Fewer! 
I tested slower using a two bottle BTA set up. With internal hydration, I can get away with one bottle BTA, one aero bottle on the downtube and that’s it for 70.3. For a full I can just throw a BTS on. Also, I personally found it kind of a pain dealing with two stacked BTA bottles, it makes it almost impossible to stand over the top tube if you are stopped and awkward just pulling them out and putting back in the cages.
The seat stays are slick.
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Doh !!!
me, I am too lazy to clean out internal bladders
for flat kits, I use this that I swap between my X bikes. I will not reveal X because my wife my be watching
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We are currently working evaluating a market entry strategy for UK first (likely later in 2025) and then into the EU after. We will ship to the EU now with a slightly higher shipping cost to the customer than in US, but customer also would be responsible for any import duties on the bike.
If you value integrated storage, we have another Triathlon bike, the One, with flat kit storage and a 1.4L integrated hydration meant to address this type of request.
Integrated storage adds weight, complexity, limits ability to create certain tube shapes in critical areas, etc. There is certainly a place for it, but the feedback we received was that many actually want things bolted onto their frame. Specifically between the aerobars, close to the chest and behind the saddle. Since we already have an integrated bike, this was a solution for those folks.
Having said that, there are 2 top tube bosses for a bento, and we are working with Radsport Ibert on a solution for an Elite bottle/cage shrouded by a storage box that will fill in bottom portion of the front triangle if someone wants frame storage. That would be an aftermarket solution available some time this summer (likely).
Thats one really nice thing about the internal hydration on the new QR that Bryan has - it’s not a bladder, but rather a internal ‘bottle’. Easier to refill, easier to clean.
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It would be a good bit more than 15s as it was closer to 10-15w* when we tested as the LA velodrome with Anders Johnson. That was bike vs bike with no bottles on Tempus and the Normal 1.4L in frame hydration on the Ventum One. BTA bottles close to your chest, if placed correctly, can reduce drag or be neutral (in our testing with our athletes). An Elite aero-bottle and cage (with no aerobox) on downtube was + 3-5watts when we tested in Germany.
One of our new athletes, Tom Bishop, went to the UK velodrome with the Wattshop team and was able to get his CDA down to .177 with bottles mounted outboard of the frame (behind saddle and BTA). Big unlock for him was BTA placement. He’s been pretty transparent on his socials about what worked for him. He’s using the Wing Ultimate basebar with Wattshop extensions.
*understand a lot to unpack there, just giving some general findings for now.
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I think the QR is a great bike.
But if I have $10k to get fast, my bet is I can get faster on the Ventum. I can buy the bike, upgrade the wheels, buy a helmet or two, do an aero test for lower than their entry price.
I think the “this bike is x watts faster than this bike” is flawed. The question is “can I get faster using this bike”. 9 times out of 10, if you start with a select group of bikes, the answer is yes. This bike falls in the category of yes, it can do that. Not all bikes do.
I probably put a little too much weight on aero/$
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@BarrettB the bike looks great! A few comments/questions:
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A lot of brands will distinguish framesets by carbon quality. I know you haven’t done that across NS1 or GS1, but curious why you don’t have different framesets for different tiers?
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What is the weight for a stock RED build?
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Similar to the customization comments above, I would imagine folks would be happy to pay a little extra to customize the chainring and cassette size.
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Plans for other colors?
Answers!
- Great question. The answer is multifold. First and foremost the difference in cost of cheaper carbon material versus the most expensive carbon material is almost negligible…It’s just such a small incremental material cost. Downspeccing your carbon throughout the product line isn’t actually a way to make cheap bikes cheaper, but it’s a way to make your most expensive bikes more expensive. With the intentional simplicity of our product line we have always sought to make the best version of each product: Gravel, Road, Tri, etc and as such it doesn’t make financial sense to downspec and it’s a compromised end-product for the user. It also simplifies sku’s, options, and supply chain. That’s a second order of importance item, but does go into the decision matrix.
- Will weight one being built and report back.
- There is a balance between providing customers options and being efficient with inventory. We do realize some of our customers want special items, and are working on a way to balance traditional business needs with faster inventory turns, and also provide more options. Certainly if you are willing to wait for us to source we could provide some options. This is exactly what we are hoping to do once we launch our customization/curation program later this summer. In the meantime, you can also reach out to customer support and we will let you know what is possible.
- We will launch a 2nd color in June
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PINK?
These are not mutually exclusive.
Ask Specialized how their shiv tri is doing or Cervelo’s P5x, P3x, Px series.
huh? What are you looking for on the speed concept that is doesn’t have? It has top tube storage (can fit 10 gu size gels in there) and flat kit storage in the downtube.
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And Canyon? They seem to be doing OK, no?
Canyon has integrated hydration and storage.
Yeah they are doing pretty good.
My point is that mfg’s went storage heavy several years ago and the market basically said “no” (shiv tri, p5x, etc). It seems the market wants either no or some storage or somewhere in between. I don’t see anything wrong with what Ventum did. Looks like a great option for those in the market.
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Internal storage is the one thing I wish my Gen 2 SC had - it has the flat kit covered, but if we’re only allowed 2L BTA and 2L BTS, then an internal bladder closes the gap between “I can carry everything I need for an IM as a pre-mix” and “I have to start thinking about other solutions”
Sure, I can take a concentrate, but that takes time to mix on the fly (and risks messing the concentration). I can also stop at special needs, but that takes time. Or I can put bottles on the frame, but incur an aero penalty. Or I can guzzle water at aid stations to recoup the extra litre I need, but again, its not precise.
To be fair, this is 100% Ironman’s fault - not for the bottle rules, but for allowing Mortal to be their hydration sponsor. But if we’re talking about tri bikes that move the needle forward, its these types of things that actually move the needle.
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That was my point, lol.
Could also be argued that some did a piss poor job of integrating the storage. Shiv’s huge aquarium hooked to the back of the seat tube? P5X with odd shaped containers all over the place and a bike weighing 25 pounds…