Our official component partner and presenting sponsor since 2013, SRAM provides unparalleled support on site for Epic athletes. 1X, baby. You will be assimilated. With a big goofy no-front-mech grin on your face. And as is that’s not enough, SRAM brings RockShox, Avid and Truvativ cousins to the party.

The SRAM team are more than partners – they bring rider assistance that’s invaluable and unequalled, plus a cast of ambassadors and techs that add volumes to the event. When it comes to Epic’s “Best in Class Partners” philosophy, SRAM sets the bar.

Wanna know what the Epic really is? For us on the production side it’s a prolonged sleep-deprivation contest. For the athletes? It’s a 7-day recovery contest punctuated by six 40-ish mile sections of high alpine singletrack awesomeness. The good folks at GU hustle their honeybuns over from an event on the other side of the Ten Mile Range (that has huffily requested that we keep their name out of our mouths), delivering an embarrassing cornucopia of goodies to help our athletes perform at their peak, and recovery so that can strap it on the next day. Chapeau, GU. You rock.

Ergon Bike. Designers and manufacturers of the world’s best grips and saddles. The Ergon crew has quite a few Epic loyalists, many of them participating in every edition since our first effort in 2009. If you’re looking for ways to improve the interface between rider and machine, look no further. Each element of Ergon’s designs and each component and material in their manufacturing process possesses a rich backstory – an undercurrent of uncompromising design and manufacturing excellence. 

You know what elevates a good partner to great? The willingness to lean in. Our measuring stick with all of our partners is simple; “Can you make the athlete experience better?” The fellas at State Cycling Wheels are doing just that. They loaded up the rig with their raddest new MTB hoops (and a bit ‘o the strange from the gravel and road side), drove up from good ‘ol Austin, Texas, and set up on site in a location that would ALSO allow them to get out on course each day to provide neutral support and a wheel pit. Welcome to the show, State Wheels. Way to kick ass.

Know what riders LOOOOOOVE after a long stage? There’s nothing like an ice cold Coke, amiright? Not Pepsi, not RC Cola, not some generic  or (the horror!) organic knock-off from Whole Foods, but the real deal. Coke. Is. It. So have a Coke and smile because in possibly the best hookup ever negotiated on behalf of our riders, we’re gonna have a cold one waiting for you at the end of each stage. Booyah.

A long, long time ago there was a product called The Ultimate Bike Stand. It was a near-perfect thing and towered above all other bike stands. That product (and company) were purchased by a young engineer named Doug. Doug Hudson. Of the Golden, Colorado Hudsons. Doug perfected the near-perfect stand and went on to create Feedback Sports, a name and brand synonymous with a wide variety of other perfect products that store, hold, showcase, and in the case of the Omnium Portable Trainer, allow you to properly harness the chi of your beautiful bicycle. Doug and the Feedback team can be seen at bicycling’s best events nationwide and have etched an indelible spot for Feedback across the width and breadth of the entire cycling community.

On hand to serve as our bumps, scrapes and mystery pain specialists, Howard Head Sports Medicine augments our already incredible medical team. They’re pioneers in their field and their presence on site is sure to help the entire field recover from the daily stress of big days in the saddle.

It’s not often than a partnership evokes an unprecedented level of stoke with both athletes and production staff alike, but we think it’s safe to say that our new marriage to Castelli and their position as the Epic’s official merchandise partner is something that’s got everyone’s drawers in a pinchy bundle. We mean that in a “we feel all tingly inside and can’t stop giggling” sort of way. Our design team and theirs work hard each year in an effort to produce the best Breck Epic jerseys EVER. With them at our side, we offer bib shorts, arm and knee warmers, rain jerseys and thermal jackets. There may even be a few other goodies under the Epic tree. Stay tuned and see what sort of magic we can cook up with the kids from Castelli’s Servizio Corse custom program!

The sexiest, raddest, sveltest most baddest newest entrant into the helmet fray? KASK, of course. Italian design with impeccable weights and safety features to complement their obvious good looks. Again in line with our “only the best for you” philosophy, KASK will be in hand with service course helmets for those whose equipment meets an untimely (but hopefully peaceful and safe!) demise. Sort of like in 16 Candles when Farmer Ted drove Jake’s girlfriend home in Jake’s dad’s Rolls.

The chickens always come home to roost. In this case, Bontrager. Where Breck Epic worked (shoddily) for a few years before moving to CO. Keith was one of our original participants and the basic premise of the brand (inspired and practical design) resonates with riders across the globe today. Bontrager has expanded beyond the original Race and Race Lite. The brand’s wheels and components have graced podiums of the world’s most prestigious road, cyclocross and mountain bike races. We’re proud (and tickled) to call them partner in our tool, accessory, CO2 dispenser categories.

2016 represents a significant change for the Epic in the eyewear category. Many Coloradans remember Zeal Optics from its days as a bootstrapping outfit from Utah. Safe to say that they’ve grown up a bit and carved out a niche and identity unique among their peers. They’ve also moved to Boulder which creates an amazing Colorado connection. We love that the support adventurers whether on big waves, big powder days, big hikes or in our case, BIG courses. We also love that they’re doing it with plant-based lens and frame materials, which in turn reduce their product’s footprint upon this planet. And it helps that their product is just dope. Take a look. We double dog dare you not to get all lusty.

You don’t have to be smart. You just have to be smart enough to hire someone smarter than you. In this case, one Megan Hottman, attorney at law. Otherwise known as “The Cyclist Lawyer“, Megan’s been successfully skewering the insurance industry on behalf of clients who’ve found themselves on the wrong end of a bike/car collision. Smart, driven and one hell of a bike rider, Megan’s also loyal, supportive beyond description and knowledgeable beyond description. So like we said, find somebody awesome…and hire them!

230 miles of trail, all of it marked to perfection. A core group of badass riders who take a LOT of pride in the fact that they’ve never lost a rider because of a bad mark. They’re a high-mileage group that beats equipment to death. And because of that, they’re discriminating about what they use. It was smiles all around when EVOC came on board. With a bit of everything to suit all needs, our team leans towards the Trail Builder pack with it’s high volume capacity and sensible, practical design.