{"id":1960899,"date":"2026-05-28T02:49:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1960899"},"modified":"2026-05-28T02:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:49:29","slug":"this-bike-won-the-first-unbound-gravel-20-years-ago-things-have-changed-a-lot-since-then","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1960899","title":{"rendered":"This Bike Won the First Unbound Gravel 20 Years Ago. Things Have Changed a Lot Since Then."},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dan-Hughes-Video-Thumb-6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Logan Jones-Wilkins<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated May 28, 2026 02:50PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When Dan Hughes and 33 other people lined up in a dingy hotel parking lot in May of 2006, nobody knew that 20 years later, the 200-mile ride they were about to do would become a global sporting event. At the time, they were just concerned with making it through the 200 miles of gravel one mile at a time, with flat tires the expectation and appropriate equipment a notion without an answer.<\/p>\n

Yet, even though that original race is a far cry from what Unbound Gravel is now, it is still riding bikes when all is said and done. So, we took the 20th anniversary as a chance to ask Hughes to grab his original Kansas gravel grinding machine and head into the Flint Hills with us and give a rundown of what Unbound tech was when the whole circus started in a dingy hotel parking lot.<\/p>\n

Gallery: Dan Hughes\u2019 Inaugural Unbound Gravel Winning Bike<\/h2>\n
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Dan Hughes with his Steelman cyclocross bike. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A lot has changed in off-road cycling tech in the last 20 years. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 52\/36T 2x chainring setup is a far cry from the 1x setups and gear ratios of today. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Campagnolo shifters reflect a time when the Italian brand was on top of drivetrains, and before electronic shifting took over. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This cassette leaves a lot to be desired for going uphill. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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No disc brakes here. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Carbon fiber on a derailleur, now that\u2019s high tech! (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cgravel bikes\u201d were still a distant concept in 2006. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The tire selection was definitely not as wide as today\u2019s era of 50mm+ tires, but the tread pattern was ready for rough conditions. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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There were quite a few hand positions on these drop bars, and arguably much less grip at the hoods available than one would prefer off-road. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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External cable routing kept things simple. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Yes, that\u2019s a tube *gasp* (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Shimano Dura-Ace cranks break up an otherwise Campagnolo drivetrain. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This bike was far from the fully integrated carbon cockpits of today. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The locals approve of this piece of history. (Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(Photo: Logan Jones-Wilkins\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Logan Jones-Wilkins<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated May 28, 2026 02:50PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/celebrating-twenty-years-of-unbound-gravel-with-first-winning-bike\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dan-Hughes-Video-Thumb-6.jpg”] Logan Jones-Wilkins Updated May 28, 2026 02:50PM When Dan Hughes and 33 other people lined up in a dingy hotel parking lot in May of 2006, nobody knew that 20 years later, the 200-mile ride they were about to do would become a global sporting event. At the time, they were just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1960899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1960899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960899\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1960899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1960899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1960899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}