Equipment Recommendations

What bike is right for FoCo Fondo? We’re firm believers in run whatcha brung. If you only have a road bike, many people before you have had a fun time on any FoCo Fondo course on a road bike, it’s just not recommended. The ideal bike is a gravel or cross bike with 34-45mm width tires. There are large deep gravel sections, sandy loose turns, steep grades, a drop bar bike with wider tire clearance, large gear range, and disc breaks is the ideal candidate to go fast and long on any of these front range gravel courses. We’ve assembled some of our favorites in the gravel space below, prioritizing quality over quantity.

Bike Sports TV Garage

If you are looking to better maintain your existing equipment, we’re here to help! Learning some basic mechanics will keep your bike running better and lasting longer.

Clothing

A bad cycling bib can make 53-miles seem like 530-miles. Your touchpoints on the bike…hands, feet, seat, deserve all the loving care you can afford them. Pearl iZUMi has an excellent range of options to fit a variety of budgets…and primarily uses recycled or sustainable materials to boot. Our favorites are their Expedition line, geared towards gravel, and the PRO line which we run for our own gravel racing.

Use “FOCOFONDO” to save 20% off anything.

Helmets are a key part of your “kit” or clothing arrangement. Zack and Whit have been on Lazer helmets the last few years, and despite some pretty gnarly crashes, they have dodged major head injuries. Check out what Lazer helmets has to offer, here, and if you can’t remember when the last time you replaced your helmet was, it’s definitely time.

Bikes

As mentioned above, the best bike is the one you have. If you don’t have a gravel or cross bike and are looking to do FoCo Fondo on a road bike, we recommend putting the widest possible tires that will fit and utilizing optimal tire pressure for the best possible ride. Yes, MTB and e-bikes are permitted. For 2025, FoCo Fondo has a plethora of bike brands showing up to present their products to YOU. Some brands are even demo’ing bikes. If you’re in the market for a new bike, even if you’re not riding in FoCo Fondo, head to the expo to experience brands like BMC, Trek, and ENVE.

There’s also bike rental’s available from Trek available on event weekend as supplies last.

Gravel Tires

We can be here all day talking about tire theory. There’s a few ideal tires for FoCo Fondo. We like to go bigger on the tire recommendations and then work our way back to smaller, faster tires if you’re wanting to go faster in a race group. We do, however, 100% recommend a tubeless set up. You can pick up a set of tubeless rims for cheap and it will change your quality of life.

If you’re out to have fun and not worry about punctures and have surety of traction, we recommend WTB Vulpine. We’ve seen top riders increase tire widths rapidly over the past few years for flat resistance without much loss of rolling resistance. A WTB Vulpine in 36mm, 40mm, or 45mm are all great options…they are light and fast, but not crazy wide, and still have some tread pattern to keep the traction on for the turns.

Gravel Wheels

What can we say, #irideenve

We love ENVE Composite’s constant, limit-pushing innovation and confidence in their product (lifetime warranty, say whaa?). We use the SES Wheels for a ton of gravel racing, as well as the G-series when things get gnar. Their newer Foundation Series Wheel is another option to get in the door at a lower price point and will blow your mind. Did we mention all their wheels are manufactured right at their HQ in Ogden, UT?!

Bike Computers

Here at FoCo Fondo, we think Garmin is the bee’s knees. While FoCo Fondo is a “marked course” it’s never going to be perfect. Hours and hours of work go into marking hundreds of miles of course on event day but the signs blow over, they get moved or stolen, or just looked over as you’re trying to navigate rough terrain. You wouldn’t drive to a far away destination trying to follow street signs, you use navigation. Garmin products have, best in class navigation, battery life, and in some cases even solar powered head units. All of this tech in head units is on top of their other cycling products like radar, power meter pedals, and watches. Check out all their offerings here so you don’t get lost at FoCo Fondo.

Bike Components

Gravel riding is often really tough on equipment and components with epic conditions like mud, snow, sand, and P-L-E-N-T-Y of dust. Having components that still function excellent under pressure is a must. Shimano GRX is tough as nails and will last longer than a few of earth’s rotations around the sun if you take care of it. We’re also a bit obsessed with their RX8 gravel shoe.

Flat Kit

FoCo Fondo is a self supported event. You will need a strong kit to tackle any repairs and flats. We recommend these things for your kit.

  • A good seat bag (or downtube bike storange)

  • 1-2 tubes

  • A good multitool (here is one we like)

  • A good plug kit for tubeless tires

  • Tire levers

P.S We 100% recommend a tubeless tire set up. You’ll have far fewer mechanicals on gravel roads versus traditional tubed set ups.