Romaniacs wasn’t the first extreme enduro. Racers agree that the Roof of Africa can lay claim to being the original multi-day hard enduro, and that the Gilles Lalay Classic in France were organising punishing events before it, ‘But,’ says 2010 winner and Kriega ambassador, Chris Birch (above), ‘it was Red Bull Romaniacs that took it to the extremes.’

As the 2025 edition gets under way, we look back at Kriega’s relationship with the event. It began in 2006 with a couple of British off-road racers, Matt Hall and Chris Salt. ‘I was sat at home with a broken leg, watching Motors TV, and saw footage from what must have been the second Romaniacs,’ says Salty. ‘Me and Matt were riding quite a lot together and had talked about doing a big race, something like the Six Days. Once I saw Romaniacs I told him “I've seen this thing. It looks like loads of fat Germans falling down hills and rolling over trees. It looks great fun.” It looked hard, but it didn't look like a race, more like loads of guys trying to get through ridiculous bits of forest.’

The pair didn’t do much more research before paying to enter and setting off on the long road trip to the next edition. ‘I saw one magazine article about the previous year's event, and that was the only other thing we'd seen about it. We didn’t have a clue. We knew we needed GPS. Luckily, Matt had done some GPS riding, having done Dakar, but it wasn't the same kind of navigation. We had these very small Garmin GPS that had a tiny screen. We had been riding quite hard stuff in Wales because we knew it was an extreme event, but we had no clue how difficult it was going to be, or the distance, or the format, or just how crazy the whole race would be.’

The pair were kitted with Kriega hydration packs, and returned with video footage (see lower down in this post) and tales of just how extreme Romaniacs was.

‘We walked around the “prolog” in Bucharest, and there was a lot of metal poking out of the ground, like old rebar. The roughness of the track was probably the biggest shock. It was literally made out of any old shit they could find. If they could drag pieces of concrete with bits of metal poking out of them into a big pile, then that would be the track. It was just around a smashed-up building site.’

Matt Hall (114) being helped by Cyril Despres

Salty soon learned it wasn’t just overweight hobbyists, like he had assumed. The organiser, Martin Freinademetz, was well-connected and had convinced riders like six-time Dakar winner Cyril Despres and Giovanni Sala, the six-time World Enduro champ, to compete. Salty would also realise the shock of the city-based first stage was nothing compared to what was to come in the Carpathian Mountains.

‘We went on to the mountain course and we were gobsmacked. We were hanging onto the trees, on the edges of cliffs. You turned a corner and were like, Oh, my God, what's this? We thought we got through it all after six days of riding, then we got to the epilogue at the end and realised that they were going to send us up five stories of an unfinished building and out on the balcony. And there was nothing other than a piece of orange, plastic KTM tape to stop you falling five stories.’

Chris and Matt were the first British riders to finish Romaniacs and their stories led to Kriega becoming a sponsor of the event, and also developing a brand-new type of product. ‘We told Kriega we needed straps to pull the bikes.’ The result is the much-copied Kriega Haul Loop. Soon after, Kriega backpacks, loaded with rocks and hung from crossmembers over the track, all designed to knock riders off, would become an obstacle on the Romaniacs Prolog.

‘There was a freestyle ramp that jumped into the window of a half-built building,’ remembers Salty. He had been told that world enduro champ Sala was avoiding some of the obstacles. ‘In some places, there were ‘chicken lines’, an alternative route that made it supposedly slightly safer or easier, but it took more time. I asked Sala why he used the chicken line. He said, “You don't have to be a hero every day.” I remember this a lot.’

Chris Birch wearing HYDRO-3 fitted with a special edition Kriega x Say No To Slow Harness Pocket XL

Chris Birch had also seen footage from Romania and wanted a piece of the action. ‘I first heard about it from watching a YouTube video in 2006. I finished the video, found the website, and signed up instantly. Nobody from the southern hemisphere had ever raced it before so I was going in blind. Finding the money to compete was a big challenge. I worked all the overtime I could, fundraised for it and started my first riding schools all to find the cash to get there from New Zealand.’

He had a similar experience to the Brits. ‘I was constantly getting lost. Being able to navigate your way through the mountains was a big part of doing well. I remember the first ever Gold section I got to. I started arguing with the marshal because I thought he was pointing me the wrong way. It was up a hill that was so steep it seemed impossible.’

Birchy, now well known for his Say No To Slow ADV tutoring, quickly acclimatised to the event. ‘I came nearly last in Pro (now called Gold) class on the first day as I had no idea what I was doing. I then won the second day and finished third overall. That was life changing for me.’ He won the event in 2010. ‘The Kriega Hydro pack I was using in 2010 is still going strong.’

Kriega also sponsored British rider Graham Jarvis, who transitioned from being a trials champion to becoming a legendary extreme enduro rider, winning Romaniacs seven times, and helping Kriega develop the HYDRO-3 backpack, of which there was a limited edition ‘G-Force Jarvis’ edition.

Graham Jarvis in 2015, keeping hydrated with a Kriega HYDRO-3 & Hands Free Kit

[above] Footage from Chris Salt and Matt Hall’s 2006 Romaniacs adventure

Salty compares the early days to the modern era of extreme enduro. ‘In those early years nearly all bikes were kickstart only. We were trying to kick them on the side of mountains, sometimes it was impossible. Salty competed three times, finishing seventh overall in his final attempt, in 2008, then called it a day. ‘I’d suffered enough. Romaniacs has got harder, there's no doubt. The tracks get harder every year. But the tyres are a hundred times different than they were back then. We were just riding on normal enduro tyres. Nobody knew anything about soft tyres, and extreme mousses.’

Birchy feels similarly, ‘I wouldn’t say it’s gotten harder. It’s always pushed the top riders in the world to their limit, as those riders increase their level so do the organisers, but it’s always taken 100% effort.’

Kriega ambassador, Pol Tarrés is competing at the 2025 Red Bull Romaniacs on a modified Yamaha Tenere 700. Follow him on instagram at @poltarres13

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Kriega is celebrating 25 years of innovation, design and manufacture of specialist motorcycle luggage. Formed in 2000, and still based in North Wales, our products have continually set the industry benchmark for quality and ruggedness, balancing strength and lightness to serve the most demanding, high-mileage riders.

Looking back at 25 years in business, this time focussing on Romaniacs. Kriega equipped the first British riders to compete, sponsored the early days of the wild event, and kitted out champions