Alexey Vermeulen's ENVE MOG

The custom ENVE bike that was the "blueprint" for Vermulen's podium at SBT GRVL

17:30, Tuesday 22nd August 2023

Logan Jones-Wilkins

Alexey Vermeulen, and the journalist taking the photo, had to move quick in order to catch the imminent start of the Unbound XL Friday afternoon

ENVE Composites
ENVE Composites is based in the United States and specialises in wheels and components across all of the cycling disciplines.
Shimano
Shimano is a bike component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. The company is one of the industry’s most popular manufacturers and it makes up around three-quarters of the bicycle component market by value.
Silca
Silca is a bicycle accessories manufacturer currently based in Indianapolis, USA. It produces a range of maintenance products, tools and accessories to elevate cyclists’ ride experience.

Alexey Vermeulen has lived a lot of cycling lives for a 28-year-old rider. Out of the under-23 ranks, Vermeulen was able to secure a contract at Lotto NL-Jumbo in 2016. While the contract seemed like the ticket to a long European career at the time, the early WorldTour opportunity quickly turned into a dead end after he wasn't offered a second contract.

So, starting in 2019 after one season racing abroad at Continental level, Vermeulen set about carving out his niche back home in the states. Before long, he pieced together technical partners and funding to take on the nation's largest off-road races, while growing a neat online following. In fact, Vermeulen is often the secondary star on his Instagram page alongside his wiener dog, Sir Willie, who tags along on Vermeulen's training sessions in a backpack.

View post on Instagram

Vermeulen is now seen universally as one of the top off-road racers in America and is currently ENVE's flagship rider on the gravel scene. Thus, for ENVE's first Unbound as a player in the gravel bike market, the Utah brand pulled out all the stops in setting up Vermeulen with a MOG that would hopefully be the blueprint for success.

At SBT GRVL, Vermeulen was one of the strongest performers on the day. Although he missed the first move of five, he was able to follow Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz) on his second attack, only to be trailed off when Swenson pushed on again on the downhill.

"Peter and Keegan were the strongest and I just wanted to hang on until closer to the finish," Vermeulen told GCN after the race. "When Adam Roberge crashed I thought to myself ‘oh no, I am in dire straits right now’ with still over an hour to go. But there wasn't too much to do, I knew I couldn't hit it too hard and kept it consistent. It was about being smooth and hoping that I had enough."

As for the bike?

Logan Jones-Wilkins

While the title photo was the bike at Unbound, here were the slight alterations made for SBT. Can you spot the changes?

"It was perfect!"

Like at Unbound, Vermeulen raced a mix of road and gravel components on his custom-painted ENVE MOG. Unlike Unbound, there was absolutely no walking – there was not even any stopping for water. Thus, out with the Shimano XTR pedals and in with the Dura-Ace SPD pedals for the Shimano athlete. With Shimano covering all the bits, Vermeulen ran GRX electronic shifters and a GRX rear-mech, with a Dura-Ace crankset and 11-32 cassette.

Logan Jones-Wilkins

All the bits and bobs of Vermeulen's ENVE MOG

Finally, the all-important tyre choice. SBT GRVL has, in the past, seen riders push for narrower tyres with such high speeds. Nevertheless, this trend seemed to be bucked this year with lots of riders opting to run tyres closer to the 38-40mm width, with slicker treads and low pressure. Vermeulen was no different. He opted for Kenda's semi-slick 4Titude 40mm on ENVE SES 4.5 wheels.