Well, well. After two weeks running around the US we finally got to Emporia and the race that everyone was waiting for is about to start. It’s a race like any other. Nothing too serious.
We’re here and Anna, Mattia and Frank are about to give the first pedal stroke and ride into the rolling hills of Kansas for the 320 km of Unbound Gravel.
We thought about using this chance to review the Basso Palta we have been using since the beginning of this year. As a matter of fact, we didn’t quite do it properly.
Setups are very similar. Just some small differences in some choices among the three of them. They’ve been using their bikes for a couple of months now and they clearly understood what works best for each of them.
Mattia’s Basso Palta
No doubts, Mattia will be riding his Basso Palta equipped with a Campagnolo Ekar groupset, 44 / 10-42. He’s not going with a 9-36 cassette because last year we learned that Unbound is not flat at all. We think it’s better to have a few more options for some parts of the course.
Fulcrum Rapid Red Carbon are the wheels of choice, paired with some fresh prototypes from Pirelli. We are using the new reinforced version of the Cinturato Gravel RC that was just delivered at our doorstep by the guys from Pirelli, directly from Italy. They will provide the same speed, just a bit more protection from the punctures and that never hurts.
Mattia’s saddle will be a Fizik Argo Adaptive – we just can’t do without it anymore. We are switching our bottle cage to the Elite Leggero Carbon to make sure our bottles will stay with us even when things get spicy and bumpy.
Last on the list is the MissGrape Big Node bag, in its custom light version. Lights are mandatory even if probably non needed – in this case the Supernova Airstream is just the perfect product to use.
Frank’s Basso Palta
Same setup as Mattia. Same same. Only small difference is that he likes to leave no bags on his bikes and he prefers to carry stuff in his hydration bag.
Needless to say Frank would have pumped his tires at 4 bars. He’s now on the grid without knowing we just deflated them anyways.
Anna’s Basso Palta
Anna chooses a different gear option. 38 / 10-44 – to have all options available given the length of the race and considering this is going to be her first time in this race.
Also in this case, everything else is the same as Mattia and Frank. The only other difference is that Anna will be using a MissGrape Node toptube bag to carry a powerbank and a few more gels. Everything else will be in the hydration pack of course.
