Here's a look at some of the gravel greatness from this year's Dirty Kanza - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Salsa Cycles was showing off its redesigned Warbird at the DK Gravel Expo - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
The Warbird fork sports mounts for fenders, bottle cages and cargo carriers - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
This particular Warbird was raced in the inaugural 350-mile DKXL by Salsa product manager Joe Meiser - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
A sign of things to come? Another Warbird in Salsa's booth was equipped with a RockShox SID and 27.5x2.2in Maxxis tires - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
RockShox limited the travel on this SID to 40mm, which is the standard amount of travel for many gravel suspension forks - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Giant Bicycles racer Ryan Steers completed the Dirty Kanza 200 aboard a prototype Giant gravel bike (as you may have guessed, he's very tall) - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
In keeping with trends of the breed, the carbon frame has mounts for three water bottles - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Steers' bike was equipped with the new Shimano Ultegra RX rear derailleur - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Wheel maker ENVE used the event to release its G series line of grave wheelsets. The company had a high-tech inflation system used in trucking to achieve perfect tire pressures - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
In addition to two new gravel wheels, ENVE is also developing a gravel handlebar - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
ENVE's bar is flared lower in the drops, which keeps the hoods in a traditional position - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Former Dirty Kanza 200 winner Yuri Hauswald raced the DKXL aboard this Scott Addict Gravel. A custom CamelBak bladder is housed inside the Ortlieb top tube bag - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Hauswald modified CamelBak's magnetic hose clamp to keep his water within arm's reach - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Hauswald, like many riders, ran the Lauf Grit fork - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Outvi even makes Yuri Edition tool rolls - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
This OTSO gravel bike was equipped with the Fox AX fork - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Wolf Tooth Components B-Rad storage system allows riders to run bottles side-by-side on the downtube - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
This Litespeed soft tail designs might be better suited to gravel than mountain biking - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
One more gravel suspension fork on display: the MRP Baxter - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Clip-on aero bars are very popular with gravel riders - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Cannondale came with a fleet of its gravel edition SuperX SE bikes - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Fans lined the street to cheer on the racers taking on the first edition of the 350-mile DKXL. The DKXL riders started the afternoon before the rest of the events in the hopes they would finish with the following day with the 200-mile racers - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Gravel riders from around the world descended upon the small Kansas town of Emporia this past weekend for the 13th running of the Dirty Kanza. This year, races ranged in length from 25 miles to the 32mi high school race up to 50-, 100- and the ever-popular 200mi (actually 206mi) competition. For the first time, promoters invited 36 select riders to tackle the XL, a 350-mile completely self-supported race. BikeRadar was on hand to race the 200mi event and check out some of the latest and greatest gravel gear.
Click or swipe through the gallery above for a close look at prototype gravel bikes from Salsa and Giant, the 350mi XL setup for Yuri Hauswald, and much, much more.
Stay tuned for a 'Road to Kanza' video we made about preparing bikes, bodies and brains for racing 200 miles of Kansas gravel.
Josh Patterson is a BikeRadar contributor and former technical editor. He has spent most of his career working in the cycling industry as an athlete, mechanic and journalist. He holds a master's degree in journalism and has more than 20 years of experience as a cyclist and 12 years of experience riding and writing for BikeRadar, Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Dirt Rag, RoadBikeReview and Outside Magazine. A native of the Flint Hills of Kansas, Josh was a pioneer in the gravel cycling movement, having raced the first Unbound 200 and many other gravel events around the globe. He considers himself a cycling generalist and enjoys road, gravel and mountain biking in equal measure. When not traveling for work, he can be found exploring the singletrack and lonely gravel roads that surround his home in Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to his love of cycling, Josh is an enthusiastic supporter of brunch, voting rights and the right to repair movement.
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