Alex Wild is going flat bars at Leadville 2025, and it's not because he's chasing marginal gains—it's because he wants to have fun on his bike. He walks through his complete setup, from his new sub-1000g Roval Control World Cup wheels to his tire pressure strategy, and shares his race pacing philosophy: be conservative early, execute power targets on the climbs, and save your punch for Coline.
Key Takeaways
- Flat bars with drop bar positioning: Alex runs flat bars but added brake levers 40cm apart with wraps and blips underneath to mimic drop bar hand positions without sacrificing mountain bike handling comfort.
- Lost a pound of wheel weight: The new Roval Air Track and Specialized Fastrack wheels shed 45g from last year's setup—a noticeable difference when re-accelerating wheels on steep climbing.
- Dropper post is worth the watts: Alex runs a 125mm Reverb dropper to stay low and draft in groups, arguing the real-world advantage of dropping your seat for better positioning outweighs the 2-3 watt penalty in lab tests.
- Conservative pacing on early climbs: Don't punch your ticket just to stay with Keegan on Sugarloaf; save your effort for Coline where you can bridge to the group you want to be in.
- Tire setup dialed in: 235g Air Track tires at 16-18 PSI with Orange Seal sealant (3oz), no inserts needed for Leadville—this is Alex's go-to tire choice 95% of the time.
- Fresh ceramic speed chain on race day: Throw on a new UFO ceramic speed chain the night before so it's bedded in (5-10 minutes) during the start line spin-up.
Expert Quotes
"I still run a dropper post on my setup as well. I think there's what you see in the lab and then there's the real world. People are like, 'Oh, 400 grams for a dropper post. That's two to three watts, right, over all of Leadville.' But there's so many times even at Schwamagan where I used a dropper post where I can drop my seat and be behind someone drafting and not have to pedal because now my body is so much lower on the bike."
"I'm not punching my ticket just to be in the front group for the first hour. No, no, forget that."
"I think for me it's being conservative over those first two climbs, getting in a good group to Coline and then I'm capable of a sub50 up Coline. So do that and then essentially that's kind of be my opportunity to bridge up to the group I want to be in."