We interviewed a few prominent teams taking part in the latest edition of Eco-Challenge, the expedition adventure held in Fiji. Here’s the gear that helped them through the ‘world’s toughest race.’
“The jungle is trying to eat you. You’re going to be wet and cold.” Racing in the Eco-Challenge is no walk in the park. And to keep you and your team afloat, it requires a lot of gear.
Never heard of the race series? Here’s what you need to know. In Eco-Challenge, teams race nonstop: navigating together on foot, mountain bike, raft, outrigger, canyoneering, and climbing to cover more than 417 miles of terrain and sea. You can see the teams put their gear to the test on Amazon Prime Video in the 10-episode series.
In this last installment of our Eco-Challenge gear stories, we asked four team members about their bike choices, a crucial piece of transportation in the sport of adventure racing. If you aren’t familiar with the Eco-Challenge teams, consider reading their bios here first.
Read on for their stories.
Team Out There: Scott, Felt, Specialized
We decided to go with light cross-country race bikes. Three of us used hardtail carbon 29er mountain bikes, which was the lightest choice. I am glad we did because there is nothing flat in Fiji, including the ocean. You’re either going up or down, and every up seemed to be over 20% grade. We had two Scott Scale bikes, one Felt Nine, and one Specialized Epic.
We also had a mix of tires, but I went with a Maxxis Ikon 29 x 2.35-inch. There are three pro mountain bikers on our team, so handling technical terrain was not an issue and most of the riding was on gravel and Jeep roads.
Team NZ: Santa Cruz
We all rode full-suspension bikes. We felt they were ideal for the Fijian roads and tracks. They were Santa Cruz Blur cross-country racing bikes.
We went with tires that cleared mud (as best they could).
Team Iron Cowboy: Fezzari

Team Endure: Cannondale
