THE EXCITINGLY NOISY GRAVEL biking scene seems to have settled into two main gravitational clusters: engineering-first pragmatism and marketing bling.
The bling is all about flex and springs, pseudo science and fashion branding. The pragmatic camp is all about engineering and historically informed evolution.
The king of pragmatism is Gerard Vroomen. He’s an engineer, not a marketer. He co-owns two bike companies: Open and 3T. Not to mention being a co-founder of Cervelo. His bikes are always an expression of engineering rather than fashion. They trend via subtle refinement rather than marketing spin. Open doesn’t even have a marketing department and I am pretty sure 3T doesn’t either.
3T is an esteemed, venerable Italian maker of astoundingly wonderful handlebars, stems, seat posts, and other tubular contrivances that have adorned high end bikes from the dawn of cycling. With Vroomen’s
