A 32er could win Leadville this year as a brand known for road, tri bikes teases new MTB

Ventum Bikes teased a prototype full-suspension mountain bike with 32-inch wheels that may debut at this weekend's Leadville 100 race in Colorado.
By Jeff Barber
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Photos: @ventumracing

Late yesterday Utah-based Ventum Bikes posted photos of a full-suspension mountain bike with 32-inch wheels, along with the caption, “We’ll see you in Leadville.” Known for road, triathlon, time trial, and gravel bikes, Ventum has not produced a mountain bike to date, making the announcement a surprise. The other mystery: who, if anyone, will actually ride the bike in the Leadville 100 on Saturday.

Close-up view of a mountain bike with a black and gold color scheme, featuring a dirty frame and tires. The bike's front fork is prominent, showcasing its suspension components, while the wheel is partially visible, highlighting the tread and brake disc. The background is solid black, emphasizing the bike's design and features.
Close-up view of a black bicycle frame with the word "PROTOTYPE" and "STEPS" visible, set against a dark background. The frame shows signs of dirt and wear, indicating usage.

The Ventum 32er MTB

Based on the photos, here’s what we know. The prototype is a full-suspension mountain bike with a RockShox Deluxe shock and an Intend Samurai XC 32 inverted fork, both rigged up to RockShox Flight Attendant controllers. Though it’s surprising to see RockShox parts on the Intend fork, Intend explicitly notes their fork fits the RockShox Charger Raceday 2 cartridge, which is Flight Attendant compatible.

Close-up view of a mountain bike's handlebars and front wheel, set against a dark background with a bright overhead light illuminating the scene. The image highlights the bike's frame details, tires, and control components, emphasizing a clean and modern design.

Moving on to the wheels, the rims are clearly FSAs, though we haven’t seen any official mention of this particular model yet. Even more interesting: the tires. Now, it could just be the lighting, but the tread pattern appears to show recessed, inverted knobs running down the center. If the knobs are indeed inverted, this is a very unique design, and one we haven’t seen before.

Digging further, side shots of the tire reveal unusual scalloped, rainbow-shaped side knobs. It’s unknown which brand produced this 32-inch tire.

Clearly the photos shared online are meant to tease the bike without revealing too much, and the dark lighting makes many details difficult to decipher. In the front-on shot above, the rear brake cable appears to be routed strangely — or it’s possible the bike utilizes headset routing.

We don’t know who might be racing this bike

Ventum doesn’t say if the bike will be raced at Leadville, or if they’re just bringing the prototype to show off in the pits. However, Instagram comments suggest that Ventum-sponsored rider Mike Woods could be the pilot. Woods is a former World Tour pro who raced Unbound earlier this year, and he’s listed on the Leadville start list in the Elite Men’s category.

Photo: 5Dev

For this year’s Leadville 100 mountain bike race, organizers have banned drop-bar bikes, prompting riders to seek other technical advantages. Component company 5Dev posted a bounty over the weekend, promising $12,500 to any man and/or woman who wins the race while running their Shredville cockpit setup. The Shredville Mount attaches drop-bar-style controllers to a flat bar to technically get around the drop-bar rule.

Will 32-inch wheels or an unusual control setup ultimately prove to be the winning formula? We’ll have to wait until this weekend to find out!

 
A group of mountain bikers lined up at the start line of the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race, with a large banner reading "LIFE TIME LEADVILLE TRAIL 100 MTB" overhead. The riders, wearing various team jerseys and helmets, are positioned on their bikes, ready for the race to begin amidst a backdrop of early morning light and spectators in the background.
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