Tour Te Waipounamu Post-Race Bike Check

An in-depth look at the bike and gear I rode to third place at the 1300km Tour Te Waipounamu ultra-endurance bikepacking race. What worked, what didn’t and what I’d change. Bike: Specialized Epic Evo 2022 Sram Eagle GX Derailleur, Shifter, Chain, Cassette Sram XX1 Cranks Shimano SLX 4-Pot Brakes w/metallic pads Shimano 180mm Ice-Tech Rotors Shimano XT Pedals Pro Tharsis 3five 10mm Rise Carbon Bar Bontrager Line 35 70mm -13degrees Curve Dirthoop Rear Wheel Stock Alloy Front Wheel Specialized Ground Control (Grid) Front Tyre Specialized Fast Trak (Grid) Rear Tyre Manic X-Fusion Dropper Specialized Power Comp Saddle Ergon GS1 Evo Grips Spirgrips Inner Barends Bags: Terra Rosa Gear Custom Framebag Revelate Pronghorn Harness and Bag Revelate Mountain Feedbag Bike Bag Dude Gas Tank Sea to Summit 1L Drybag and Ski Strap Sleep Kit: Terra Rosa Gear Synthetic Half Bag SOL Escape Lite Bivy Patagonia Micro Puff Synthetic Jacket Helly Hansen Fleece Beanie Clothing: Maap Evade Jersey Maap Team Base Layer Maap Team Bib Maap Draft Vest Maap Arm Warmers Maap Knee Warmers Maap Race Mitts Maap Neck Gaiter Montbell Versalite Rain Jacket Montane Minimus Rain Pants Specialized Trail Thermal Gloves Electronics: Garmin Edge 540 Fenix BC26R (bar light) Fenix HM65R-T (helmet light) Garmin Inreach Mini 3x Spare 18650 Batteries 3x Spare 21700 Batteries 20,000mAh Power Bank Cables (iphone, usb c, micro usb) iPhone 13 mini GoPro Hero 10 Apple Wired Headphones Repair Kit: 2x Tubolito Tubes Tyre Lever w/sewing kit taped to it Peaty’s cO2 Inflator 25g cO2 Cartridge Lezyne HV Drive Handpump Park Tyre Boots Park Super Patches Spare Chainlinks Spare Valve and Valve Core Misc Bolts ZIp Ties Spare UDH Wolf Tooth Chainlink Pliers 2x Sram Powerlinks Fibrefix Spoke Gerber Dime Multitool Crank Brothers m19 Multitool Smoove Lube First AId: Ibuprofen KT Tape Rigid Tape Iodine Swabs Bandaids Gauze Steri Strips Super Glue Lighter Fire Starter