AERO DESIGN
Ventum One Starting at US$6,875
(Frame, fork, seatpost, cockpit and hydration)
TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY how Ventum Bicycles have managed to make as big an impact in the triathlon landscape as they have in just a few years in the business, you have to first look at the men behind the company. Everyone else who writes about Ventum starts with the two engineers behind the the radical-looking Z-shaped bikes, Jimmy and Peter Seear, and I will, of course, talk about what they bring into the mix. The man I want to start with, though, is the Seear’s partner, Diaa Nour.
Originally from Egypt, Nour is a big guy with big hair. A triathlete himself (his brother competes as an elite for Egypt), I first got to know him when he and Leanda Cave became partners. Nour is always smiling, very outgoing and the kind of guy you can’t help but like. Over the past few years, you couldn’t help but notice him at the Ironman World Championship bike check-in as he greeted any Ventum riders getting ready for their big day in Kona. That presence has been even bigger over the last few years, as Ventum became the official bike of the Ironman World Championship.
With Nour involved, it came as no surprise to me to hear from Ventum owners that the company’s customer service is second to none. Athletes who have been sponsored by the company are equally positive about their interactions.
Service and smiles are great, but unless the product you’re pushing is good, you’re not going to get very far. Now’s the time to talk about Jimmy and Peter Seear. Jimmy was an elite triathlete who finished second at the U23 world championships in 2009. Jimmy and Peter are the engineers behind the bike. If you’re old enough to remember the revolutionary Lotus bike that Chris Boardman used to win the 1992 Olympic pursuit, you’ll recognize the similarities between the Ventum One and the Lotus. After some of the 20-year patents expired on certain aspects of the Lotus design, they were able to develop the Ventum One.
Their goal was to develop a super-aerodynamic bike that would handle and perform well. The Lotus bike disappeared from the cycling world after the UCI mandated double triangle geometry for competition. Triathlon has no such restriction, so the Ventum is another of the many tri-specific bikes on the market that offer outstanding
In an ideal world your expensive tri bike will spend all its travelling time in the back of your car – it’s not always fun to worry about a $10,000 bumper, or whether or not you remembered to really tighten the skewer when you attached your bike to the roof rack.
It’s not always a realistic option, though. You might not have a car that’s conducive to throwing a bike in the back. Sometimes you have either too many bikes or too many people with bikes to fit everything in your car, too. And you really don’t have to be too hesitant about using a bike rack to transport your prized tri-ride. Head to any major bike race and you’ll see cars loaded up with some of the most expensive bikes on the planet on racks that are designed to both securely hold the bikes and also allow for quick and easy access.
We had a look at three different styles of racks to demonstrate the different options available to you when it comes to carrying a bike on your car: