I had the absolute pleasure of diving deep into the world of Gevenalle the weekend of the Cross Crusades PIR race. My goal was to truly understand what the company is all about and how Gevenalle creator Adam Clement lives his life to support cyclocross and improve the components used.
Based out of Portland, OR Gevenalle creates or modifies existing products to work better in the harsh cyclocross conditions. When I got to Gevenalle, Adam’s crew was building the BURD (Blatantly Upgraded Rebranded Derailleur) with his specific engineered modifications to make his derailleur’s stronger. This is to ensure each BURD will push through the mud and grime cross provides as you’re thrashing the course. I had the opportunity to ride Adam’s Rock Lobster Cross during the race; testing out every component Gevenalle makes. Not a single issue even with jam packed Portland mud in every crevice the Rock Lobster had. If there is one way to truly understand why Gevenalle kills the competition it would be race proven testing! And it nailed it!
This last shot really shows off the mud love that was going on. I raced CAT C’s with about 100 racers on the course. There was a slight rain that that turned the mud on the course to ICE!! Not because it was too cold, but because of the thin layer of mud on top of hard packed ground.
The Gevenalle tent was perfectly placed in the middle of the heckling pit where I had a few solid heckles thrown at me. It was frustrating, and encouraging, and hilarious all wrap into a 200 meter stretch! The switch backs were not horrible at all… mixed with the mud that covered them… HORRIBLE!! Lost all traction and was forced to run about half way through them.
My drive train was so packed down I had to stop 3 times to clear out the mud but there was no undoing what was done. It felt like I was peddling through sand even on the fast sections of the course. With that said, Gevenalle’s derailleur’s pushed right through each gear like a dream even with the packed in mud! Impressive!!
Anyways, you can find out all kinds of great write ups and Gevenalle gear review links on Gevenalle’s main page, I highly encourage you to do so. I want to talk about how Adam Clement is a one stop shop of cyclocross radery!!
Step one in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… COFFEE:
Adam got to the race around 7:00 a.m. to set up his portable coffee set up. His grinder filled with FREE beans provided by Stumptown Coffee (thanks Stumptown!!) and ready to caffeinate the field. No coffee requested was turned away. All were wide eyed and ready to race or heckle or both! That mixed in with the fact that we were neighbors to Trusty Switchblade (who Gevenalle has sponsored riders with) that provided VooDoo Donuts… everyone was happily coffee and sugar filled to get the race started!
Step two in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… NEUTRAL SUPPORT:
When I say support I really mean full mechanic on duty! Seriously… from blown tires to tune ups to full shifter replacement… Adam nailed it! and in a super timely manner. Folks flocked to him for quick quality repair needs pre/post race.
Step three in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… FIELD PHOTOGRAPHER:
In between everything listed above, Adam was all over the course capturing racers in the pain cave. One minute I look back and he is replacing a shifter, the next he’s across the course doing this! Solid!
Step four in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… SPONSORED RACERS:
Erika Miranda took 1st in her Athena category, Aunika Miranda took 11th in Womens A’s in her first race since moving up from B’s (she’s 13 and killing it), Peter Newlands team DEVO took first in the Cat B’s (he is 16), just to name a few. 
Aunika Miranda
The fifth and potentially the most important step in Adam obtaining full cyclocross support radness… POST RACE BEERS!!:
I couldn’t be more pleased after racing to show up to the Gevenalle tent with warm amazing food and solid Portland beer!! It was a perfect race ender and prepped me to heckle/shoot photos the rest of the day!
Adam is seriously one hard ass working dude for the soul purpose of making cyclocross better!! His passion is intoxicating!! His sponsored racers regular step on the podium and range from pro level elite to enthusiastic juniors!! This fact alone speaks for Gevenalle and the solid strong products they have!!
If you haven’t looked into Gevenalle before this write up I highly encourage you to do so now. What you will find is a very affordable, strong, and nearly indestructible cyclocross components that will last you season after season; and if you do just so happen to get too rad and break a Gevenalle part… send it back to Gevenalle to be repaired at minimal cost! That’s pretty great!!
Low cost, high strength, solid mud thrashing… nailed it on all levels Adam!!
RIDE x CREATE