Check out this cool Pelago Stavanger! Do-it-all road bike in ultra-distance gravel mode

Not all of the bikes winning races are superlight carbon rigs – especially at ultra-distance and gravel events. Marcus Nicolson’s Pelago Stavanger is a great example of a race-capable bike that isn’t made of the lightest carbon (it's steel), and at a race, isn’t equipped with the lightest possible kit. 

> Best gravel bikes 2023

Scottish ultra-distance rider Marcus Nicolson recently raced the 850km Seven Serpents bikepacking race on this Pelago Stavanger gravel bike, and we’re going to have a closer look at what a bikepacking-race-bike looks like. Marcus finished fifth in the race, less than a day behind race winner, Justinas Leveika. 

Let's start with the frame, which you don't bump into every day, especially on the UK streets. Pelago hails from Finland, and Stavanger is their “versatile road frame” but as we can see here, it’s more than capable of taking bigger tyres as well – in fact Pelago say it's been optimised "for gravel paths and trekking". Basically, it's what's generally called an all-road bike nowadays. “I’ve found it to be a super durable and adaptable machine and can’t wait to put in some more miles on it,” Marcus himself says about the bike. 

The frame is made with oversized chromoly steel double-butted tubes for rigidity, and finished with a tapered headtube that allows for a carbon fork to be fitted.
Marcus has built the bike up with a 2x Shimano GRX drivetrain, DT Swiss wheelset and a Columbus carbon fork.

The tyres - which Marcus praises for reliability - are 45mm Pirelli Cinturatos. He’s put on the Mud version up front and Hard in the back. “It was a bit slippery on the rear tyre in all the mud and rain during the race but I didn’t have any punctures!” Marcus says. 

At the cockpit, Marcus has a Redshift ShockStop suspension stem which on rough and long days out is a neck-saver. The front wheel is equipped with an SP dynamo hub on the front and a new K-Lite front light which kept the trails lit up at night - and offered a way to recharge devices. 

The Seven Serpents – which runs through Croatia on mainly gravel roads from Ljubljana to Trieste was actually a very wet race this year, and that meant riders were struggling with electronics. “I didn’t actually do any charging as my phone got so wet from all the rain and couldn’t be used!” Marcus says. 

Navigation was handled by a trusty Garmin eTrex 20x which Marcus said kept him on the track without worrying about useless stats like average speed and elevation profile (the total elevation for the route was about 16,000m).

Onto the bags. All of the bags you can see on the bike are handmade by Ross at Straight Cut Design in Edinburgh. 

“Seven Serpents was the first adventure for the DHÀ framebag. It’s a great size for all the essentials and allows me to fit bottles in below. I used the dropper-compatible size seatpack along with top tube bag/stem bags. This was enough space for my (quite) minimal sleep set-up, and the bags are very durable,” Marcus lists, praising the work of Straight Cut Design, which for him is a local business. 

Talking of that minimal sleep set-up, Marcus used an emergency bivvy, silk liner, and a Kylmit mat.

For water, Marcus carried a 2l hydration vest in which he also store suncream. “In the Atlas Mountain Race, it popped out of my bag on the first day and I paid the price later,” Marcus recalls his experience at the 2022 ultra-race. 

In terms of the saddle, Marcus says he finds the Ergon SR AllRoad Core saddle to be particularly comfortable for his sit bones. 

The next wee ride Marcus will be taking the Stavanger on is the Bright Midnight 1000km bikepacking race in Norway next month. 

[Photo credit to: Enrica Pontin, Bruno Ferraro and Chris Martin]

Remember to also check out our other Bike at Bedtime features - and let us know in the comments what you think about this one!