Members only: Gerard Vroomen Opens Up on why most gravel bikes are moving to 700C-only

Welcome to another members-only (at least the full episode) edition of the Geek Warning podcast.

This episode came together after the boutique brand Open Cycle [teased a long-awaited update to its Up gravel bike. For those who aren’t familiar with the Open Up, it was a bike to break new ground for the emerging sporty gravel space through its dual-wheel size compatibility with 700c and 650B. Meanwhile, it achieved the clearance between the rear tyre and chainring by introducing dropped chainstays to the market.

Open Cycle was founded by Andy Kessler (former CEO of BMC) and Gerard Vroomen (co-founder of Cervelo, and until recently, also the co-owner of 3T). Between Open and 3T, Vroomen has pushed many boundaries in the gravel space in recent years. In this episode, Vroomen covers the details of the new Up and Upper bike range and the design decisions made. We touch on Open’s move to on-shoring production. I pry unsuccessfully into teased compatibility with unreleased Shimano. And we chat about the move to threaded bottom brackets. Plus, members of Escape will hear me eat my own hat as despite designing a 700c-only bike, Vroomen strongly defends the smaller 650B-wheelsize and laments (and explains) its loss.

It’s a varied chat with a whole lot of interesting experience in designing and engineering bikes shared. Enjoy!

A portion of this podcast is available to all. The full length, including the conversation on 650B vs 700C is available exclusively to members of Escape Collective. To add member-only podcasts, including this one, to your podcast player of choice, click here.