Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from Ben Everett of Evergreen Gravel Racing, who shares the Velo Orange Piolet he built up to handle long rides on the diverse roads and trails around his home in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Get to know Ben and his latest do-it-all bike here…
Words and photos by Ben Everett
Hello, I’m Ben. I have a history of trying to make every bike I own a “do-it-all” bike, which usually skews toward underbiking. Gravel century on 28mm tires? Sure. Double black diamond trails on a low-trail randonneuring bike complete with full fenders and a lunchbox-style handlebar bag while wearing three-bolt road shoes? Why not? As it turns out, a whole host of “why nots” apply to that situation. Sure, I had my fun, but I’m ready to start matching my bikes to my terrain a little more as my brittle vegan bones pass into their early-to-mid thirties. Enter the Velo Orange Piolet.
This build came about somewhat unexpectedly. I have been using a Velo Orange Pass Hunter for the last few years as my primary off-road road bike, which included scouting and pre-riding the entirety of the Dark Divide 300 bikepacking route. The Pass Hunter is a great bike, but I often pushed the limits of what it’s really designed for. Igor at Velo Orange saw the ways that I was riding my Pass Hunter and reached out to me, saying, “Hey, judging by the riding that you are doing on the Pass Hunter, maybe you’d enjoy a Piolet.” And with that, we got the ball rolling on a build.
When brainstorming this build, I knew I wanted to lean more into the mountain biking side of cycling than I usually do while still having a versatile, adventure-ready bike that’s as at home bushwhacking through forgotten doubletrack as it is taking my three-year-old out to for a vegan scone and oat milk steamer. To me, this meant a dynamo system, wide and low gearing, flat/alt bars, cable-actuated brakes and shifting, and prioritization of comfort and durability. I come from a randonneuring background, so I’m always thinking about riding long distances, and I also wanted this bike to be ready for that. Well, friends, I have not succeeded as wholly in many things in life as I did in bringing that vision to fruition (with help and ideas from the Velo Orange team).
- Frame/Fork: Velo Orange Piolet
- Rims: DT Swiss
- Hubs: SON28 (front) / Velo Orange (rear)
- Tires: Ultradynamico Mars 29 x 2.2
- Handlebars: Velo Orange Ultility Riser
- Headset: Velo Orange
- Crankset: SRAM GX Eagle
- Pedals: Shimano dual-sided
- Derailleur(s): SRAM GX Eagle
- Brakes: Growtac Equal
- Brake levers: Velo Orange Grand Cru
- Shifter(s): SRAM GX Eagle
- Saddle: Velo Orange
- Seatpost: PNW Components Pine 27.2
- Stem: Velo Orange, 70mm
- Front bags: Swift Kestrel handlebar bag
- Frame bags: Swift Holdfast
- Accessory bags: Randi Jo fab Bartender
- Rack: Ratking RIP
- Other accessories: Schmidt Edelux dynamo headlight, Burley trailer thru axle adapter
This bike is a lot of fun, and that’s what bikes should be, right? Obviously, it has its limitations: it won’t win any road criteriums, nor will it take me to the podium in any enduro races, but it does everything in between really well. I have a road bike and a fast-ish gravel bike, so the fact that this bike is not built for speed is okay with me. It’s a welcome change and has allowed me to slow down more and take in my local trails, roads, and ill-defined deer trails in deeper ways, which has led to a heightened connection with the places that I’m in. And isn’t that the whole point of riding bikes? Maybe not for everyone, but for me, it is. I hate to get all new-age on you, but how I ride this bike has been driven by intentionality much more than the ways I’d ridden before.
I look forward to getting more miles on this bike in the backcountry, scouting for races I host, such as the Dark Divide 300 and the Evergreen Grinder. Even though I don’t know what terrain I will encounter, I know my bike will confidently guide me through.
You can follow along with Ben on Instagram.
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