While it was definitely the rider that won the day, the Slate is a pretty interesting choice. That little bit of front suspension helped him stay low on the front of the bike — pretty important, since he was essentially doing a gravel time trial for the last 100 miles.
Not going to lie...I'd never have expected the Slate to be the winning bike. Like you said, it was the rider...probably could have won on a Walmart mountain bike...but still...just not the bike I envisioned. I've never ridden one but I not really heard too many great things about it. But no personal experience so I can't really say one way or the other. I would like to get the chance to take one for a spin but like I said...no one around me rides one so the shop has never had one in.
Earlier this year I rode in the Pedaler's Fork mixed surface ride. Two riders had the Slate and both raved about them. One guy went into detail about how he usually suffers from long term numbness in his hands/fingers after long gravel rides with his carbon fiber fork (even with low tire pressures). He said the 30mm of travel was the cure and now he doesn't even get shoulder stiffness post ride. With the Lauf Grit showing up it will be interesting to see if this becomes a gravel trend.
Slates are expensive maybe that's why not so many around. I think it is interesting the last two DK winners both have a stake in energy supplements. Maybe something to them.
Thanks for the write up Josh! Very interesting.
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\nI'm surprised by the Slate and the 1x. King seems like a cool guy. He's got a nice recap on his blog now. Good read. Also JOM (gravel cyclist) should have a video up soon of the DK200 on YouTube. I love that guy's videos.
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Yeah...the price is silly. Maybe if it was a carbon frame but $3000 for the lowest level Slate and $4200 for the high-end...both are aluminum, crazy. Granted...Lefty forks are a bit expensive but still...my Cannondale F29 mountain bike is a carbon frame and Lefty fork and it wasn't near those prices.
Nubster wrote:Yeah...the price is silly. Maybe if it was a carbon frame but $3000 for the lowest level Slate and $4200 for the high-end...both are aluminum, crazy. Granted...Lefty forks are a bit expensive but still...my Cannondale F29 mountain bike is a carbon frame and Lefty fork and it wasn't near those prices.
i have a cannondale SuperX Rival CX1 with a Roval carbon wheelset, and it's cheaper than the lowest level Slate.
The Slate is ludicrous, both in pricing and their odd reliance on 650b wheels
GP wrote:Thanks for the write up Josh! Very interesting. I'm surprised by the Slate and the 1x. King seems like a cool guy. He's got a nice recap on his blog now. Good read. Also JOM (gravel cyclist) should have a video up soon of the DK200 on YouTube. I love that guy's videos.
Thanks GP! Video is underway... the footage leading into the mud sector at Mile 5 is killer. Front and rear GoPro's capture the pandemonium nicely.
Thanks GP! Video is underway... the footage leading into the mud sector at Mile 5 is killer. Front and rear GoPro's capture the pandemonium nicely.
Can't wait to see it. I was thinking of the Tortoise and the Hare story as I rode through un-harmed. The carnage was unbelievable including traversing through all the standing water. Didn't train for either scenarios but made it...Thank God!
GravelCyclist...Love y'alls videos - thanks for showing race and ride footage, especially to the areas I can't go to. Keep up the great work/fun. Question for you: How do you maintain battery life so well other than ride unbelievably fast? Please share your setup if you may.
Can't wait to see it. I was thinking of the Tortoise and the Hare story as I rode through un-harmed. The carnage was unbelievable including traversing through all the standing water. Didn't train for either scenarios but made it...Thank God!
GravelCyclist...Love y'alls videos - thanks for showing race and ride footage, especially to the areas I can't go to. Keep up the great work/fun. Question for you: How do you maintain battery life so well other than ride unbelievably fast? Please share your setup if you may.
Thanks.
Haha Tortoise and Hare is a great way of putting it.
Riding unbelievably fast - no I'm going to post an article about my camera setups soon, a few people have asked me about that. For now, 1 x GoPro 3+ and GoPro 3 (wouldn't mind a 4!). I utilized a Brunton all day battery n the front camera, and sometimes the rear. I use the GoPro Remotes which makes running the cameras so easy, but at Kanza, both remotes ran out of juice, so I was forced to run the cameras in the usual manner - first world problems!
I generally record footage in short blocks... sometimes I leave the camera on standby, and sometimes I turn it off altogether. The key to good footage is sensing when something interesting is going to happen (as in you get lucky), or turn on the camera before some sweet scenery or an interesting group of riders.
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Video is underway... the footage leading into the mud sector at Mile 5 is killer. Front and rear GoPro's capture the pandemonium nicely.Video is underway... the footage leading into the mud sector at Mile 5 is killer. Front and rear GoPro's capture the pandemonium nicely.