I purchased my Ventum in 2018, a few weeks before participating in IMWI. I struggled to feel confident on my Trek tri bike and I instantly fell in love with the Ventum. It handled extremely well, like a road bike. I felt much more comfortable descending and in the wind. After winning my age group at IMWI, I have had many amazing race experiences with my Ventum. In 2019 I raced IM 70.3 Haines City, IM 70.3 Chattanooga, IM Whistler and the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. In 2020, despite a season of cancelled events due to COVID, I was able to participate in some different events, like a local TT, Olympic distance race and a 3-day, 340+ mile Xtreme triathlon from one coast of Florida to the other.
2021 was a breakthrough year for me. I really saw some huge gains in my cycling fitness. On race day, I saw speeds that I had never seen before and after leading (or near the top of) my age group in the swim, I was able to put together solid bike/run performances. After IM 70.3 Florida, I was 3rd overall female at IM 70.3 Chattanooga and 2nd overall female at IM 70.3 Virginia Blue Ridge, just two weeks later. At IMLP, I won my age group and was 3rd overall female. Although I got Covid a few weeks prior to worlds, I managed to place 11th at the IM 70.3 World Championship in St. George.
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And then there was 2022. At the age of 40, I had one of my best seasons ever. 5th AG at the IM World Championship in St. George, Utah. Two weeks later, 2nd AG at IM 70.3 Chattanooga. Two weeks later, 1st AG at IM 70.3 Virginia Blue Ridge. And then in July, 1st AG and 2nd overall female at IM Lake Placid. Interestingly, I rarely rode my Ventum before the IM World Championship as I was spending much of my time on the mountain bike, road bike or gravel bike. But come race day, I loved racing on my Ventum.
This year, I only raced twice on my Ventum (IM 70.3 Blue Ridge, 2nd AG and XTRI Canadaman, 2nd overall female) but I continued to see improvements with my bike fitness.
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Over the past 5 years I have seen tremendous improvements with my triathlon and cycling fitness. The Ventum isn't a popular (or visually appealing) bike but it has worked really well for me. My bike fit has evolved over the years and Karel has done a great job keeping my bike in tip-top condition and always focusing on how I can get the most out of my bike fit for aerodynamics, comfort and speed.
The Ventum did not work for Karel. He found himself getting slower, struggling with back pain (no matter how many different bike fit positions he tried) and just overall, unhappy on the bike. He didn't even use the stock handlebars as he wanted to adjust the position of the front end to help take some pressure off his back. He didn't want to invest into another triathlon bike as his focus has been on off-road racing for the past few years so he tolerated the Ventum in 2022 at the IM World Championship in St. George and at IM Lake Placid.
Because Karel has the opportunity to work on so many different bikes with all of his RETUL bike fits, pre-race and maintenance bike tune-ups and helping our athletes find their ideal bike (within their budget), he had a few "top" bikes on his list if he was to get a new triathlon bike. A few weeks before 2023 IM Chattanooga (which he was going to do on his Ventum), he found a Cervelo on Ebay that met his criteria (he's extremely picky with bike and bike part purchases and he would never purchase anything used but this bike checked all the boxes for Karel). In typical Karel fashion, he completely took the bike apart, down to the frame, and rebuilt it with the parts and bolts that he wanted.
He has never been happier on a tri bike. Not only did he suprise himself with no back pain at IM Chattanooga, but he was able to go 8:59 (sub 9 hours for the first time, at age 47) and put together an incredibly strong race. He thought his "fast" days were behind him but the Cervelo showed him that he still loves to race on a tri bike.
Although we were not planning on getting me a new tri bike anytime soon, after qualifying for the XTRI World Championship at Norseman for 2024, we knew it was time for me to get a bike with the current technology, especially disc breaks (Norseman weather can be rainy and cold and with over 10,000 feet elevation gain, those disc breaks will be critical to my safety).
At 5 feet "tall" finding a tri bike is challenging for me but in the current bike market that has limited inventory, it's been a real challenge. After weeks of researching different bikes and companies, Karel came across a size 48 Cervelo from Excel Sports. After sleeping on it for a few nights, we decided to purchase it.
When it arrived last week, Karel was quick to undress it down to a frame and build it into the perfect bike for me. Karel is a perfectionist when it comes to building bikes and he thinks about the practicality, aerodynamics, weight and safety of every part.
On Saturday afternoon, I got fitted by Karel and on Sunday, I took the bike for its maiden voyage. I'm excited to share more pics, videos and updates on the bike throughout the 2024 season.
For those interested in the details, Karel provided the specs of his build of my new bike:
- Bike: Cervelo P5 Disc size 48, purple sunset color. Shimano Ultegra 12 speed DI2 groupset and Shimano Dura-Ace hydraulic brakes.
- Wheels: Boyd Podium Disc Brake 55mm front/ 80 mm
- Aerobars: Profile Design 43 ASC Carbon extensions, Drag2Zero arm cups, Profile UCM computer mount (not using their brackets, just using 2 zip ties).
- Bottle cage adapters: Wolf Tooth B-Rad adapter (this allows you to put the cage in a different position), 70mm long screws with 4 nuts (this secures the cage to the B-Rad adapter and also securea the bolts at specific height to the Cervelo bracket). These long screws allows the bottle to sit up high and brings the arm cups closer together for better (more narrow) aerodynamic position of the arms.
- Tires: Continental GP5000 S TR 25mm Tubeless set up
- Crank: Rotor Aldhu 24 155mm with Rotor Inspider power meter and Rotor aero chainrings 53x39
- Pedals: Look Keo Carbon Blade
- Saddle - Dash Strike Carbon
- To do list: Kogel Aero Oversized Derailleur Cage with pulleys and Kogel Ceramic Bottom Bracket. Replace all the bolts for titanium bolts (some are already replaced).
