Around 700 kilometers of route, around 15,000 meters of altitude: The Absa Cape Epic places extraordinary demands on man and material. While the most exciting thing is of course who is successful during the race, there is another interesting angle: the equipment. The Cape Epic organizer is now releasing interesting data that shows how the equipment of the Cape Epic contenders is doing:

Sram is the clear dominator when it comes to shifting systems, with 76% of athletes relying on the US manufacturer for their gears. The question of riding single, double or triple chainrings shows a very clear winner: the single chainring comes out on top, with 88% of riders opting for 12 gears to tackle the course. The number of triple chainring gears could be counted on two hands, there were eight of them.

When it came to accessories, Oakley proved to be the preferred eyewear brand. 58% of the eyes fixated on the trails of the Western Cape were behind Oakley eyewear.

Specialized the most common

The most hotly contested battle was that of the bike manufacturers: for the third time in a row, Specialized topped the charts. The big S proved to be the right choice for almost a third of the riders in the field. Scott took second place and Cannondale third. Interestingly, these three brands also shared most of the category and special jersey wins between them.