It’s that time again and 228 adventure seekers are waiting impatiently in Marrakesh – as I write this – for the rain to stop, for the race to finally start and for them to set off on the 1,300km with around 21,000 metres of elevation gain.
But this delay gives me time to present my comprehensive analysis of the bikes in the Atlas Mountain Race 2024 almost in time for the start.
In doing so, I have again orientated myself on the two articles from Bikepacking.com “Rigs of Atlas Mountain Race 2024” and evaluated 109 bikes. (Part 1 / Part 2)
And how has the data changed?
After the evaluation, I always make a comparison with the previous year. This time I see four interesting changes:
Carbon is gaining ground
Whether as a frame material or as a rim – the proportion of carbon has increased again this year. For example, 60% of participants are riding carbon bikes through the Atlas, which is 3 percentage points more than in 2023.
And the increase in carbon rims is similarly high at 13 percentage points: 63% ride carbon rims.
Gearing: 1x, 12-speed and electric
This trend has also become apparent and is now clearly visible: 96% are travelling with 1x drivetrains and 79% are using 12-speed drivetrains. These are significant increases compared to the previous year.
Interesting this year: the new SRAM transmission is of course already being used, albeit cautiously. 8% are on the road with it.
However, the field is becoming increasingly electric, still dominated by SRAM AXS. 37% are using electronic shifting, 13 percentage points more than in 2023.
Suspension on the rise
Those who are familiar with the terrain and the race will ask themselves why they shouldn’t choose suspension. But of course, there are still some who take to the slopes without comfort. I also rode the AMR without suspension in 2020, but back then everyone still thought it was a gravel race.
85% are riding with a suspension fork this time (and one of them with a suspension stem). That’s 8 percentage points more than last year. I’m assuming that this percentage will increase somewhat in the coming race editions.
By the way: for the first time I couldn’t find any mechanical brakes. If I’ve missed something, please let me know.
Tailfin increasingly popular
For a while, Tailfin was synonymous with the new type of rack. And for many reasons, it is also popular with ultra riders. In the meantime, there are also many clever and good solutions from the English company outside of racks, which is why many people use bags from Tailfin.
While the group of brands most used in these races has not changed much, Tailfin has worked its way up and is in second place behind Apidura with 26%. That’s 9 percentage points more than in 2023.
And if we only look at the use of the Tailfin rack, we see an increase of 8 percentage points here too.
And for those who are interested: the average age of participants has fallen by two years to 39 compared to 2023. However, it was only 38 in 2022.
And age is just a number anyway, as events like this one prove.
109 great bikes
I was once again impressed by the variety and individuality of the bikes. However, I would like to emphasise four of them because I find them very interesting or beautiful or both:
Quinda’s Sour Full-Sus prototype
The Saxons have come up with something really nice and new. I’m curious to see when we’ll get more details about this off-road bike. Beautiful colour and, of course, classy equipment.
Dennis Kocmo Titan Tiger
Dennis had this titanium speedster built for the AMR. It combines MTB (rear) and gravel bike (front). Simply a beautiful piece.
Frederic’s Breton Orange
I find this bike particularly interesting, but also somehow beautiful. It’s a Pech Tregon and you can find more information about this French manufacturer here. You can’t get enough of it.
Thomas Epsilon
Made of steel, this bike appeals to me because of its clear shape and sleek elegance. Simply beautiful!
Which bikes do you find interesting and beautiful?
Want more bike analyses?
Here you can find the Bikeanalytics of the last years of the AMR, SRMR, HMR and Tour Divide.
