Gerard Vroomen becomes co-owner of 3T

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.