Handsling Owners - Meet Jack Jee

Jack Jee is a young multi-discipline cyclist who is racing his CEXevo in the UK's National Trophy Series and at the UCI's Gravel World Series.

Hailing from Rye in East Sussex, where as a youngster Jack spent his time building and riding dirt-jumps with his mates. After one too many crashes - resulting in some serious knee operations - Jack switched to MTB XC. It was off road that Jack says he found his 'love for racing'.

After graduating from the Oaklands Cycling Academy, Jack now races road, cyclo-cross, MTB and gravel, with the Primera-TeamJobs. team. This kind of multi-discipline rider is now becoming very common, look at Pidcock, Van Aert and Van der Poel. Why limit yourself to just one form of cycling when you can enjoy them all? The skills you pick up from one, will often prove useful in another. It also makes burnout less likely when you can swap disciplines.

His team allows him to pick and choose what and where he races. 2025 started with 'cross at the National Trophy Series, before switching to road races in Belgium and the UK. He also managed to fit in a UCI Gravel World Series event, the Eislek Gravel in Luxembourg.

We spoke to Jack about the Eislek Gravel, as qualifying for the World Championships was one of his targets for 2025. 

So Jack, how did the Eislek Gravel play out?

The Eisbek Gravel was a really good experience. I started about two-hundred riders from the front and worked my way through to around twentieth; where I then punctured. I managed to work my way back to twelfth before puncturing a second time! This meant I had to ride the last ten kilometres on a flat tyre, which lead to a not so great finishing position, but despite that I qualified, which was the goal.

What was the course like?

The course was the most brutal I have ever seen in any racing! It immediately went straight up a twenty-five minute climb in the 30 degree heat. That made for a tough start and then a flowing back half of the course on some pretty bumpy gravel.

Did you use a gravel 'race' bike?

I genuinely believe that there is no benefit to having a pure gravel race bike over something like my CEXevo. Some might worry about not being able to fit a 50mm tyre, but the CEXevo can take a 45mm and that's plenty for these races.

How did you have your bike set up?

For Eisbek Gravel I had the bike set up the same as I would for 'cross, but with some changes. I swapped my usual 1X for 2X chainrings, to give me more range. Tyres were 40mm Schwalbe G-One RS Pro, wider than what I would use for cyclo-cross. I ran them with 25psi in the front and back, both with Vittoria Air-Liner Light Gravel inserts; which saved the day in the end!

A lot of riders are using road shoes for gravel racing, how about you?

I used my look Keo blade road pedals as I prefer the power transfer to something like an SPD, with my S-Works road shoes. 

What was your fuelling strategy?

For fuelling I was using SiS Beta Fuel gels every half hour, which I paired with a carb mix in the bottles and then taking water during the race from the feed stations.

What spares did you take with you?

I carried 2x CO2 canisters with Muc-Off plugs and a multi tool. 

What is the rest of the year looking like and any future plans?

I am currently racing three more UCI gravel races, one in Wales, the Belgian National Champs and then of course the World Championships in the Netherlands later on in the year.

The rest of my year will be split between gravel and road, with a small MTB block that I am currently on leading to the National Champs down in Cornwall. I then head back to Belgium for two stage-races and the Belgian National Gravel Champs.

Early in this year I took the step in my cycling career to stop working and really push on to try and see how far I can go with it, with high hopes of success!

Jack's obviously taking his racing seriously and Handsling are proud to have helped him on his cycling journey. He's riding on a brace of Handsling CEXevos - one yellow, one red - that he's dubbed 'ketchup' and 'mustard'! 

If you'd like to experience the thrill of racing one of the UCI Gravel World Series, then the CEXevo is just the bike. Designed, painted and assembled in-house, means you can choose exactly how yours is set up. Want to copy Jack and race? Then go for an all-out race build. Alternatively the CEXevo makes a great do-it-all bike, comfortable, fast and capable.

Lastly we shot Jack some quick-fire questions, here's his replies, see if you agree;

Best time to train?

10am 

Best place to ride your bike?

Calpe 

Favourite race?

Paris-Roubaix 

Favourite rider?

Mathieu Van de Poel

Favourite food on the bike food?

Haribo 

Favourite food off the bike food?

Lasagna 

Gels or real food?

Real food 

Dry and dusty or wet and muddy?

Wet and muddy