Alps Divide Bike and Gear check

This video runs through the bike and gear I used for the 2025 edition of the Alps Divide. The 1000km bikepacking event starts in Menton, France and finished on the shores of Lac Leman in Thonon Le Bains

You can find more details about the route event here:
https://alpsdivide.com

For more route details and photos of the ride check out my substack, I’ll be posting about the ride in the coming weeks:
https://joshibbett.substack.com

For a 20% Discount on POC cycling helmets and glasses click the link below:
https://poc.com/en-gb/poc-x-ultrascape

DISCOUNT CODES:
Ultrscape is sponsored by Redshiftsports, for a 15% discount use the code: ULTRASCAPE
on the redshift website
https://redshiftsports.avln.me/c/oqKvQEDJerNS

Albion Cycling, for a 15% discount use the code: ULTRASCAPEXALBION15
on the Albion website
https://albion.avln.me/c/YxKCQyqQEgfZ

COROS DURA GPS use link for free water bottle: https://coros.avln.me/c/pzavZlFcdTQQ

Assavers mudguards, 10% off: joshibbett_10
on the assavers website
https://asssavers.avln.me/c/sEWblVbpwvQU

Pelotan sunscreen, 20% off using ULTRASCAPE:
https://pelotan.avln.me/c/CpRtVtwjajOD

Cycplus E mini pump 5% off use:
JOSHIBBETT
at https://www.cycplus.com/?ref=rxgqsfgf

A big thank you to the brands that support me:
Mason Cycles – https://masoncycles.cc
Hunt Bike wheels – https://www.huntbikewheels.com
Albion Cycling – https://www.albioncycling.com
Tailfin Bikepacking equipment – https://www.tailfin.cc/?v=79cba1185463
Enduro bearings – https://cycling.endurobearings.com
RideWithGPS – https://ridewithgps.com

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Hello, welcome back to another video. Today I’m just going to run you through the bike that I used in the Alps Divide. Uh, now if you’re thinking you’ve might have seen this video a few weeks ago. Um, the bike is is pretty much the same as I used for the Silk Road Mountain race. However, there are some key changes that I changed for the Alps Divide and um, yeah, I’ll run you through those changes in this video. I won’t do a separate kit check because again the kit is a slightly paired down version of that I used for the the Silk Road mountain race. So if you want to see exactly what I use there, go and check out those videos. But in the meantime, here’s what I used in the Alps. Now, as you can see, this is my Mason Macro. Um so the frame is well, it’s tried and tested. I’ve already used it for the Helen Mountain race this year and well twothirds of a Silk Road mountain race. You may remember I pulled out of that race because the the bearings in my front dynamo wheel uh basically failed and um that’s the reason I essentially decided to basically I wanted to do another race. I wasn’t finished for the year. Um I felt like I was riding strong in the podium position and um I felt like there was a bit more left. Um so I came back and this the Alps Divide was two weeks later. So that’s a thousand kilometer 650 odd miles from Menon in the south of France on the Mediterranean up to Lake Leman Thon Lean in um on on the lake there. Uh so France a bit of Italy and uh a bit of Switzerland. Uh the main difference well I guess this bike sits somewhere between my Silk Road setup and the Hellenic setup. So, I guess the frames the same, the group sets the same. Uh, the pedals are the same, the the enduro bearings, same bottom bracket that I used in Silk Road. You may remember there was all those river crossings. I didn’t touch it and it’s still running perfectly smooth. Same with the jockey wheels. Um, the seatost and saddles the same. So, it’s the red shift shock stoppost and the Urggon SRO core saddle. Uh, that all remains the same. The cockpit is pretty much the same. There are a few amendments which I’ll come on to in a while. Uh the frame bag is the same frame bag. Um I had the same bottle arrangement. So a one liter bottle on the down tube and the the little tail fin 3D printed adapter for the top tube. You may notice there’s only one bottle here. I managed to lose one on the first night. It’s the first time I’ve ever actually lost a bottle off this this adapter. I think I didn’t put it in properly and by the time I’d realized it gone, I you know idea where it went. Um, and then the tail fin uh flip top uh top tube bag. Uh, that all remains the same as does the fork 110 mil SID. I did say I think in the Silk Road video that it was 120. It’s not. It’s it’s the 110 version. And um, yeah, that all remains pretty much identical. The one thing I did change on the the drivetrain was a chain. Um, the cassette’s actually the same as I used in Kyrgyzstan, but I just put a fresh chain on uh just to make sure that it wasn’t going to wear out. So, as I kind of said before, this bike is sits kind of halfway between the setup I used for the Hellenic mountain race back in May. Uh, and that I used for the Silk Road mountain race. And you can see kind of, well, the main change on the bike itself is the wheel set. Uh, so I decided I well, I didn’t need a a dynamo wheel set for Als Divide. It’s not as remote as um Silk Road Mountain Race. Uh there’s more places to recharge stuff if needed. And it was only going to be four or so days, four nights. And at this time of year, kind of late summer, early early autumn, um there wasn’t going to be I wasn’t I was going to be able to do it on one charge um on a battery light. And so I went for the same light, same wheels I used for the Hellenic Mountain race. So, these are these are the proven XC UD carbon wheels. So, these have the fancy carbon UD spokes and um they’re super light. They’re about well, they’re under 1300 g. And um yeah, given the the the really mountainous nature of this of this race, this route, I decided to go for those again. They performed really well in Greece at the Hellenic race. And again, they were brilliant here. I really can’t knock them. I did have my kind of doubts um when they were first launched as to how durable the carbon spokes would be. Uh but I’ve done two ultras on them this year. They’re still running really smooth and I’m I’m really impressed with them. Um I put on well I had the 2.25 Conti dub dubital tires in Kyrgyzstan. Uh I don’t know really why I put those on. I put 2.4s back on for this race. Uh they were pretty good although I did slash a slash the rear tire um with a day to go. Basically, I just caught the side knob and just b to perfectly tore the side knob off, which was pretty frustrating. It meant I had to finish with a tube in. So, there’s a tube in at the moment, but apart from that, grip’s pretty good and um you know, rolling resistance is is low. I just think that that puncher was was just one of those things. Uh one in a million chance of of like tearing the tire and hitting the the knob at that exact place where I did. Um so, yeah, really pleased with that wheel set and tire combination. The other difference you may know notice uh from the the Silk Road mountain race setup and actually it’s different from the Hellenic setup as well is this. So this is the new tail fin speed pack. You may have seen some prototypes on my bike at various events in the past sort of 18 months, two years. Uh and this is the the final production version. So essentially it’s kind of um it’s it’s a bit more compact and smaller than the the Aeropack cargo which I used in in Kyrgyzstan. uh not quite as much volume and it’s a bit more tapered. Now, that’s really good for for people with smaller frames because it tucks down under the saddle. It was also really good in this instance uh because there was quite a lot of kind of steep single track and it just gives you a bit more space to get over the back of the saddle. Um and it’s also quite a bit lighter. Now, I’ll put on my scales at home. It was about 250 g lighter than my cargo pack. Uh so, that makes a difference when you’re on the climbs. Volume’s not as big and it’s not quite as easy just to sort of chuck everything in. given I was running a bit of a paired down setup, it wasn’t so much of a problem. Um, so yeah, worked really well. Um, got this mesh on top where I was able to store stuff. Uh, and yeah, really, really excellent. Uh, so in the back here, essentially, I kept my rain gear and my sleeping gear. Now, again, the rain gear was exactly the same as um I used in Kyrgyzstan. Essentially, I got home, put everything in the wash, took it out, and put it back on the bike. Uh, so I used this um I used the Yabian rain pants. Um, again really excellent. Keep me warm. Sometimes I use them as a warm layer. There was a fair bit of rain in the Alps, so they definitely kind of uh definitely paid for themselves. Um, I also had the same Zoa rainshell. This is a new prototype for a future design. A bit more paired down than the current one. Again, performed really well. Wore it a lot. use it as use it as both a rain layer and and a wind layer. Um yeah, really excellent. Um and then the sleeping gear, I actually used a different sleeping bag to Kyrgyzstan. So in Kyrgystan I had that Cedar Summit one, the Spark 7. This is my old PhD Designs custom six degree bag. Uh now I used this uh primarily because I wanted a backto-back comparison with the Cedar Summit. I guess this is this is rated at six degrees whereas the Cedar Summit is seven. Um, so basically it’s got the more expensive like top end down in there. Uh, it’s a bit of a tighter fit. It’s more of a mummy shape whereas the seed to summit one was a bit more sort of square cut. Um, jewelries out as to which is best. Um, I do like this but I felt like the seed to summit one is easier to really sort of get down inside and sort of pull it over your head. It’s a bit longer. Um, so yeah, both good bits of kit. I’d probably take either for any race again, but I took this one this time. As for the bivvie, I I took the same bivvie that I used for the helenic mountain race earlier in the year. Um, so this is just a a Rab survival zone. It’s got a custom mesh on there. And then a a Therm Moest Neo Air um 3/4 sleeping mat. Again, same same kind of setup for Helenic. This is my kind of I guess my light sleeping setup. And um yeah, I don’t think I slept in the bivvie bag. I tended to use it as a ground sheet because it was warm enough and I could always get shelter. But it was a good setup. Worked well. I was comfortable. I slept probably a bit too much given the time I was um behind the the winner. I was second by like an hour and 40 minutes. Um and I slept twice as long as him. Um so maybe I should have taken a slightly less a little less comfortable setup. But um yeah, wor really well. So that was that was in the compartment. And then on the back here, this is where I sort of put excess food. Um, so in here I’ve got well I’ve got my punched in a tube um with a failed patching attempt. Um, I just kept that just in case everything went wrong. Uh, and then I’ve got a couple of these Sturka caffeine carb mixes. They didn’t get used in the end, but I started with quite a lot of um gels and and some bars and some general food. Couple of sandwiches and then toilet paper. Um, you all know what that’s for. That’s in there. Things you want to get quickly are kept in the mesh. So yeah, that is the the rear pack. Now, as I’ve already said on the front of the bike, um things are pretty much the same as Kyrgyzstan. However, I ran my Exposure MaxD. Um I did change the setup. I used this for Helenic. Um but I I put it on the same bracket I used for my Kite, so it sticks out the front a little bit. Wasn’t it kind of worked, but it wasn’t ideal because it did move a bit. Um it wasn’t quite tight enough to hold the light in place with the weight of it. Um, but a cable ties solved that and that was that was okay and that was enough light to see me through. I think I finished with the basically the capacity to do another night if I do another night’s riding if I needed to. The grips were these Urggon GS3 grips again exactly the same as I used in Kyrgystan with the little red shift um top top grip modifications in the middle for an extra hand position and then my little data blast arrow bars. It was worth having it for for divide. there was quite a lot of kind of tarmac and valley roads. Um so I use those quite a lot. Um and then one of the major changes I made um compared to the Silk Road was uh the GPS. So I’ve got myself one of these Corus Jura um GPS units. And the one thing that really sort of drew me towards it was 120 hour battery life. And uh I I only got it a couple of days before Chorus kindly sent it over to me. And um yeah, I was it took a few days to get used to it. Um but I was very impressed. really impressed. I think I charged it for maybe half an hour just to top it up. Mainly because it was raining on the last day and I didn’t quite know how far the battery would go. But to be honest, I think I probably could have done the whole lot without charging it. Um so yeah, definitely definitely very impressed with it. Um and definitely I think it’s going to become um a feature of my my bikes uh going forward. It’s just one less thing to need to charge and uh and think about. And also, I think it just extends the amount of days you can go without a dyno light. Um, potentially I might even consider doing Silk Road. Uh, it’s quite sunny there, so I think I could could get quite a lot of charge. Um, so yeah, more on that soon. I’ll probably sort of use it for a while and do a separate review video, but yeah, very impressed with that so far. Um, there’s a bit of a a code on the screen if you want it. I think they’re giving away something free with if you buy one of these. They’re pretty reasonably priced, 250 quid. So when you compare it to other other units out there, I’d say say it’s pretty good value. Um so yeah, so far so good, but more to come on the Jura when I’ve ridden it a bit more. So everything in the Telin top tube bag was the same as um in Kyrgyzstan, so I won’t pull everything out, but essentially it was sort of tools, sunscreen, um you know, my patch kit, my diner plug, which got far too much use in this race. Um, and that everything I needed to hand there. Also, my camera, so there’ll be loads of uh images. I’ll put them on Substack at some point. Uh, and then the the frame bag. Again, a very similar kit layout to what I used in Kyrgyzstan. Um, the pocket on the other side. I’ll show you this because it’s an important part of the setup. Um, obviously no dynamo, so I ran um, uh, is a nightcore power pack, 10,000 milliamp. Uh, I think I pretty much used it all. basically charged my phone twice and topped up the Jura. Um so yeah, it’s not too big, quite light, quite wrote that actually pretty good. Uh and then into the main compartment. Um this is kind of all the stuff that I wanted to wear, my layers basically. Uh so the differences between Kyrgyzstan and minimal. Um so I had my I took knee warmers instead of leg warmers. I figured it’d be a bit warmer in the Alps. Um so I wore these. Actually wore them quite a lot. I like to keep my knees warm. Um, and I wore the Woolswift trousers over the top quite often, which worked really well. Um, had the same arm warmers I used in Kyrgyzstan. These are Pock ones. Again, worked really well. Um, I had the Pock gloves, the bright orange ones that probably uh, made me stand out quite a lot this year. Uh, the same pedal um, gloves with the Polar Techch lining in them. Again, used them a few times, but it wasn’t so cold, so I didn’t really have to use them too much. I use the Albian um uh Pertex Gile. I use that quite a lot. It was quite useful to have it in the back pocket just to put it on on descents and things like that. Um I used this is the the new piece, not quite out just yet, but you would have seen it in my Silk Road video. Uh the new active layer. Um it’s like a hoodie. I use this so much. It’s so good. Um it just breathes so well, so you can wear it on climbs and not get too hot. I quite often put the J over the top and it it traps some some heat with the insulation or underneath the um the Zo jacket and that was my warm layer. You can pull the sleeves up and down to regulate heat. You can put the hood up. Really really good piece. Dries out quickly. I slept in it. Um so yeah, that’s going to be out soon. I really would recommend that. Um so yeah, keep an eye out for it and I’ve got a 15% discount on Albian stuff, so I’ll put that that on the screen as well. Uh then I just had a the Albian Marino neck warmer. I don’t think I actually used it, but if it was a bit colder at times I probably would have, but always good to have. Doesn’t take up much room or weight. Uh the forecast beforehand was showing quite a bit of rain. Um so I put my waterproof socks in. Again, the same ones I used in Kyrgyzstan. I didn’t have to use them in the end, but kind of better to have them than not, I suppose. Um and then what else? I use I finally used my um my my lobster gloves. use these quite a lot and quite often I’d use them just over my mits. Um it wasn’t really cold enough to justify the winter gloves at times. Uh but so on descents I just put these over the top just to take the edge off the wind. Um and they work pretty good. Um also use them in the rain. Uh so yeah, kind of rate those. Seem to have held up pretty well. Um no holes or wear or anything at the moment. Uh so these were the sporeful ones. Um so yeah, I just brought those off the sporful website. So yeah, pretty pretty pleased with those. And uh what else have I got in here? Pack of Mentos. Cost me one filling on this trip. Chewed one and broke the filling. And then various bags of bit of rubbish. And then in here I just had a a socket um just in case I needed to charge anything uh at a at a checkpoint or or a hotel, which I didn’t stay in in the end. Um so that’s in there. And a spare pair of socks, which I didn’t actually use, which is a good sign because it means the conditions weren’t too terrible. Um, so yeah, that’s that’s pretty much all the clothing I used. And then the spares in here, they were pretty much the same as I used. Well, they were exactly the same as I used in Kyrgyzstan. Um, so yeah, check out that video for all the detailed breakdown on those. So there we go. That’s the bike and the kit check for Alps Divide. Fairly lightweight setup. I think it’s one I’d probably use again for something similar. Um, so yeah, I hope you found the useful the video useful. Um, don’t forget to check out all the links. There’s a few discounts and things below. And yeah, that’s it for this year in terms of racing uh ultras. Um, but I’m sure I’ll I’ll find an excuse to do a few more trips.