camping equipment, lots of food, electrics

Steve Whitehouse

Age: 66

Cap number: 28

Location: St Ives Cornwall

Bike: Specialized Epic Hardtail XO Eagle 12 speed XTR brakes Decided to leave the dropper on Thunder Burt rear Fast Track front

Key items of kit: Topeak saddle bag Two bar bags Two bottles and exposure lights

Rod Gemmell

Age: 74

Cap number: 45

Location: Surrey

Bike: Trek Checkpoint SL5

Key items of kit: Garmin Explore Bontrager Adventure Bags

Edd Hunt

Age: 40

Cap number: 12

Location: Blandford, Dorset

Bike: Cannondale Topstone Carbon

Key items of kit: Restrap Race range seat pack, top tube pack, custom designed frame pack and feed pouch between aero bars. Exposure Strada front light and Joystick for helmet/backup. Boost and Boost R flashers for being seen. Evoc 1.5L hydration vest, which also holds a few bits and bobs like charging cables and some bits of food, but most stuff is on the bike. Travelling light and staying in hotels so carrying less than some others, down jacket and emergency bivy for any unplanned sleeping needs!

Harry Fisher

Age: 28

Cap number: 7

Location: London

Bike: Giant Revolt Advanced 1

Key items of kit: Chocolate, hydration vest and waterproof. Should get me through all conditions

Sam Morris

Age: 46

Cap number: 21

Location: Moûtiers, France

Bike: Santa Cruz Chameleon run singlespeed with an oval Works Components 32T-17 set up on 27.5" wheels with Deda Elementi tri bars (the only ones I found for 35mm bars) just to give the hands a rest.

Key items of kit: Aeroe spider rear rack for sleep kit and clothes, Tailfin and Alpkit top tube bags for food and elecrics, a €4 Neatt frame bag for spares and 2 Zefal stem cell bags for food. Sleep set-up is a random bivvy bag, decathlon air mat and down top and some borrowed amazon down trousers. Lights are USE 6 pack on the bars and joystick on the helmet, 20 000mah battery for charging

Adrian Uttley

Age: 60

Cap number: 60

Location: Banstead, UK

Bike: Sonder Broken Road, SID Ultimate SL fork, Mixture of XT and XTR drivetrain with some eeWings cranks. 28T up front driving 10-51 out back. Time Ti pedals. Wheels are DTSwiss XCR 1200 with Conti Race King 2.2. Hope XCR brakes. Selle Anatomica saddle atop a Cane Creek eesilk+ seatpost.

Key items of kit: Bags from Straight Cut Designs, Tailfin, Restrap, Revelate & Apidura. Exposure Lights (Toro and Joystick). Usual array of supporting electronics: Batteries, cables, charger. Sleep system: Nordisk Lofoten ULW1 (with the inner removed), Katabatic Bristlecone Bivvy as added protection, Nordisk 3/4 sleep mat, Cumulus Magic 125 sleeping bag, PHD down jacket, OMM Core base layers and Halo rain jacket/trousers. Navigation by Garmin Etrex32x

Marcel van der Heijden

Age: 39

Cap number: 61

Location: Heiloo, Netherlands

Bike: Wikkit Q-bomb, custom made. April 2024

Key items of kit: Tailfin AeroPack Aloy, custom made frame bag.

Ollie Randles

Age: 41

Cap number: 58

Location: Brighton, England

Bike: 2024 Trek Procaliber 9.6. Stock except for a Specialized Power Expert saddle, Maxxis Rekon Race/Rekon tyres and a Farr handlebar extension.

Key items of kit: A proper mishmash of bike luggage by Alpkit, Wildcat, Tailfin and Restrap, with an Apidura frame bladder! Tent is an Alpkit Ordos 2 minus the inner tent and sleeping bag is an Alpkit Ultra 120.

George Budd

Age: 28

Cap number: 36

Location: Truro, Cornwall

Bike: Specialised Stumpjumper, all stock parts

Key items of kit: A mixture of bag makes that I've accrued over the years. Sleeping and bivvi bag up front, food and tech in the top tube bag, mechanical bits in one of the bottle cages and minimal clothing in the saddle bag. Hoping to get around before midnight on Sunday! Follow along on Instagram: @go.slow.jpg

Julian Mills

Age: 36

Cap number: 53

Location: Cornwall

Bike: Genesis CDA 20 with some updates on the gears and tyres etc.

Key items of kit: Alpkit 13l seat bag, Restrap medium frame bag, home made snack bags Restrap 10l Bar bag, tent strapped to front rack.

Andrew Evans

Age: 57

Cap number: 43

Location: Bedfordshire

Bike: Boardman mht 8.9

Key items of kit: An eclectic collection of secondhand bags from EBay, mainly Apidura, restrap and Alpkit , to complement the EBay-sourced bike. Victoria Mezcal 2.25 tyres with mud hugger/ proguard mudguards. Profile Design aerobars finished with a homemade bridge mount for a Garmin edge explorer 2.

Christian Bird

Age: 53

Cap number: 3

Location: Bideford

Bike: Trek Procaliber 9.6

Key items of kit: Hunt Proven wheelset. Tailfin aeropack, top tube bag and downtube bag. Restrap aero bar bag. Apidura frame bag. Also Uswe 9l hydration pack.

Jim Barrow

Age: 55

Cap number: 32

Location: Worthing, West Sussex

Bike: Mason ISO, with Hunt AMC wheels with a SON Dynamo, SRAM force 11 with a Ratio Industries rear mech cage. XT cranks with 34T ring, Deore 11 - 51 cassette. K-Lite lights and charging.

Key items of kit: Mix of Tailfin, Alpkit and Apidura bags. Six moon designs lunar solo tent.

Jack Corry

Age: 23

Cap number: 40

Location: Cheltenham

Bike: Cannondale Topstone, 10 - speed WTB Riddler Comp, 700 x 37c

Key items of kit: Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Frame Pack- Black Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack-Black Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Top Tube Pack- Black Northcore 30L dry rucksack

Trekking dome tent - 1-person - MT900

Nick Buffery

Age: 37

Cap number: 4

Location: Mendips

Bike: PlanetX Tempest

Key items of kit: The excellent Tailfin frame and top tube bag, Hope, Supernova, Hunt, SRAM AXS and the odd trick titanium piece.

Keeping it simple

Toby Waters

Age: 37

Cap number: 62

Location: Chepstow

Bike: Ribble cgr

Key items of kit: Zipp 303 wheels and 45mm pirelli tyres. Tailfin aeropack and toptube.bag. wizard works frame bag and restrap bag under the aero bars.

Ali Ford

Age: 57

Cap number: 44

Location: Farnham, UK

Bike: FOUR4TH carbon gravel/cross

Key items of kit: Tailfin AeroPack and 2x 5l mini panniers, Salsa anything cradle on the bars, Apidura frame bag, FOUR4TH lights

Chris Brown

Age: 54

Cap number: 34

Location: West Sussex

Bike: Reilly Gradient, GRX di2 dual chainring with 11-40 at the rear on Strada 650b wheels and Pirelli tyres.

Key items of kit: Tailfin rear and top packs, with a Apidura roll up front under a VAP aero bar. K-lite front and back lights powered from the front hub.

David Hutchins

Age: 38

Cap number: 14

Location: Dartmoor

Bike: Santa Cruz Stigmata CC (thank you to The KTN) SRAM Rival 1-by standard group set 40mm Pirelli gravel M front with Son Edulux 2 dynamo hub 40mm Maxxis Ravager rear Double wrap Cinelli bar tape

Key items of kit: Tail fin & Rock Bros bags (mostly full of snacks) Wahoo Roam Exposure & Lezyne Phone & headphones for the rave to accompany the adventure!! Toothbrush (because I’m going to smell enough by the end)

Neil Keirs

Age: 55

Cap number: 48

Location: Camberley

Bike: Trek Procaliber 9.7 SRaM Eagle x1. 32. 10/52 Kovee Carbon wheels

Key items of kit: Apidura Handlebar Bag Apidura top tube bags Now a restrap seat pack after poor admin on my behalf meant I couldn’t use Tailfin 😩

Miroslav Chrapka

Age: 42

Cap number: 37

Location: London

Bike: Specialized Diverge, GRX 2x11 11-40, with 650b Stayer wheels and 42mm Rene Herse tyres

Key items of kit: Mixture of bags from Tailfing, Apidura and Restrap to organise on and off the bike items. Exposure light and Wahoo for navigation. Lightweight sleeping system with Nordisk tent, Sea to Summit sleeping bag and Therma rest mat for comfy nights. Hydratation pack for the water and extra storage for food and those calories, newest addition to the kit.

Paul Greer

Age: 57

Cap number: 46

Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Bike: Enigma Escape MkII, GRX /w XT Derailleur Plates (alternative to Goat Link to facilitate cassette), Cane Creak eeSilk seatpost, Redshift Stem and Gel Bar inserts, 11-46t Cassette, 38t Hope RX Crankset, 44mm Vittoria Mezcal's, DTSwiss wheels 32 spokes rear for strength with SON dynamo.

Key items of kit: Tailfin and Restrap Bags, CamelBak for Hydration, Neoprene gloves to help with vibration, Exposure Dynamo Front Light, Alpkit 200 Pipedream Sleeping Bag, Sea to Summit UltraLight Matt, Nordisk Lofoten 1 tent.