Unbound Gravel gear test with Peter Sagan: What worked, what failed, what I learned.

Unbound Gravel is a test of bike, body, and mind. I've done the 200-mile version a couple of times, and this year I got third in the 100-mile race on the new Giant Revolt.
Former road world champion Peter Sagan rode Unbound Gravel 100 with his teammate Daniel Oss and more than 1,200 others.
I've tested bikes for two decades as a full-time cycling journalist, and in this video I share my thoughts on the gear I used at the 2022 Unbound Gravel.
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Some of the gear I used and appreciated:
Dynaplug Racer tubeless tire repair kit: www.dynaplug.co...
Giant Revolt gravel bike: www.giant-bicy...
Schwalbe G-One RS tubeless tires: schwalbetires....
Camelbak Chase vest: www.camelbak.c...
Sportful Supergiara Bibshort: www.sportful.c...
Some of my past gravel videos on other channels:
The Road to Kanza - A Newbie Takes on the World's Biggest Gravel Race: • The Road to Kanza - A ...
Salsa Warbird, Why R+ and other gear tested at The Mid South: • Salsa Warbird, Why R+ ...
The Old Fall River Road (or: How To Kill A Shimano Disc Brake): • The Old Fall River Roa...
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Friendly disclaimer: While I've worked with video for some time - as a director, a guy on camera, or a collaborator - this is the first video I've edited for KZbin, so thanks for your understanding!

[@HelloScotto]

Ok, embarrassed to admit, I never thought of or heard of giving the tire a few hits of CO2 to help find the hole. Also great to see you on KZbin now. Thank you!

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Probably better to hop off quickly and find the hole in its own, but any port in a storm, right?

[@bikeradar]

Great to see you back on video, Ben! And thanks for linking to your classic BikeRadar videos 🥰

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Cheers, fam. Just trying to follow your wheels. ✌️

[@nicholaslegan1339]

This is gonna be great! Delaney is such a great storyteller. Stoked for more!

[@nofinglimit]

Oh yeah! Its about time! This is gonna be exciting.

[@chrisburke9721]

This will be a very successful channel cuz you are so good Ben!!!

[@stevematous3526]

"not a question of whether something will go wrong, but rather what will". Words to live by thanks Ben for the entertaining recap but especially the great insights from your experience. I need to check into those gravel "britches", more pockets for more stuff.

[@jmscheel]

Good Stuff, Ben. Can’t wait to see what is next.

[@adamasnes4838]

Awesome Ben! Looking forward to more vids!

[@heidirentz7622]

Very stoked on all of this. What a beautiful storyteller you are, Delaney!!! Keep m' coming!

[@hanswolters1781]

Ben, congrats on launching this channel, great stuff

[@mountainslopes]

This was super helpful. Love the way you laid it all out. So well presented, Ben!

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thanks! Glad it was useful.

[@michaelfriedberg1069]

Great vid! Ben is the best in the game! Stoked for this channel!

[@MrSkroid101]

Great video Ben!

[@ivanogorman8680]

Great video Ben, tip of the knowledge iceberg from your vast experience, people are going to really enjoy your channel.

[@EuroHoody]

Top stuff, Ben!

[@bouldersportsmanage]

Good stuff Ben!

[@nathanf8474]

Good stuff Delaney!! Can't wait to see the next episode.

[@7gibbens]

Great start Ben. Keep it coming. ❤️🚴‍♂️🇦🇺👍

[@toddgogulski2796]

Great to hear your report of what it was like and things we can think about to make our gravel races better. I'm looking forward to your stories and the learning which comes along with them!

[@johnkeller101]

👏 Great overview, loved the insights from within the group. Looking forward to more!

[@lazarosnikolaidis256]

Always enjoy your races narrations. Really good stuff and plenty of humor. Your three advices are fundamental not only for gravel races but also on every bike ride. Be safe and enjoy!

[@alde1759]

Nice run down on the event. Had a small chat with you at the shakedown. Remember it’s just 100 miles. Congrats!

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Cheers, Al. Don’t say “just”! 😁

[@MrwafflesGaming21]

I enjoy the ride!! More please!!

[@ASGundogs]

Great video! And super modest too- 3rd place is incredible 👏🏻 Subbed ✅

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thanks very much.

[@newttella1043]

Great tips. I'm glad you didn't say "just stay at the front of the race to avoid trouble". If I could do that, I wouldn't be paying full retail for my bike.

[@socalrun81]

Looking forward to more videos from you.

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

More to come! Cheers.

[@CenturionCycling1]

Yeah, Boonen. At the sharp end as usual. Keep it coming.

[@Planetone.]

Always enjoy your channel and videos posted, very informative and interesting to listen to. Not to mention im learning great tips on this Gravel riding, so fun just bought a Giant Revolt Advanced pro 1 and it is awesome ❤

[@1RA787]

Big fan of Ben Delaney reviews!

[@stevenbirnbaum5545]

Ben, nice job as always. Well scripted (or are you just a great extemporaneous speaker)...always interested in the gear you recommend/use and notes on what you learned (really!!!? Life long learning in cycling?...awesome that there is still stuff you, Ben, can learn. That's a lesson for the rest of us)

[@FasCatCoaching]

Test yo'self (& your bolts) bravo !

[@frankmeyer1865]

Ben, superb T-Shirt

[@richcole3931]

legend!

[@kevingoza]

Awesome! Subscribed.

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thanks!

[@masiguy]

Just take my money already! Wait, what are you selling? Glad to see your pretty face and smart little brain doing good shit ... I mean stuff.

[@chrisvanbuggenum871]

That happened to my k-edge mount to, I'm not a fan of their stuff. I was just on a rough road.

[@Aragorn.Strider]

Hi Ben! Excellent job with the 3rd place. I think you used the Schwalbe G-One RS 40. Not to give any critique or something but when would you use the (same tyre) but the 35 and when the 45? Was it kinda guess work with the 40. Or is it like, I really need more comfort therefore the 45 or I don't need it that much so therefore the 35, so I save a few grams. Does that really make such a difference ? Does rolling resistance significantly increase with 45 compared to the 35? All flat so then the 35 and with sandy hills the 45? Or I might need a bit of everything therefore the 40?

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thank you. And yes, G-One RS in the 40mm width. For me with most gravel tires, 40 is the sweet spot; 45 definitely feels heavier and more sluggish, and 35 can be a relatively harsher ride for a course like Unbound. 45 is a good option on courses that verge on mountain biking; 35 or 30 for fast dirt-road courses. Most of us don't want to be changing tires constantly though because tubeless is a mess, so 40 is a pretty good set it and forget it option.

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Completely unrelated, but have you watched The Rings of Power yet, Aragorn? If so, what do you think?

[@Aragorn.Strider]

@@TheRidewithBenDelaney Oh I wasn't aware that one was created. Thanks I'll lookinto it. The Aragorn Strider comes from a single line in the first part, The Fellowship of the Ring, where Aragorn is introduced and where another says "We call him ' Strider' ", actually with different actor then in the other two parts.

[@Aragorn.Strider]

@@TheRidewithBenDelaney Thank you for your answer! I can work with that

[@Mark-kenny]

A++

[@davidrae8475]

Hi Ben, Interesting about the K-edge. I had one come loose during a race recently but not drop off. It was a rattle that I put down to the headset at the time

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

I've been using K-Edge mounts for years, and normally I use the style that has a single-piece arm and the two-bolt clamp. This was a single-bolt clamp and a two-piece arm. Don't know why it's two pieces.

[@BrianRPaterson]

Woops! I can see a lot of loctite in my future. On everything. Just in case.

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Update: Kristen Legan won the 350mi Unbound XL this weekend - but not before her K-Edge Pro Race broke in half.

[@MorganBrown]

When my similar kedge failed (with a cyclic fly 12 hanging from it) the response from kedge was comic. They basically disavowed mounting any camera under the head unit. 🙄

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Errr... weird. I will say, I really like the standard K-Edge mounts, as the solid metal is so much stiffer than a standard plastic mount and cuts way down on the camera boinging around.

[@MorganBrown]

@@TheRidewithBenDelaney Yeah I generally am very fond of K-edge and run their mounts on all my bikes. The solid metal mounts are great. I just don't understand the two-piece engineering. Probably an attempt at modularity. And it would be so much smarter (yet a bit more unsightly) to have the screws going DOWN instead of UP, so that they don't fall on the ground when they come loose. 🤣 I have a fit-for-purpose K-edge mount for the Canyon Grail, and it has a one-piece design. Has been bombproof thus far.

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Video coming up today on a KOM mount.

[@ChrisJBrown72]

Why is this not called Dirty Kanza anymore???

[@alves81]

Ben, did your frame cracked near the seatpost?

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

No, the frame is fine. I broke the seatpost on the other end up by the saddle rails.

[@alves81]

@@TheRidewithBenDelaney ( whit so many people complaining, and getting new frames from warranty ) has soon has i saw, you using one, I had to ask. Thank you for replying, all the best whit the channel.

[@tmayberry7559]

Congratulations on 3rd place question which loctite would be best

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thank you. Really any would do; blue is common for bike bolts. But just *checking* them the day before is the thing.

[@tmayberry7559]

@@TheRidewithBenDelaney exactly I'll keep riding with Ben

[@troycarpenter3675]

DIRTY KANZA!!!

[@avbvb2681]

I expected to hear from Peter Sagan ......

[@KeithHeinrich]

Purple thread lock and a torque wrench. Not that I'm ever going to punish a bike like you but even so I like things to not fall off the bike while its in use.

[@bulbangs]

Glad to see Howard Hamlin doing gravel racing, and away from Jimmy

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Ha

[@terryjohnson1632]

I can’t watch. Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday is a great book…

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Hehe. I'm a fan of the stoics, and I enjoy Ryan's Instagram. More the quotes than the videos. So are you saying you can't watch because it's egotistical, or because the production is janky? Say what you mean, man! :-)

[@TravisWhite79]

Nice!!! Love it.

[@JayLato]

Check out Wolftooth Encase in bar tool kit. Frees up your pockets

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Yeah, lots of options: in the bar, under the top cap, in a holder in the frame at a bottle cage, taped to the frame… I just like the pocket option.

[@mattcooke1966]

Yes yes yes! Awesome Ben!

[@giovannicora6094]

Please tell me where i can find the "Pasta" shirt with the font of Rapha! As Italian i must have it 🤣

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

That is from my man Giancarlo Bianchi. You can find them at his website, watrbodl.com/products/pasta-tee

[@kristinweber9846]

Ben! This is going to be fun to follow along, You've done it all and are a wealth of knowledge! Can't wait to hear what is next.

[@rudyelizondo1935]

Good show bro, I liked it

[@spotdBS]

Gravel biking is like taking a knife to a gun fight. Just STUPID!

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

😁

[@simonfarr8670]

cool thing- the “gravel” market is so broad these days that you can easily find a frame like the Salsa Cutthroat/Fargo. you can fit 2.4” tires, a 100mm suspension fork, and a pretty good wheelbase- there’s your gun, go dunk on some knives 😉

[@marcokalle2452]

I need this Pasta shirt in my life... 😎

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

My man Giancarlo at Watrbodl can make that happen! watrbodl.com/products/pasta-tee (I need to start getting a commission on these referrals... 😂)

[@marcelvangarderen5866]

Great Video Ben!!! Would love to see one of the way you fix the flats.

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thanks, Marcel. I will do that.

[@jasonchapman1483]

Great stuff, which model top tube bag is that?

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Thanks. That's a Bontrager bag. I like the size as it doesn't hit my knees when out of the saddle like bigger ones do.

[@blazacrew]

Thanks

[@sirehan1002]

Nice rapha tshirt mate

[@TheRidewithBenDelaney]

Cheers - That is made by my buddy GC - watrbodl.com/products/pasta-tee