Over just 21 days, Kona Factory Rider Cory Wallace put the Ouroboros to the ultimate test—racing through the deserts of the U.S., the gravel of Colombia, and even the tarmac of South Africa. Each race demanded something different, and the shapeshifting Ouroboros delivered every time. Let's take a close look at the bike in its Transcordilleras 2025 form, along with a few snaps of it before and after in the USA and South Africa.
Before Cory departed for the Transcordilleras in Colombia he made the pilgrimage to the home of 24hr racing in Arizona, 24HRs of Old Pueblo. The Ouroboros was the bike of choice with a basic setup. A Fox Rad fork to calm things down and smooth out the course a little, Maxxis Aspens front and rear, a small Apidura toptube feed back, and a single Wolf Tooth Ti cage and bottle was all Cory needed here.
After riding to the Transcordilleras startline with a full bike packing setup, Cory then tweaked the bike for the long stages of the eight-day race. A roomy Apidura top tube bag looked after clothes and tools while a spare tube was taped under the top tube. The NOBL carbon hoops and 2.25 Maxxis Aspens stayed, but Cory added an extra Wolf Tooth Morse Cage and bottle. Shimanos' GRX Di2 Groupset handled the mud with aplomb.
After Colombia, Cory made the long trek to South Africa to race in the Cape Epic, but not before sneaking in one more training race, the Cape Town Cycle Tour. The tour is the world’s largest one-day cycling event with over 28000+ participants. Cory swapped out the 2.25s for some Maxxis 32c tires and replaced the Fox 50 mm suspension with a stock rigid fork. The Ouroboros morphed from adventure machine into a road bike for the weekend and lined up with 200 other elite road and gravel cyclists..
