Bikes of Bentang Jawa
Eight decisions, ridden 1,500 km across Java — this is how 34 bikes answered them
Pick a component to see how the field splits.
Rubber
Tyre width is on record for 29 of the 34 bikes in the 2024 field.
Java's 1,500 km is tarmac, broken tarmac, and the occasional excuse for a road. Tyre choice is where riders place their bet — and the field bets narrow.
Width
Most of the field runs 28–32 mm
83% of the widths given in millimetres
29 of 34 documented
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Verdict | Most of the field runs 28–32 mm |
| Figure | 83% of the widths given in millimetres |
| Bikes documented | 29 |
| Bikes counted | 34 |
| Share documented | 85% |
Tyre width
30–34 mm is the busiest bucket, on 16 of 29 bikes
Bikes per width bucket, 2024. The 28–32 mm cluster above falls across 2 of them — no single bucket contains it.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 25–29 mm | 11 bikes (38%) — leading model GP5000 ×2 |
| 30–34 mm | 16 bikes (55%) — leading model GP5000 ×7 |
| 35–39 mm | 1 bikes (3%) |
| 40–44 mm | 0 bikes (0%) |
| 45–50 mm | 1 bikes (3%) |
Tyre make
Continental GP5000 leads the field
Top 5 tyre makes by count, each with its own leading models.
GP5000 9 · Ultralight 1
Corsa N.EXT 1 · Rubino Pro 1
Gravel Grinder 1
Tenaci 1
Pace 1
of 19 bikes naming make and model
| Make | Models |
|---|---|
| Continental | 10 bikes — GP5000 9, Ultralight 1 |
| Vittoria | 2 bikes — Corsa N.EXT 1, Rubino Pro 1 |
| Challenge | 1 bikes — Gravel Grinder 1 |
| Ere | 1 bikes — Tenaci 1 |
| Maxxis | 1 bikes — Pace 1 |
| Other makes | 4 bikes |
The Frames
Frame type is on record for 32 of the 34 bikes in the 2024 field; what the frame is made of, for 14.
Road bike or gravel bike? Across Java the honest answer is "both, and it depends on the potholes" — but road bikes have the majority here.
Frame type
Road bikes lead the field
63% road to 28% gravel
32 of 34 documented
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Verdict | Road bikes lead the field |
| Figure | 63% road to 28% gravel |
| Bikes documented | 32 |
| Bikes counted | 34 |
| Share documented | 94% |
Road versus gravel
Road and gravel split 63% to 28%
Frame type, 2024.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| road | 20 bikes (63%) |
| gravel | 9 bikes (28%) |
| other | 2 bikes (6%) |
| mtb | 1 bikes (3%) |
Frame material
Recorded for 14 of 34 bikes — under half the field. Read what follows as a hint, not a verdict.
Frame material, where it is recorded
Of the 14 bikes that name a material. Shares are of those, not of the field.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Aluminium | 5 bikes (36%) |
| Carbon | 4 bikes (29%) |
| Steel | 2 bikes (14%) |
| Titanium | 2 bikes (14%) |
| Other | 1 bikes (7%) |
The badge on the down tube
A make is on record for 34 of the 34 bikes in the 2024 field, across 21 different names.
Which badge is on the down tube is the one decision on a bike a rider can copy outright. What this section can say about it is decided entirely by the count above — how many of this edition's bikes named a make at all.
Most-ridden make
Specialized tops the start line
6 bikes, ahead of Cannondale on 4
34 of 34 documented
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Verdict | Specialized tops the start line |
| Figure | 6 bikes, ahead of Cannondale on 4 |
| Bikes documented | 34 |
| Bikes counted | 34 |
| Share documented | 100% |
Bikes per make
Specialized is the most common make, on 18% of bikes
Most common first. 21 makes are named in total — most of them by a single rider.
+9 more not shown
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Specialized | 6 bikes (18%) |
| Cannondale | 4 bikes (12%) |
| Marin | 3 bikes (9%) |
| Polygon | 3 bikes (9%) |
| Wdnsdy | 2 bikes (6%) |
| Bombtrack | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Borneotrack | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Canyon | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Cervello | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Cervelo | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Colnago | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Eddy Merckx | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Elves | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Fairlight | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Litespeed | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Lynskey | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Pardus Bikes | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Scott | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Spedagi | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Trek | 1 bikes (3%) |
| Triton | 1 bikes (3%) |
| More | +9 more makes not shown in the chart above |
Where a frame was built is not something the record captures, so this section counts makes and stops there. The Indonesian-maker story the data can prove is stitched, not welded — it is in the bags.
Drivetrain
Chainring layout is on record for 25 of the 34 bikes in the 2024 field; the groupset itself, for 31.
17,000 metres of climbing is the whole argument. Gearing here is not about top speed — it is about still being able to turn the pedals on day five.
Chainrings
2× runs the field
96% of documented drivetrains
25 of 34 documented
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Verdict | 2× runs the field |
| Figure | 96% of documented drivetrains |
| Bikes documented | 25 |
| Bikes counted | 34 |
| Share documented | 74% |
One ring or two
2× setups run 96% of drivetrains
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 1× | 1 bikes (4%) |
| 2× | 24 bikes (96%) |
Groupsets
31 of 34 name a groupset, and almost every one differs — 27 distinct entries. Shimano 105 repeats most, on 2.
Written more than once, all of them: Shimano 105 ×2, Shimano GRX ×2, Shimano Ultegra 6800 ×2, SRAM Force AXS ×2.
Shifting
Recorded for 8 of 34 bikes — under half the field. Read what follows as a hint, not a verdict.
Wheels
24 of 34 name a wheelset, and no two are the same — 24 distinct entries.
Not one name is written twice.
Gearing
Recorded for 14 of 34 bikes — under half the field. Read what follows as a hint, not a verdict.
Mullet builds
1
bike ran a mullet — road shifters driving an off-road derailleur and cassette (GRX, Deore, XT, XPLR). It is the cheapest way to buy a climbing gear a road groupset will not give you.
34 of 34 documented
Carrying it all
At least one bag is on record for 28 of the 34 bikes in the 2024 field.
This is where Bentang Jawa stops looking like every other ultra. Tailfin and Apidura are here, of course — but so are Bandung and Jakarta workshops stitching frame bags to order, one rider at a time.
Indonesian-made bags
Indonesian makers are on 29% of bagged bikes
4 local makers, 11 bikes
28 of 34 documented
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Verdict | Indonesian makers are on 29% of bagged bikes |
| Figure | 4 local makers, 11 bikes |
| Bikes documented | 28 |
| Bikes counted | 34 |
| Share documented | 82% |
Indonesian makers on the start line
Every local brand in the dataset, and how many bikes carried it.
URBNCASE
Carried on 5 bikes in the field
- bags
Satset
Carried on 4 bikes in the field
- bags
Sekayuh
Carried on 2 bikes in the field
- bags
Eiger Adventure
Carried on 1 bike in the field
- bags
Local versus international
29% of bag-carrying bikes used an Indonesian maker
Counted per bike. A bike running both is counted in both columns.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Indonesian makers | 11 bikes (29%) |
| International brands | 27 bikes (71%) |
Bag brands
Apidura is the most common bag brand, on 54% of bikes with bags recorded
Bikes per brand.
+13 more not shown
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Apidura | 15 bikes |
| URBNCASE | 5 bikes |
| Satset | 4 bikes |
| Brooks England | 3 bikes |
| Rhinowalk | 3 bikes |
| Tailfin | 3 bikes |
| Sekayuh | 2 bikes |
| 2 | 1 bikes |
| Bontrager | 1 bikes |
| Chrome | 1 bikes |
| costume | 1 bikes |
| Doubletrack | 1 bikes |
| Eiger Adventure | 1 bikes |
| GRVL | 1 bikes |
| HBRNG | 1 bikes |
| Holman | 1 bikes |
| Honey | 1 bikes |
| no | 1 bikes |
| Pitbags | 1 bikes |
| Rapha | 1 bikes |
| Rockbros | 1 bikes |
| Sekayuh.id | 1 bikes |
| Topeak | 1 bikes |
| Urban | 1 bikes |
| Uswe | 1 bikes |
| More | +13 more not shown in the chart above |
Cockpit & contact points — what we know least
In the 2024 field, aero bars are on record for 26 of 34 bikes, saddles for 14 and pedals for 7.
Six days on a bike means the three places you touch it matter more than the frame does. It is also the part of a bike a caption describes least completely: the frame and the tyres get named almost every time, the saddle and pedals far less often.
Aero bars
Most of the field rides on its elbows
18 of 26 recorded ran aero or rest bars
26 of 34 documented
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Verdict | Most of the field rides on its elbows |
| Figure | 18 of 26 recorded ran aero or rest bars |
| Bikes documented | 26 |
| Bikes counted | 34 |
| Share documented | 76% |
Aero and rest bars
69% of documented cockpits carry aero or rest bars
Once a time-trial affectation, now a place to rest your elbows.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| aero bars | 18 bikes |
| no aero bars | 8 bikes |
Bar setup
Recorded for 16 of 34 bikes — under half the field. Read what follows as a hint, not a verdict.
Saddles
Recorded for 14 of 34 bikes — under half the field. Read what follows as a hint, not a verdict.
Pedals
Recorded for 7 of 34 bikes — under half the field. Read what follows as a hint, not a verdict.
The road these bikes crossed
West to east across Java, self-navigated and self-supported, solo or in pairs — this is what the field rode to close the distance.
Distance
1,500 kilometres
west → east
Climbing
17,000 metres
on the organiser’s profile
Cutoff
156 hours
≈ 6.5 days riding
Support
0 vehicles
fully self-supported
Line traced from bob aria bharuna's ride on RideWithGPS — a GPS-measured 1,502 km with 17,365 m of climbing. That's a separate, equally valid measurement from the race facts above, not a correction to them; those are the organiser's, from bentangjawa.cc.