Here’s a deep dive into the gear I used on the Triple Crown Challenge this year. Most of my gear was the same for these races, but they each have unique characteristics that warranted changes.
*These are the setups that worked for me. You may want more or less gear depending on how cold you sleep or how uncomfortable you’re willing to be.
Bike Breakdown
| Tour Divide | Colorado Trail | Arizona Trail | Notes | |
| Frame | Chumba Sendero Ti | Chumba Sendero Ti | Chumba Sendero Ti | The do-it-all trail bike. Big mud clearance was great for TD and I love the way it rides on singletrack. |
| Fork | Niner rigid carbon | Fox 34 Factory | Fox 34 Factory | TD is fine rigid. Might be faster with suspension. |
| Handlebars | Salsa Salt Flat carbon | Salsa Salt Flat carbon | Salsa Salt Flat carbon | Wide 31.8 section is nice for aerobar mounting. |
| Brakes | Shimano XT 4 piston | Shimano XT 4 piston | Shimano XT 4 piston | |
| Grips | Wolftooth Mega Fatpaw | Wolftooth Mega Fatpaw | Wolftooth Mega Fatpaw | I think I prefer the regular Fatpaw instead. |
| Bar ends | Cane Creek | Cane Creek | Cane Creek | |
| Aerobars | Profile Designs hardware, ebay carbon extensions | N/A | N/A | I wouldn’t do TD without aerobars. |
| Stem | Enve 35mm | Enve 35mm | Enve 35mm | |
| Seatpost | PNW Loam Dropper | PNW Loam Dropper | PNW Loam Dropper | Not interested in riding without a dropper. |
| Saddle | Ergon SMC Core | Ergon SMC Core | Ergon SMC Core | Kept my butt pretty happy on a lot of really rough miles. |
| Bottom Bracket | Cane Creek Hellbender | Cane Creek Hellbender | Cane Creek Hellbender | Replaced bb mid TD. Swapped bearings between races. |
| Crank | Cane Creek eeWings | Cane Creek eeWings | Cane Creek eeWings | Fancy |
| Pedals | Shimano XT Trail | Shimano XT Trail | Shimano XT Trail | Pedal body came off the spindle on AZT due to my rebuild a week prior. Torque those nuts! Replaced with new XT pedals at Lemmon8 in Summerhaven. |
| Chainring | Wolftooth 32t stainless | Wolftooth 32t stainless | Wolftooth 32t stainless | |
| Cog | Boone Ti 16t | Surly 22t | Surly 22t | 16t cog is worn out after TD. I’ll stick with steel cogs. |
| Chain | Sram 10 speed | Sram 10 speed | Sram 10 speed | Never had an issue with these. |
| Rims | Nox Teocalli 29 | Nox Teocalli 29 | Nox Teocalli 29 | |
| Front hub | SON28 dynamo | SON28 dynamo | SON28 dynamo | Great for charging on TD. Nice to have full brightness on all descents on CTR and AZTR, plus a little charging on pedaly sections. |
| Rear hub | DT Swiss 240 | DT Swiss 240 | DT Swiss 240 | Star ratchet is where it’s at. |
| Tires | Vittoria Mezcal 2.25″ | Maxxis Rekon 2.4″ | Maxxis Rekon 2.4″ | No issues during these races. A few small punctures that sealant fixed. Mezcals roll so fast. Rekons are tough to beat for long distance singletrack. |
| Downtube storage | King Cage mount | N/A | King Cage mount | No need for extra capacity on CTR. |
Sleep kit
| Tour Divide | Colorado Trail | Arizona Trail | Notes | |
| Sleeping bag | Western Mountaineering Highlite 35F | Western Mountaineering Highlite 35F | Western Mountaineering Highlite 35F | 1lb bag. I only wished I had a warmer bag on the last couple nights of the AZT, but I would bring this again. |
| Sleeping pad | Klymit X-frame | Klymit X-frame | Thermarest Z-lite | Foam pad is nice for AZT, lots of sharp things around. The x-frame is kinda silly, but works for me. |
| Bivy | DIY | DIY | DIY | 6oz wind and bug bivy. Water resistant bottom half. |
| Tarp | 6”x9” Silpoly | 6”x9” Silpoly | 6”x9” Silpoly | 9oz 1 person tarp |
| Pillow | Klymit | Klymit | Sea to Summit | I upgraded to a thicker inflatable pillow for AZT. I sleep much better with a dedicated pillow. |
| Extras | Down booties | Down booties | Down booties | My toes are the first thing to get cold, these help me sleep in cold temps. |
Clothing
| Tour Divide | Colorado Trail | Arizona Trail | Notes | |
| Shirt | Short sleeve snap button | Short sleeve snap button | Long sleeve snap button | Long sleeve is nice for overgrowth and sun protection on AZT. |
| Shorts | Patagonia mtb shorts | Patagonia mtb shorts | Lightweight REI zip-offs | Zip-off pants are nice to have for overgrowth on the AZT, plus cold temps up north. |
| Underwear | Vuori compression shorts | Vuori compression shorts | Vuori compression shorts | No chamois here. |
| Socks | 2 lightweight wool, 1 thick wool | 2 lightweight wool, 1 thick wool | 2 lightweight wool, 1 thick wool | If anything I’d bring another pair for each race. |
| Shoes | Pearl Izumi X-Alp Elevate | Pearl Izumi X-Alp Elevate | Pearl Izumi X-Alp Elevate | These held up pretty well. I used one pair for 300 miles of AZT last year, then TD and CTR. I had a fresh pair for AZT. |
| Gloves | Summer mtb gloves, Defeet wool gloves | Summer mtb gloves, Defeet wool gloves | Summer mtb gloves, Defeet wool gloves | I bought leather work gloves in Flagstaff on the AZT to stay warm |
| Extras | Cycling cap, thin beanie, buff | Cycling cap, thin beanie, buff | Cycling cap, thin beanie, buff | |
| Puffy | Patagonia Nanopuff | Patagonia Nanopuff | Patagonia Nanopuff | Synthetic insulation works when wet |
| Top layer | Wool arm warmers | Wool long sleeve shirt | Wool long sleeve shirt | Arm warmers are fast to change. Wool shirt is so nice to have under a rain jacket when cold and wet. |
| Bottom layer | Knee warmers | Knee warmers | N/A | Zip-offs cover the knees on AZT |
| Rain jacket | Montbell Versalite | Montbell Versalite | Montbell Versalite | Light, big pit zips |
| Rain pants | Marmot Precip | Marmot Precip | Marmot Precip | |
| Rain gloves | CG Habitats mitts | CG Habitats mitts | CG Habitats mitts | I bought these because of the trigger finger design. They are not waterproof anymore, material worn away at high stress areas. |
| Rain socks | Rocky Goretex socks | Rocky Goretex socks | N/A | Kept my feet dry in lots of wet weather. |
Water
| Tour Divide | Colorado Trail | Arizona Trail | Notes | |
| Purification | Aquatabs, used once | BeFree filter, used daily | BeFree filter, used frequently | Always carried Aquatabs as a backup. |
| Frame bag | 3L bladder | 1L Befree | 3L bladder | |
| Downtube | 1.5L Nalgene | N/A | 1.5L Nalgene | |
| Feed bag | 1 standard bottle | N/A | N/A | |
| On my back | N/A | 2L bladder in hip pack | 3L bladder in backpack, 0.6L BeFree | Keeping weight off the back was a priority for TD. |
| Total capacity | 5L | 3L | 8L |
Bags:
- All Dispersed Bikepacking (made by me) except an Osprey backpack for AZT.
- I used a 24L Osprey Stratos backpack during the AZT. I wanted a substantial pack with a frame for the hike through the Grand Canyon. I carried my hiking poles in the backpack.
- I liked storing my rain gear in my hip pack for quick layer changes during Tour Divide
Electronics:
- Garmin Edge 1030 Plus (switched to Edge 1040 Solar on AZT)
- Garmin inReach Mini
- Sinewave Beacon dynamo light
- Fenix PD35 helmet light
- Nitecore F2 18650 cache battery and spare batteries for helmet light
- 2x USB wall outlet adapters plus assorted cables
Toiletries:
- Sunscreen
- Lip balm
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- A&D ointment. For chafing.
- Benzoyl Peroxide cream. To dry any sores out overnight.
First Aid Kit:
- KT tape. Pro or extreme is worth the premium.
- Bandaids
- Gauze pads
- Neosporin cream
- Aleve pills
- Benadryl pills
Repair Kit:
- Tire plug tool and bacon strips. Stored on handlebars for quick access. Strips of tshirt material work just as well, sometimes even better when it comes to a big hole.
- Blackburn Wayside multitool
- Gerber dime mini pliers
- Topeak HV MTB pump
- Topeak micro shock pump
- 2oz sealant
- Curved needle and thread
- Super glue
- Tire lever
- Spare tube
- Patch kit
- Spare valve and valve core
- Quick links and section of chain
- Spare cleat and bolts
- Spare bolts
- Dispersed eeWings Ti adapter
- Chain lube and rag
- Zip ties
- Gorilla tape
Amazing! Thanks for the breakdown! Bravo agin on your stellar race season!
Thanks Nick!
what makes you say “suspension might be faster” on the TD?
I’ve only ridden the route rigid, but I know I would go faster on some of the descents with a suspension fork. Is it worth the weight penalty on all the climbs? Who knows.
Hi Andrew – can you tell us a little about your lights please? I had 2x Exposure Joysticks on TD 2022 (and TD2018) but am just moving to a SON28 and Beacon. How good are they for low speed, especially downhills? I seemed to get caught on a lot of those this year! (into Whitefish, into Basin, into Lima, into Warm River, from Togwottee, over after BML, over after Boreas, after Marshall Pass, into Del Norte, over into Mogolon and more!)
The Beacon definitely flickers at low speed, but the Fenix light on my helmet mostly washes out the flicker so it doesn’t really bother me. Above 7-8mph the light is steady and bright, so I thought it was great for descents. Full brightness while descending without worrying about managing battery is why I brought it on the singletrack races as well.
I like the Fenix for a helmet light because it uses replaceable, rechargeable batteries and I can take it off for day riding. Battery life is really good too. I think the main disadvantage is the beam is just a round spot.
Great article and gear list. I really liked to read details about your bike and each piece of gear. It would be nice to write something about nutrition on the triple crown in the future. Thanks again. Great website as well.
cheers
s
Nutrition is mostly whatever sounds good at the gas station, and lots of it.
Andrew, thanks for sharing your expertise and experience! A great resource here!
Dispersed bags are the greatest!
Thanks, Andrew for the reply on front suspension. how did your rain gear fair the first week on the divide? That’s what I’m most perplexed about for my kit.
This rain gear was good for me. I had rain almost every day of TD this year.
Thanks for sharing your gear lists. I assume you tied your tarp between trees in an A frame as I didn’t see any tarp poles.
Yep if I had the right trees I would do that, but I’ve also tied one end to my handlebar (bike laid down) and staked the other end to the ground when I didn’t have trees around.
Andrew, thanks for taking the time to share such a comprehensive list and your expertise.
Thanks for the peek into your setups, it’s really helpful. For the CTR, besides you not needing the extra water capacity you get from a downtube Nalgene, do you ever find yourself shouldering your bike for any of the hike-a-bikes on the CT and need that downtube real-estate to carry your bike on your shoulder?
Thanks!
Jake
I don’t think I shouldered my bike during CTR, I usually find it easier to push the bike next to me while hiking. I’ve carried a small tool bag on the down tube previously on CTR, but I avoid strapping things there so I don’t have to be as careful when lifting my bike over downed trees.