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Kevin's Gravel Packer Pass Hunter
by Kevin
I primarily am a road cyclist, and so my original Pass Hunter build was designed around Shimano's Ultegra R8000 drivetrain and a set of 700c wheels with TRP Spyre brakes. I went with the widest Ultegra cassette offered and paired with our compact Drillium crank. I wanted a build geared for road climbing--this is a Pass Hunter, after all. And that noir Drillium crank just looks sweet, doesn't it? (The crank is on sale now, by the way).
For bars I went with our Nouveau Randonneur drops mounted to our Tall Stack stem. A 0 Setback Seatpost and Brooks C15 saddle round out the cockpit. The Cambium saddles can be a bit divisive, but I've had mine for years and tend to swap it around between my touring setups. Our noir Moderniste bottle cages complete the black and blue look, with a gold seat collar and brass stem cap (a close enough color match) providing a dab of glitz.
After a weekend in the mountain backcountry (read my ride report here), I at times found the road groupset to be a bit outmatched. A gravel-centric 1x system might ultimately be the only change I'd make for a similar tour in the future. Otherwise, I was quite pleased. I don't see myself going back to a rack and pannier system anytime soon. Check out the complete build list under our Bike Build Ideas page.