One of the main reasons I love gravel bikes is because I have limited time and limited space. I also have way more things on my plate that have become important for me to devote time and energy to (this site included.) Why do I think this is important to say when introducing a new bike?

Because it sets the tone as to why I like this new bike personally. We at Slowtwitch have once again partnered with Ventum. One of the main reasons why have partnered with them is because we believe they have valuable products for our end consumer, AKA you that is reading this article. They check the boxes we look for when we it comes to telling our truth about their products. As part of this partnership we get the ability to have access their stuff before the general public and then we get to talk it.

I first saw this bike concept about 9 months ago when I was at the Ventum HQ I later saw it again in Hawaii when Barrett Brandon was riding around town on it. Then I was able to go pick my color about an month ago when they had the final versions ready to go. And, to be clear, the version of the bike that I have today is the same one that you can buy right now. From the time I first saw it 9 months ago not a lot has changed from that point until now some things but mostly what I saw then is the frame today.

I personally don’t see, visually, that much different between the OG GS1 and this new one. That means one of two things: either they nailed the last one or, they didn’t do enough on the newer model. Personally, after taking delivery and riding it a bit, I would say it’s about 80% of the former and 20% of the latter.

When you dive into this new bike compared to the first version, there are two major callouts:

1. Improved Tire Clearance
2. They fixed a few little nits that I had from the original model -- which we'll detail in the video below.

I have only had this bike built for a couple of weeks so Im not 100% ready to go into full tech mode — but give me about a month. Until then, though, you can watch our video as I detail some of the changes with the new bike.



I will say this about the bike: it checks 9 out of 10 boxes I would personally have in buying a gravel bike. That’s about the best endorsement I can give.