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TECH NEWS

Gerard Vroomen becomes co-owner of 3T

Cervelo co-founder acquires major stake in Italian component brand

Cervélo co-founder Gerard Vroomen has hooked up with René Wiertz, CEO of cycle component brand 3T, to acquire all the 3T shares.

Dutch engineer Vroomen founded Cervélo with Phil White back in 1995 before selling his stake and leaving the operational side of the bike brand in 2011.

The 3T brand has been around since 1961 when it was founded as 3TTT – Tecnologia del Tubo Torino. That translates as Turin Tube Technology. These days the company has offices in both Italy and Taiwan.

The 3T range covers forks, handlebars, aerobars, stems, seatposts and wheels, plus some accessories. The products tend to be mid to high end with an emphasis on technology and speed, 3T providing equipment for BMC Racing.

The current aero road wheels, for example, introduced from 2011, have been designed by 3T technical director Richard McAinsh, formerly head of composites at the Ferrari F1 team.

The Aerotundo Team handlebar that arrived yesterday for review here at road.cc is also designed to minimise drag with aero-section tops.

On the face of it, Gerard Vroomen looks like a good fit for a performance-focussed brand like 3T.

“[Gerard] will help us to develop even more original high-end bicycle components and he will inspire and coach our young engineers to do even better,” said René Wiertz.

It will be interesting to see whether his involvement leads to an extension in the range of products offered.

Vroomen will continue working at Open, the small, high-end mountain bike company he co-founded with ex-BMC CEO Andy Kessler in 2012.

For more on 3T go to www.3tcycling.com or www.i-ride.co.uk.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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