As you might have noticed in the previous two galleries, not a lot of riders in the Sverigetempot are on traditional randonneur bikes, or even touring bikes. Rather, many of the participants are on carbon fiber road bikes, with a few select modifications to their components and of course, bikepacking bags. While there have been many excellent examples of bikes on this trip, I managed to photograph three in particular from the riders in our troop: Johan’s Focus, Daniel’s Roubaix and Johan’s Venge. Each have very similar specifications in terms of gear range and tires, but as you’ll see, are built to be lightweight, long-distance rigs.

Johan‘s Focus is probably my favorite in our group. It shows beausage through its worn components, has mix-matched wheels (thanks to his SON hub and Edelux lamp), a well worn saddle, those Rapha Apidura and Revelate bags, and yes, fenders. Thank god someone is using fenders on this trip. ;-)

Daniel‘s Roubaix is a step closer to a speed-driven build kit. Being that it’s a Roubaix, or an endurance road bike, I feel like it’s designed with rides like this in mind. By far, this bike is the most sensible in terms of setup and component selection, in my opinion anyway. Daniel’s is the second lightest out of this trio, utilizes a SON hub with Edelux lamp, the Plug to charge his devices, and an interesting drivetrain selection. You’ll notice the Di2 Ultegra group with Campagnolo cranks. When I asked him about this decision, because clearly it’s a conscious one, he replied that he prefers the 30mm spindle on the Campagnolo 11 speed Overtorque cranks because they’ve proven to be less creaky than the Ultegra cranks. On a ride like this, the last thing you want to be burdened with is a creaky bottom bracket.

By far the lightest and most stealthy bike in the group is Johan‘s Venge. When I picked it up to photograph it, it felt like the bags were empty. It was shocking, yet after seeing the mileage the group has been putting in each day, I don’t blame him. Extra weight will really drag you down when you’re putting in over 300km a day. Johan’s built this race-ready bike out with Campagnolo Super Record 11, and Zipp wheels.