When You Want To Maximize Gravel Speed, Aerodynamics Is The Last Thing To Focus On
Listen To The Pros
In episode 18 of The Cooldown podcast Keegan Swenson and Alexey Vermeulen spoke with Tobin Ortenblad. In a segment they posted on Instagram (embedded below), they shared their strong thoughts on aerodynamics and tech in the gravel racing world. Their comments align with Seven's experience designing gravel bikes for many fast racers. Here are a few key excerpts from their conversation.
"Unless you're trying to go sub six-and-a-half [hours], and arguably even sub six-fifteen [at Leadville], drop bars aren't the difference maker." — Alexey Vermeulen
"You don't need drop bars for Leadville. Stop obsessing over aero gear and fancy tech. The real secret to cycling? Train harder. That's it." — Text from their Instagram post
"[Drop bars and aero don't make the difference], but it's all the news. It's VeloNews and Cycling News and the bullshit that's posted constantly that just kills me. The aero data. Yeah, okay, if, if, if, if, and if. That would be great." — Alexey Vermeulen
"Thank you so much for saying that. I'm constantly disillusioned with our sport. […] I hate to see all this stupid hype over just this dumb stuff. You don't need to wear all this stupid, silly aero gear." — Tobin Ortenblad
We thank the three for being honest despite sponsor expectations. Ride on.
Record Holders Ride Flat Bars
Flat-bar racers hold the Leadville course records for men and women. Keegan Swenson broke the record in 2023 and Kate Courtney did the same in 2025.
Choose Your Adventure
For some riders it's fun to think about how their bike might perform in a wind tunnel. For other riders, it's just stressful and expensive. Fortunately for the later, some of top gravel pros strongly recommend that we all focus on other things, like training, before we invest in aero gear.
The Leadville Trail 100 is categorized as a mountain bike race by Life Time. However, many competitors in 2024 and 2025 raced with drop bars. Leadville has banned drop bars for 2026 over safety concerns.
Anyone can fall victim to stupid pursuits. One of Seven's founders used to shave his mountain bike tire treads to reduce rolling weight.
