Take two guys with more than thirty years of excellence in designing, building and creating some of the best bicycles in the world, give them a clean slate to do whatever it is they want and what do you get? In the case of Andy Kessler and Gerard Vroomen you get Open Cycle - a relatively new bike brand that had a reputation for excellence as soon as their first bike came out of the carbon fiber mold.

Open Cycle is new(ish), but it is also far from new. Kessler helped guide BMC to worldwide recognition and World Tour victories when he took over the company as CEO when it was poised to fold. Vroomen, likewise, led a bike company - in his case, Cervelo - to countless professional cycling wins and a strong hold as one of the world’s best bike brands.

Vroomen caught the bike-designing bug as a teenager after a family trip to a renewable energy expo in his native Netherlands. There he was introduced to the Human Powered Vehicle concept and designed his first HPV at the age of 18. He’s been obsessing over angles, materials and the science of bicycles from that day forward.

Andy Kessler and Gerard Vroomen having a laugh

A few years later, Vroomen earned his mechanical engineering degree and designed a UCI legal time trial bike dubbed the Barrachi Green Machine as his graduation project. This led to the formation of Cervelo which quickly gained a reputation for being the most aerodynamic bikes on the planet with loyalists ranging from World Tour road teams to being the most popular brand at the Ironman World Championships.

For Kessler, a love for cycling developed after some injuries helped steer him away from team sports and onto a mountain bike. As a college student Kessler began working as a part-time secretary at Cannondale before eventually working his way up to being CEO of BMC. He clearly knows a thing or two about the bike business.

Like many collaborators, Kessler and Vrooman crossed paths in the business and worked together at Cervelo for a few years. They each eventually left Cervelo - Kessler to pursue other interests and Vrooman because the brand he helped build from infancy had grown beyond his personal comfort level.

Gerard Vroomen and Andy Kessler riding up a hill on OPEN Mi.nds

Vrooman wanted to hit the reset button professionally and, knowing Kessler’s experience and business acumen, gave him a call.

Thirty-plus years of expertise came together, again, and started from the ground up. Knowledge of what works, what doesn’t work, craftsmanship and proven business sense together to create the bikes true cycling aficionados would immediately fall in love with.

Bikes that combined the best in design, the best in materials and the best in function and performance.

In 2012, Open Cycle launched and its history is now being written.