Enve premieres its Survivor-style bicycle reality TV game show on Youtube

Today, bicycle component manufacturer Enve is premiering the first episode of its reality TV game show, The All Terrain Bicycle Challenge.

Airing on Youtube, the show is the bicycle version of Survivor meets The Amazing Race meets I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Five contestants were tasked to build the ultimate ATB —All Terrain Bicycle— before setting out to tackle what is billed as the “World’s Most Challenging ATB route ever imagined,” courtesy of show host and ‘alt cycling mogul’ Ronnie Ronmance a.k.a “Ultraromance."

“The All Terrain Bicycle Challenge is about reintroducing the ATB, the varied setup options, the terrain that can be tackled, and of course finding the contestants’ breaking point,” states Enve.

“A proper ATB would have a varied mix of mountain bike and road parts, with options of drop bar or flat bar, wide-range gearing, and tire sizes that rival any MTB on the market. There’s also a rider mindset that’s a differentiator. The All-Terrain rider would choose adventure, problem-solving, and life-affirming experiences over speed every single time.”

The Contestants

Late last summer, an open casting call went out for five challengers to participate in the The All Terrain Bicycle Challenge.  

As part of the application, contestants were challenged to build their vision of an all terrain bike capable of conquering the ‘World’s Most Challenging ATB Route ever imagined’, take an ATB personality quiz, and describe why they needed this challenge. Characteristics like speed, racing palmarès and appearance would all be overlooked. Instead, central to each contestant’s selection is their deep caring about adventure and love of cyclo-overlanding.

The five chosen contestants were told to get themselves to Albany, New York, on September 17, 2021. From there, they’d be taken to a ‘secret, remote and insanely rugged location somewhere in North America’ or, in actuality, Vermont. 

The Bikes

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To create their ‘ultimate ATB’, each contestant was given a base Enve ATB Kit, Crust Bombora ATB Edition Frame , Ultradynamico ATB tires, and SRAM ATB groupset. 

From there, the contestant could spec out the bike to their own preferences and course anticipations. Drop or flat bars, nimble 650b or regular 700c wheels, knobby tires or slicks, flat pedals or clipless, etc. Whatever their wishes, the tricked-out bikes would await them to their exact specifications in Burlington on September 17th. 

Gear bags, nutritions and tools, however, were their own responsibility and part of the challenge. 

The Challenge

Once in Vermont, the five contestants received their tricked-out ATBs and were taken to a secret, remote location somewhere to tackle the challenge.

Details of the “World’s Most Challenging ATB route ever imagined” are scarce but, according to the trailer, it involved 71 miles of rugged terrain with 12,110 ft of elevation gain — to be completed in 14 hours. 

The show also promises challenges of every kind: physical, emotional and mechanical, including: haunted train tunnels, mercurial weather, brake blowouts, chain breaks, hike-a-bikes, river crossings, rope bridges, orienteering, tree climbing and more. In short, a true all-terrain adventure race. 

With no support on course, contestants were on their own when it came to way-finding, nutrition and fixing mechanicals. 

The prize for anyone finishing the challenge in the allotted time? To take their ultimate ATB build home, along with some bragging rights of course.

Watch

There will be three episodes total with the first dropping on Thursday, April 28. The second episode will be released on Tuesday, May 3, and the finale will drop on Tuesday, May 10.