Ridley at Unbound: Our Bikes Shine at Mythical Gravel Race

On Saturday, June 1, Unbound Gravel, the largest classic in the gravel circuit, will take place. In Kansas, USA, several riders will be competing on Ridley bikes. Our lineup includes Piotr Havik, Toby Perry, Annabel Fisher, and guest rider Arno Van Den Broeck from the Classified Ridley Factory Racing Team. This is no coincidence, as our bike offerings are perfectly suited for Unbound!

The 'Life Time Unbound Gravel' organization came into existence in 2006, just as gravel racing was starting to gain attention from the cycling community. The founders believed that such a race was the best way to showcase the beauty of 'The Sunflower State.' The 200-mile (over 320 kilometers) race took shape and grew into a landmark event. There are other distances as well, but the main event is the race on Friday, which is 92% on unpaved roads.

Two years ago, FatPigeon participated in Unbound and made this video about it:

At the time, FatPigeon chose the Kanzo Fast for Unbound. This was a logical choice as it is the pure aerodynamic performance gravel bike. The Kanzo Fast owes its performance to a combination of NACA profiles with a very stiff bottom bracket and an extra-low rear stay. Recently, you also read that this bike was chosen by several riders during the Traka, the European version of Unbound. The Kanzo Fast was named the best gravel race bike of 2023 by Gran Fondo and remains a top performer in the field.

Guest rider Arno Van Den Broeck, on the other hand, opts for the Kanzo Adventure. This is the bike for true adventurers, featuring the geometry of a mountain bike combined with a maximum tire width of 53 millimeters. The slacker head angle, lower bottom bracket, longer wheelbase, and steeper seat angle are paired with a shorter stem, keeping the Adventure fast and agile. Arno's choice is no coincidence: with this week’s rainfall, Unbound might be ridden in very muddy conditions.

The Grifn RS is also an option at Unbound. This improved version of the Grifn has only recently been launched but has already proven its worth. Annabel Fisher has been riding this all-road bike all year and even won the time trial in the Gravel Tierra de Campos with it. The Grifn RS can accommodate tires up to 42 millimeters, which is sufficient for some riders at Unbound. Thanks to various attachment points, there is room for the right bike bags and even fenders, though we will rarely see these in the race. Besides its versatility, the agility and light weight of the Grifn RS are also strong points.