After decades of building bikes for the masses, it became time to build the bike’s they’d buy if those bikes existed. That meant they had an Open canvas to work with and boy, did they get to work.

First, Open released the Open O-1.0, which was an insanely lightweight, incredibly responsive and high performance hardtail mountain bike. At the time, it was the lightest hardtail mountain bike on the market. The duo followed that up with a trio of road and gravel inspired bikes in the Open U.P., the Open WI.DE. and the Open MIN.D. Each is very similar in many ways, but uniquely different in important ways.

Vroomen and Kessler could have made one all-road bike and called it good. But they didn’t. With the philosophy or building the bikes they want to ride themselves, the Open Cycle founders didn’t want to make different versions of the same bike. They wanted different bikes for different riding styles.

The U.P. stands for Unbeaten Path and opened the doors and trails to gravel and dirt road riding like never before. Fortunately, Kessler and Vroomen wanted to go farther off the unbeaten path and created the WI.DE. for winding detours. The Open WI.DE. has geometry and special touches that make it the perfect ride on singletrack trails that snake through forests or atop mountain ridges.

Of course, Vroomen and Kessler had road cycling in their blood - probably why they’ve concentrated on building drop-bar bikes - and it was only a matter of time before the Open MIN.D. was released. While being responsive and fast was important, so was remaining comfortable in the saddle. Short for MINimal Design, the MIN.D. isn’t a bike worried about complicated gimmicks or splashy tech. It’s quite simply a road bike the guys at Open would have wanted to ride if they were in charge of designing the bike and, what do you know, they were.

That said, to be a successful bike company, the bikes Andy and Gerard wanted to build for themselves also had to be bikes other people would ride. The high-performance bikes created by Open ultimately become the perfect bikes for every rider because the bikes are sold as framesets only. Each completed Open bike is built with personally selected components and features that make the bike precisely the bike each owner wants to ride.

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.

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.

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Contender Bicycles is one of the largest physical bike shops in the country and we have an unmatched selection of quality bicycles from numerous brands. Many bike shops these days have narrowed down their inventory to one or two brands. That’s absolutely not the case at Contender.

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Of course, every bike will need to be serviced now and then. Contender Bicycles has the largest service staff in the state. With more than a dozen wrenches on staff, we have experts ready to make your bike as good as new as quickly as possible. Our mechanics have experience and training unmatched in the market. We’ll talk over each fix, discuss options and get you back in the saddle as soon as possible.

While Contender Bicycles has a reputation for selling only the best bikes, bike accessories and bike gear, we listen to you first to determine what your needs are. We don’t pay sales commissions, so we care more about making sure you ride the best bike for you rather than selling the best bike for us.

Whether you’re buying a bike from Contender Bicycles in person or working remotely with our Pro Build experts, we’re dedicated to making your experience in the shop as good as your ride on the trails or road.

If you're searching for a bike that reflects exactly how you ride, going with a custom build is the way to go. We cover all the bases, from a curated selection of frames and components to custom paint so you don't have to. Simply bring us your vision and we'll build it into a reality.