Reader’s Rig: Cesar’s Riverside Touring 920 Prototype

Words and photos by César Bygodt

I am César Bygodt, a 24-year-old French bike enthusiast. My first bike adventure was the result of a stupid bet with a friend. A few weeks later, we were riding the Camino de Santiago in Spain on our old mountain bikes. Since then, every holiday has been a good excuse to explore the world by bike. I’ve cycled Bolivia, Patagonia, France, the Silk Road, and countless micro adventures around home.

These days, I travel on bike, I commute daily by bike, I play bike polo, and I’m always busy wrenching on something in the backyard. Being outdoors and riding my bicycle is essential to my life balance. Pedaling offers important headspace, and adventures always remind me that all I need in life fits in a few bikepacking bags, which I think is an essential life lesson. Years on the road with countless set ups on various trips led me to the increasingly light set up I use today.

My Riverside Touring 920 is a prototype I’ve been testing during all my recent journeys. It’s a monstercross designed for off-road adventures. The frame is aluminium and the fork is carbon. Together, they offer 32 fixing bolts, and you can basically attach anything to this bike. The geometry, my beloved Brooks Cambium saddle, and the wide tyres provide a fair amount of comfort. The wide and flared bars surprised me at first, but I absolutely love them now. It offers a mix of efficiency and simplicity, especially with its 1×11 drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes. It’s a freedom machine and is capable of handling rugged singletrack sections while remaining fast on tarmac and smooth on gravel. For me, it’s the perfect adventure partner.

• Frame/Fork Riverside Touring Prototype
• Rims Sunringle Duroc 30
• Hubs Shimano Deore Dynamo (front) / Leetchi (rear)
• Tires Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB 29 x 2.25″
• Handlebars Riverside touring-specific wide drops
• Headset Btwin
• Crankset SRAM Stylo 32T
• Cassette SRAM Rival 11-42
• Derailleur SRAM Rival 11-speed
• Brakes SRAM Rival Hydraulic Disc
• Shifter(s) SRAM Rival Double Tap
• Saddle Brooks Cambium C15 Carved
• Seatpost Btwin
• Stem Btwin
• Front bags Riverside Touring prototype
• Frame bags Riverside Touring prototype
• Rear bags Acepac
• Accessory bags Revelate designs mountain feedbag + Specialized top tube pack
• Other accessories Cycle2charge USB stem charger

You can see more from César on Instagram @colybride.

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