Rigs of the 2023 Tour Divide Breakdown: An Analysis of Trends, Tire Sizes, and More

Each year, BIKEPACKING.com publishes the Rigs of the Tour Divide, which showcases participants' rigs and highlights some of their favorite components and gear. This year, 124 folks who signed up to race the Tour Divide submitted their bikes for our two-part mega gallery, and in our latest video, Neil dives into the stats and shares some interesting findings…

Mentioned Links

Outline
Intro - 0:00
Bikes - 1:28
Suspension - 2:22
Tires/Wheels: 3:00
Drivetrain: 4:49
Aero Bars - 6:37
Bikepacking Bags - 7:12
Racks/Seat posts - 7:37
The Racers - 8:21

#bikepacking #pedalfurther #tourdivide
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::About The Host::
Geometry: 150lbs, 5'9.5", 32" inseam

[RomanoCortesJorge]

An even more useful analysis would be what rigs actually finished and what components failed. It would be great getting reactions from the riders afterwards and hearing their analysis and what they would do differently. Great video.

[Puneet]

Thanks for a wonderful video. I am 53 years old from India and have been thinking of doing the Tour Divide but felt too old for it. Your video has inspired me. Next year - I am on

[BiminiJerry]

Encouraged to see so many people in their 50s and 60s undertaking this event!

[jonpoon]

John’s (and Mira) bike with the pinion is worth a highlight. The custom frame made to accommodate the dog basket

[KwadSkwad]

Excited to see the laufs!!! My gravel bike of choice. With large tire clearance, and great comfort up front.. I'm excited to see how they finish up!!

[njcranes]

as a 56yo rider, the age stat was great! very positive. but also negative as it showed weaker numbers in the younger ages. Mostly, I think, that it is a very expensive sport and most 20-somethings don't have that kind of dough!

[sch]

Great overview of the rigs and racers thanks Neil!! It would be great to see a breakdown of the “breakdowns”… what gear failed to stand up under the pressure. Also a few interviews of the finishers… “what I’d do different next time”… Always looking to learn from those getting down and dirty in the trenches. Thanks Again!

[pedallinraw]

Tour Divide is such a great event, those single speed set ups though 😮

[robrt]

Really interesting to hear people are mixing and matching the bag/rack brands to get optimal setups. I'm currently pulling together a setup using Restrap, Apidura and Tailfin.

[Zyzzyx]

The stat that is wowing me this year is the Run/Rest ratio now shown on TrackLeaders. Even at this point I think some riders are still well over 80% move time. That's unreal.

[rogerhart]

Awesome video. I liked seeing what everyone was riding.

[jasonjackson]

It would be interesting to see the age groups again at the end of the race and see a comparison of the number that started in each age group versus the number that finish in each group. Do the older racers have a greater ability to suffer and persevere?

[Matt-gyir]

I would like a stat on flat pedals. I know if your trying to win they are more efficient. I only rode clip in for 25 years, as soon as looks came out. But I started using mtb flats for commuting and really have liked them too.

[freddixon]

The ages of the riders is inspiring, 65 YO here, I questioned doing the race / ride now I think, yea maybe??
That was a fun video, thank you for sharing.

[notpablo]

Can you do a comparison on Salsa Cutthroat and Mason ISO?

[meredithpinony]

Great data! Wonder of the flat bars, how many were Jones loop bars?

[kekie]

I love that the tires are still referred to in inch width, when the rest of the components are metric measurements

[usel]

Those age stats blew me away, I would never have thought it would be focused around people over the age of 30, especially considering how many were over the age of 60. Amazing, and eye opening.

[josh]

People around me have dropper posts as all the hype. I'm still holding strong that a good suspension post on big miles is still the way to go, and worth the extra weight in gold!

For me, most of my riding is done on a dropbar with 2.1 Mezcals, suspension post, 1X and a I need is the miles in the legs lol
I was surprised to see two or three Rodeo Labs Flaanimals in the mix, ❤mine!

[timcolton]

GREAT VIDEO - I was looking at the the same things you covered in no time - GOOD WORK, THANKS