Hardtail or full suspension. No drop bars, this has been tried by a few like Travis Brown. He said he'd never do that setup again.
I think the best bike is something like the Trek Supercal. Lightweight and gives you a bit more comfort.
Dropper post not needed at all. Pick some good tires, ( Maxxis Icon with sidewall protection have worked for me 6 times with no flats) run tubeless, 2 bottles cages are a plus to me as I don't like a pack on me.
It's a long day so a little comfort goes a long way. I've done it 3 times on a HT, 3 on a FS. Times were comparable, weather has a bigger factor on times that anything.

Unless your mtb is an absolute tank, you'd be far better off on a FS mtb than a gravel bike with a suspension fork, IMO. One lesson I learned at Unbound last year that could apply to anyone who finds themselves walking either Columbine or Powerline is that you could be walking for quite some time and a hydration pack makes it easy to keep fueling while you're off the bike. At Unbound, during the first mud section, I was off the bike for 75 minutes and realized afterwards that I went that entire period without taking in fuel/hydration. Can't really push the bike and sip from a bottle at the same time.

Thanks for the replies guys … will just stick with my mtb and live with the hydration pack. Imagine I’ll be back with more questions as we get closer.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

I agree with the others. Unless you are a mtb expert hard tail is not ideal. The descents can be very rough and have a hard tail skipping all over the place.

I rode a Supercaliber and it was awesome. I still struggled mightly on the rough decents.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

I would not ride a gravel bike.

As somebody who lives at 1000ft above sea level, the altitude hurt me more than i anticipated. I used my 34x50 more than expected and was frustrated that the bike didn't want to stay in the 50 without me holding the shifter button in. Most gravel bikes aren't geared for what you'll be dealing with out there. If i go back, I think I'd run something smaller than a 34 up front.

A full suspension XC bike with lockout would be great.

I ditched my hydratrion pack with my wife at twin lakes aid station so that i could climb Columbine without it. I was originally planning to grab it when i went back through twin lakes, but ended up sticking with bottles after that.

Says only a pro YouTuber that also happens to race gravel/MTB and finished17th overall, nearly 45 mins behind the winner.

I came here to say this. ^^^

Scott's twinloc (3 positions) would be phenomenal for a course like leadville. I'm basically a FS w/ 3-position fork/shock lockout evangelist though at this point. :)

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

It just so happens my bike is a Scott FS w/ the twinloc!

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

The only tradeoff is that now when I ride anything else I just feel like I'm taking a leap back in time.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

I forgot to mention in my post above that i would not use a dropper post at Leadville. Truth be told, I've never used a dropper post and I'm convinced that the trails I ride would be no faster with a dropper.

I guess one could argue that the descent down Columbine is long and fast enough that you could utilize a dropper to get more aero (supertuck style); however, you also have to remember that people are climbing the same road that you are descending. Going full send in the supertuck there isn't the safest option by any means.

I can't imagine that I'd be descending that much faster on any section of the course with a dropper. Maybe a few seconds here or there. I'm still a bit of a weight weenie when it comes to my MTB and I'd rather stick with a lightweight seatpost.

I tend to agree with you, but... for a lot of folks who don't have a lot of experience with long, somewhat rocky descents, a dropper can add a bit of extra psychological comfort with the descents down Columbine and Powerline, without getting into a supertuck.

In case you experiment with trying to ditch the hydration pack, which I couldn’t possibly imagine using on a long day like Leadville, couple tips….

Pirelli SmarTube - incredibly small and compact, but pricey… but they’re so small I carry two on race days as a precaution.

One Up EDC pump - link below.

Then I just toss a bag that attaches to the top tube and toss the tubes and nutrition in there so I don’t have to wear a pack or even put anything on my jersey pockets. Really happy with this setup as a whole.

https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-pump