Alt Empordà, a gravel heaven in Catalonia
Nafent Magazine went on a three-day gravel bike packing tour, and this was our set-up.
Nafent got a Ridley Kanzo and a Ridley Electric Kanzo from Eat Sleep Cycle in Girona for this gravel bike packing tour.
Nafent was particularly impressed by how stable the Kanzo is and how reliable the electric support. On steep uphills, the electric variant wants to keep going, even if small rocks reduce your speed. On downhills, both models go very smoothly through the corners.
The single chain ring in the front is not an issue, as the biggest and smallest rings in the back are more than sufficient to overcome 98% of all the climbs and downhills.
The Electric Kanzo has a range of around 90 kilometers, depending on how much power you need and how hilly your route is. For our distances it was more than sufficient. Bringing the charger allows you to recharge the battery during coffee stops. Recharging, in the beginning, is fast, however, to fully recharge the battery, you need a few hours.
The Kanzo turned out to be an ideal bike for gravel bike packing. The bags from SKS Germany perfectly fitted onto the bike and after a few minutes, we forgot about our bags. The thick tires, disc brakes and stiffness of the frame result in a very comfortable riding experience.
SKS Germany
Nafent chose German quality for their bike packing tour through the Alt Empordà. All products for the bike packing trip were from SKS Germany. On the normal Kanzo, we mounted the Explorer saddlebag, Explorer bar bag, Explorer Edge, and the Explorer Smart. This was enough for a small bike packing trip like ours, especially while sleeping in comfortable hotels or apartments like Hotel Terraverda and Bravissimo.
For more sophisticated bike packing tours, for example, with sleeping bags and tents, SKS Germany offers plenty of possibilities to make your trip successful. For example, the Explorer Experience Framebag has a maximum load capacity of 5 kilograms, is waterproof and keeps space for your water bottles. An additional feature from the Ridley Kanzo is that there are additional alternative places to mount bottle holders on the frame.
The only product we did not use from SKS Germany was the Mudrocker. It did not rain and the roads were not wet, so Nafent decided to leave the mudguards at home.
This story is part of Nafent Magazine volume 2. Read the full story in our digital or paper magazine. Go to our webshop, or buy yours at one of our forty partner’s places.
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