Dante Young burst onto the bike racing scene nearly a decade ago as a teen full of power, speed, and swag. At six feet tall and 190 pounds, the Los Angeles native is built for sprinting— and when it’s game time, he’ll light his massive quads on fire for a win. But his journey started as a kid cruising with the fixie crowd, and the tenets of that community—friendship, adventure, style—are forever enmeshed in his DNA.
“Look good, feel good,” says Young, who rides for the challenge, the quietude, and to inspire fellow Angelenos to experience the world on two wheels. “I want to create more avenues for people from where I grew up to get into cycling,” he says. Young’s style is innate, but it’s also savvy marketing, pulling in fans from outside of the sport. Paired with killer performance, it’s turned Young into cycling’s oracle of high-tech, head-turning gear. Whether he’s spinning to a coffee shop, hitting intervals up L.A.’s Latigo Canyon, or road-tripping cross-country to race, these are the tools that fuel his adventures.
The Frame
Young’s sleek, black Canyon Aeroad CF SLX is super light, aerodynamic, and stiff enough to translate every pedal stroke into pure speed. “That’s huge for a bigger guy like me who loves power and sprinting,” Young says. “It doesn’t feel like I’m riding a mountain bike.” Strong, responsive carbon fiber makes it agile in every situation, from climbs and descents to corners. “Just riding flat-out at speed, it’s pretty insane,” he says. “It feels like someone’s pushing me on my back.” Clean, understated lines give it Young’s seal of approval—and make the fully integrated cables easier to adjust.
The Kit
Young first learned the power of style when his team debuted a “money kit,” a jersey covered in hundred-dollar bills, setting the cycling world abuzz. “Everyone went crazy,” he says. Now, he’s into simpler prints, color coordination, and pops of bold hues on top of neutrals, all wrapped up in buttery-soft, breathable fabrics. “Rapha prioritizes style,” he says. Their Pro Team Jersey is a longstanding favorite for its understated, chic, and flattering fit, as are the Pro Team Bibs. “They’re long and don’t ride up my thighs, and the chamois is comfortable on really long rides.” He always makes sure his Camelback water bottle matches his kit, natch.
The Ride
Last year, Young drove 30,000 miles across the country and back to compete in 30 races. “I love to drive,” he says. “I love the open road, traveling, music, podcasts, just sitting in silence, looking at the terrain.” He likes how the Toyota Tundra TRD Pro combines a luxurious look with ruggedness—perfect for turning heads and hauling bikes to his favorite event in Tulsa. The features Young can’t live without? Heated black leather seats and rubber mats, as well as the Tundra’s available 14-inch multimedia touchscreen, integrating seamlessly with smartphones and making navigation a cinch. And, of course, the space. “I like to take as much as I can,” he says. “People’s bikes, luggage, my dog, and my friends.”
The Trackers
Young’s Whoop wearable looks like a stylish bracelet and is so lightweight, he forgets it’s there. “It doesn’t have the distractions of a smartwatch, with no screen or notifications,” he says. “I shower with it, I go swimming with it, and the battery lasts nearly a week.” Young uses it to track his sleep, recovery, and stress throughout the day to help avoid overtraining. And he can easily upload all the data, like heart rate variability and resting heart rate, to a training app for his coach to review.
On the bike, he loads workouts into his sleek Hammerhead cycling computer. “Instead of looking at my phone to see what I have to do, it’s all there, and it’ll count down: 3, 2, 1, go!” It tells him when to stop, and how long he can rest between intervals, all while capturing data from various sensors, including heart rate, cadence, and power. “I’ll do the full workout 80% of the time,” he says. “But sometimes I have to do something and I’m just like, ‘Not today!’”
The Helmet and Shoes
For head and toes, Young turns to California-based sports outfitter Giro. His lace-up, featherlight Empire SLX shoes ooze minimalist elegance, and feature carbon soles for killer power transfer. And his lightweight, ventilated Giro Aether Spherical helmet is “perfect for super-sunny L.A. days.” It comes in 10 colors to complement every kit, and it features MIPS, a technology that mimics how your brain floats in your skull via a rotational shell attached to the inside of the helmet, for extra impact protection.
The Shades
Young’s ROKA SR-1X glasses look fly, feel invisible, and never slip, thanks to a hydrophilic elastomer in the nose pad and at the temples that mimics a gecko’s grippy toes. Young’s have photochromic lenses that switch from clear (for night races) to gray in full-on sun.
Young is forever grateful for the world that cycling opened up to him. “It gave me opportunities to do things I never thought I’d do” he says, like traveling to communities across the U.S. to race. And he’ll never stop looking pretty doing it. “At the end of the day, when those hard intervals don’t feel too good and I’m dying on the side of the road,” he says, “at least I look all right.”
Discover more about the Toyota Tundra TRD Pro here.
This story was produced by WIRED Brand Lab for Toyota.
