Rob Britton is riding Factor’s new Sarana gravel bike for the Traka 560 gravel race today.
Designed with input from the 2025 Unbound XL winner, the Factor Sarana majors on comfort and control over long distances, without compromising on aerodynamics or speed.
Most notably, the Sarana is designed to be used with a gravel suspension fork up front, with Britton opting for the 40mm-travel version of Fox’s 32 Taper-Cast Factory gravel fork.
The rest of the bike features a collection of truncated aerofoil tube shapes, with deeper aerofoils up front, shorter, slimmer ones at the rear, and heavily dropped seatstays.
Britton also opted for a set of time-trial style aero extensions, to help with speed and comfort during the long flat stretches in-between climbs on the 550km course.
Bang on trend for this year’s Traka, Britton is also using Schwalbe’s Thunder Burt tyres – the German brand’s fastest cross-country mountain bike option – rather than dedicated gravel tyres.
These were mounted to the Sarana’s new Black Inc Forty Six gravel wheelset, which features wide, 46mm-deep aero rims designed for chunky tyres.
Monster gravel TT
Ultra-wide tyres have been a clear theme at this year’s Traka, with countless pros and amateur riders opting for 50mm+ options.
Speaking exclusively to BikeRadar before the race, Britton described the Schwalbe Thunder Burts as “a terrible mountain bike tyre, but one of the best gravel tyres I’ve used”.
Britton opted for the narrowest, 2.1in / 53mm version, although the Sarana frame has clearance for 2.2in / 57mm tyres, so can accommodate even larger tyres if desired.
The Fox gravel fork’s clearance tops out at 50mm (the Schwalbe’s measure a little narrower than specified once mounted up), although the Sarana can also be specced with a matching rigid fork, enabling the use of 57mm-wide tyres front and rear.
The Sarana can also be specced with a dropper seatpost if desired, although Britton has opted for a rigid carbon post from his sponsor Easton for this race.
Despite these XC-inspired features, the rest of the Sarana is firmly in fast endurance bike territory.
The frame is aerodynamically optimised, and features a fully integrated, Black Inc aero cockpit up front.
Britton’s aero extensions are identical to those specced on Factor’s Hanzo time trial bike, and provide the Canadian with a comfortable and aerodynamic position to lock into for extended periods.
XC/gravel hybrid drivetrain
One of the few pro riders we've seen at this year’s Traka on a Shimano drivetrain, Britton paired a top-spec XTR rear derailleur with a 10-51t cassette and a 46t 1x aero chainring.
Britton told us he usually opts for a 46t chainring for “longer races”, because it gives him a comfortable spread of gears for challenging courses (this year’s Traka 560 route features more than 9,000m of elevation gain).
This chainring is mounted to a Sigeyi power meter spider, with Easton carbon cranks in a relatively short (considering Britton’s 1.88m height), 170mm length.
Instead of GRX gravel shifters, Britton has opted for Shimano Ultegra Di2 road shifters. He also has a set of custom satellite shifters mounted to his aero extensions.
Luggage and plugs at the ready
Finishing off Britton’s build is a set of Tailfin frame bags, plus a small saddle bag, two bottle cages and some tubeless plugs taped to the frame, ready to be called into action at a moment's notice.
Britton said his frame bags would be filled with fuel for the race, from his sponsor The Feed, plus tools and spares to help him deal with any mechanical failures.
Instead of bringing a hand pump, Britton said he would be racing with an electric mini pump, with enough juice to fully re-inflate his tyres around four times.
Last but not least, Britton is running Shimano XTR SPD pedals, plus Exposure lights and a custom-made saddle from Canadian brand, Reform.
