Published October 27, 2022 10:04AM
Pro bike gallery: Haley Smith's Ibis Hakka MX
At Big Sugar Gravel, we took a look at the Grand Prix series winner's gravel bike
(Photo: Wil Matthews)
Haley Smith was a relative newcomer to the gravel scene this year, but the 28-year-old made a splash.
The Canadian has long competed on the World Cup mountain bike circuit but this year added the Life Time Grand Prix to her schedule. Turns out she has an engine for endurance.
At Unbound, her first gravel race ever, Smith finished sixth in a stacked field of women. The next month, she went on to win the notoriously difficult Crusher in the Tushar.
Solid results at all six of the Grand Prix events saw Smith take the overall in the Grand Prix.
Here’s a peek at her Ibis Hakka MX gravel bike at last weekend’s Big Sugar Gravel race in Bentonville, Arkansas. Smith’s race rig is built up with a Shimano GRX Di2 group, 4iiii power meter, Stan’s NoTubes wheels, an Easton cockpit, and Maxxis Rambler tires.
Also read: Pro bike gallery: Sofia Gomez Villafañe’s Specialized Roubaix for the UCI Gravel World Championships
Smith at the Big Sugar Gravel expo. It was her first time racing the 104-mile event in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Her bike is built up around a Shimano GRX Di2 group, 4iiii power meter, Stan’s NoTubes wheels, an Easton cockpit, and Maxxis Rambler tires.
Canadian power meter company 4iiii sells both pre-installed crank-based power meters and can do factory installation if you send in your own crank. These GRX cranks have 48/31T chainrings.
A Shimano 11-34T cassette provides more than enough range for an undulating course like Big Sugar, especially when set up with a 2x crank. The 104-mile race had about 7,000 feet of climbing.
Smith went for volume with these Maxxis Rambler 700x45c tires, a pretty uncommon width choice for a pro gravel racer.
With 300-gram carbon rims, the Stan’s NoTubes Grail CB7 wheelset builds up to a total weight of 1,343 grams while still being strong enough for gravel riding.
Easton provides the stem and handlebars.
This Raceface NEXT SL seatpost continues the trend of lightweight components.
Metal bottle cages still set the standard in durability and, in most cases, doing a better job of holding on to bottles over boneshaking gravel roads.