At the end of Stage 3 of this year’s Absa Cape Epic at Oak Valley, I took a brief look at Karl Platt’s Bulls Wild Edge Team 29.
Platt’s bike features a Shimano XTR drivetrain. Interestingly, he goes with the electronic Di2 gear shifting components in the rear and sticks to mechanical parts in the front. Shimano XTR was chosen again for the brakes and rear hub.
RockShox’s RS-1 dominated amongst the pro men at this year’s Absa Cape Epic. Along with the RS-1 comes SRAM’s predictive steering front hub.
The remainder of the wheelset features Stan’s Race Gold rims laced with Sapim CX-Ray spokes. Team Bulls went with tubeless Schwalbe Rocket Ron tyres.
The Wild Edge uses a RockShox Monarch XX (with remote lockout) shock in the rear. The bottle cage in the frame has refreshingly rudimentary look to it.
Platt’s cockpit is somewhat busy with the Garmin mounted on the stem, two shifters plus a Di2 display, GoPro mount, lockout switch, brake levers and bar ends.
Last but not least, the Sahmurai Sword tubeless plug kit. Never again will I ignore bar caps. I would have missed this innovative device, if it weren’t for an enthusiastic mechanic and Stefan Sahm pointing them out.
It appears that "adaptive" is the only word not used in SRAM's marketing material.
That rudimentary bottle cage happens to be a Titanium King Cage - the best there is!