For the record…..it’s a simple story.  I think one that runs through people’s minds during both stressful and idle moments.  Once you allow yourself to think about it, not thinking about it gets harder and harder.

Sitting in my office staring at a screen filled with graphs and equations dealing with flow of gases and fluids, I realized that this couldn’t be it.  Thirty…forty years of doing this?  I was working as an engineer with a consulting firm.  The pay and hours were good but I was drowning in a sea of monotony.  My mind kept coming back to a familiar saying, “find something that’s fun, that you are good at and make it a career.”  And so the soul-searching began. 

In my spare time I started a trading company called Olson International, Inc. (OI, Inc.) and began representing a few chemical and mineral manufacturers in South America and Turkey.  It was enjoyable in the same sense as closing a deal might be to a salesman or gambling to a gambler. 

Not quite it.  Not time to quit the day job.  1996-97 were interesting years.  I expanded the focus of OI, Inc. and began importing bicycle frames and forks for a friend who owned a local Scottsdale, AZ shop.  Being knowledgeable about import/export and payment tools such as letters of credit, etc., along with and engineering and sports/cycling background proved valuable.  It was fun.  So much in fact that I never even considered making it my career.  During this same period I was designing frames and working with several other small bicycle manufacturers/distributors to develop custom frames and bring bicycles to market under their trade names. 

That’s when it finally occurred to me.  Time to quit my day job.  So, I did.  Collected my last paycheck and kicked rocks.  With some highly appreciated business advice and assistance in the form of labor from my father (for years), we were off.  By 2001 we had created and were marketing the bpStealth brand.  I was no longer working with my friend who owned the retail shop.  He didn’t like the bpStealth brand name, and I was only interested in designing tt/tri specific frames.  At the time, the big push was full suspension mtb’s.  Fun to ride, but I had no interest in designing or producing.  My friend has since developed his own successful bicycle line.

2001 was a pivotal year.  OI, Inc. stopped selling carbon frames and seat posts to other companies to private label, and bpStealth semi compact triathlon specific geometry was introduced.  While supplying products to other importers and manufacturers to private label and distribute plays an important role in the industry, we decided to concentrate on building the bpStealth brand and developing a more user friendly triathlon bike geometry.  bpStealth (now Valdora) tt/tri geometry was introduced in 2001.  If you look at the triathlon bike archive section of roadbikereview.com, you will find the 2001 bpStealth AC-Tri.  AC-Tri is short for “alloy compact triathlon.”  The AC-Tri    was the industry’s first triathlon specific semi compact frame.  There were compact road frames at the time, but none, besides the AC-Tri, were triathlon specific.

I designed this geometry out of necessity.  There was nothing out there even remotely similar.  The tri frames of the day had short head tubes, short cramped cockpits and 78-80 degree seat tube angles.  Works great for some people, but not for me and not for lots of folks.  Valdora tt/tri geometry is different in the following ways:  We call it  semi-compact because the top tube slopes more for the smaller sizes.  This saves weight and makes for a stiffer frame.  Additionally, the sloping top tube takes stand-over out of the equation for 99% of us.  Valdora tt/tri geometry works well  for most riders, whether you have a short inseam and longer upper body or vice versa, or even if you are perfectly proportionate.  The top tubes are a little longer than most, but since it is a semi-compact design, you simply choose your size by the top tube length that fits you best.  This allows the frames to fit a wide range of riders/heights simply by changing stems.  We utilize stem lengths of 70mm-120mm.  Valdora tt/tri geometry handles excellently with both short and long stems due to the fork rake and head tube angles we have incorporated into the design.

The head tubes are taller than most.  This accomplishes several goals:  1)  the bike is more stable, especially downhill, 2)  the bike will climb like a road bike, unlike most other tt/tri geometries, and 3)  it’s safer.  It doesn’t require the rider to stack 4cm + of spacers between the top of the headset and the bottom of the stem.  Not only does stacking  excessive spacers look bad, but it decreases stability, and voids the warranty of many forks.  For those who wish to be lower in the front, this is easily achievable by using minimal or no spacers and the appropriate stem in the downward position. 

The seat tube angle is a notable feature.  Valdora tt/tri geometry utilizes a 76 degree seat tube angle.  We feel this angle provides the best power to exhaustion ratio.  The sweet spot.  Great power output without exhausting the legs before the run (often one of the first benefits noted by new Valdora riders).  Comfortable for climbing…if necessary.  Another aspect to this angle is that it is easy to attain any effective seat tube angle from 73-78 degrees simply by moving the saddle forward or aft along the rails in many cases.  Valdora tt/tri frames can be built to perform equally as well for road racing or triathlon.

While they perform flawlessly as a road bike, Valdora frames are designed with triathletes in mind.  There are still a lot of bike companies building tribikes utilizing the same approach they do for their road racing bikes.  Their approach assumes that the riders average weight is 130 lbs to 150 lbs.  With triathletes it just isn’t this way.  Triathletes, competitive and recreational, come in all shapes and sizes.  Most are larger than 150 lbs.  For many, triathlon is an outlet to quench a desire to compete or just test oneself.  That desire may have been shelved after high school, college or when the first baby was born.  Welcome to triathlon.  This sport’s for you.  Not only do we see a lot of ex-runners, swimmers and cyclists getting involved in the sport but we see just as many ex-football, baseball, basketball, hockey, ……every sport.   The point is this; a Valdora carbon frame will perform at the same high standard for someone who weighs 110 lbs as it will for someone who weighs 225 lbs.  Valdora carbon tt/tri frames are stiff and responsive.  No loss of power transfer as many will experience with other frames.  With carbon frames, there is no such thing as TOO stiff.  Stiff is good and the properties of the carbon fiber absorb the vibration of the road.        

The Valdora brand was created in 2004 to represent a more conservative design standpoint from OI, Inc.'s exotic bpStealth.  That plan changed with conception of the PHX carbon aero frame which was designed around the original AC-Tri geometry.  Of course the geometry had been improved with several revisions over the years.  When we decided it was perfect, the molds were opened to make the PHX carbon aero frame in 2005.  We began distributing the PHX in late 2006.  The PHX carbon aero bike received accolades from the editor of Triathlete magazine following a thorough review.  The review was titled “Valdora PHX – Flying high below the radar”.  “You’ll find that Valdora offers a light carbon compact that is every bit (and in some cases more) as much bike as is offered by the big boys…”  Feb. 2007 Triathlete Mag.  In regard to materials, strength, aerodynamics, appearance, performance, the PHX is second to none. 

Valdora’s most recent project, the SR-1.0 aerobar, is anything but a conservative design.  The fall 2008 review of the SR-1.0 on Slowtwitch.com was nothing short of a home run.  From a design standpoint, Valdora products are geared toward versatility and comfort just as much as they are for aerodynamics and speed.  In my opinion, one without the other is not acceptable.

VALDORA

I am often asked where the name Valdora came from.  Valdora is, or at least was a place.  It was a small mining town in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  There is only record of it on railroad maps from the 1800’s.  Growing up in Colorado, knowing this area well and fathoming the self-discipline and determination it would have taken to survive there in the 1800’s, made Valdora triathlon bikes a perfect fit.  Discipline, determination.  Get it done. 

The next common question is “Why triathlon bikes?”  Easy.  It was a natural progression.  My earliest memories are of the smell of chlorine at 5am.  I am the 6^th of 6 children.  We were all on the swim team from day one.  We trampled through the snow at 4am and climbed into the Vista Cruiser to head for the pool at the local college.  I’ve been   as comfortable as a fish in water for as long as I can remember.  On the running side, my family lived about 3 miles     from the Jr. High.  For some reason, I got the idea that I was not going to ride the bus to school.  I walked, jogged, or   ran both ways every single day.  I never thought it was odd until this very moment.  In high school, I walked on to the varsity track team as a Freshman at a 4-A school; took a varsity spot from a senior.  All that running the previous two  years must’ve helped.  Bikes – this is simple.  I’ve always loved them.  I was that kid who came over to play and only rode your bike.  I was only there because I liked your bike better than mine!

I hope you like my bike.  Cheers!