Ventana's
History
Ventana Mountain Bikes are the product of over three
decades of off-road bicycling experience. Since the
early 1970's Sherwood Gibson, one of Ventana's two founders,
has been assembling a wealth of bicycle specific product
knowledge. Gibson began in 1974 as a BMX competitor
in Northern California. He added to his seat-of-the-pants
education with three years of high school metal shop,
junior college certification in welding and machining,
and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Gibson's bicycle manufacturing
interests first took form in BMX component and sidehack
designs that he built in his dad's garage during the
week, and raced on the weekends. In 1985 he built his
first mountain bike frame-of steel. And by competing
in the infancy of mountain bike racing, including the
infamous Whisky Town Downhill, Gibson gained critical
feedback about the integrity of his concepts.
Ventana Mountain Bikes, USA was formed in late 1988
as a joint venture between Gibson and Steve Blalock
of Monterey, California. Gibson and Blalock remained partners until 1991 when Gibson became sole owner. The two shared a common interest
in mountain bikes and their construction. Ventana
is named for the rugged coastal wilderness in Big
Sur, near Blalock's home. The company's first challenge
was to produce an elevated chainstay mountain frame
without the weight penalty most frame builders of
the day were experiencing. The Ventana team succeeded,
delivering to the marketplace in 1990 the well received
Cone Peak. Mountain Bike Action wrote..."Climbing
the Ventana was as efficient a process as any. The
bike was stiff, and every pedal stroke went straight
into the ground."
The quickly evolving mountain bike technology of
the nineties brought new ideas and designs from Gibson
and Ventana. Over the years, Ventana has introduced
such classic designs as their carbon road fork, lite
weight stems, sealed bearing hubs, hardtail frames
like the Marble Peak, Cone Peak, Elite, El Chiquillo,
and El Toro, full suspension frames with 2", 3", 4",
5", and 6" of rear travel like the Marble Peak FS,
El Habanero, El Matador, El Terremoto, La Bruja, El
Fuego, El Saltamontes, Pantera, and El Chamuco, and
full suspension tandems like El Conquistador, El Testigo,
and El Conquistador S&S. And, Ventana has consistently
received accolades from industry trade publications,
dealers, and customers alike for their industry leading
welding excellence, meticulous attention to detail,
stellar performance, luscious finishes and spot-on
styling.
Sixteen
years later, Gibson still designs every Ventana
frame from the ground up to meet his stringent
performance standards under his keen eye for aesthetic
simplicity and impeccable drive for manufacturing
excellence. 2004 brings four new offerings to the
Ventana line-up... El Cuervo their 9" DH sled, X-5 their 5" woods
bike, El Martillo their criterium racer, and El
Martillo CX their cutting edged cyclocross frame.
And while the designs have changed, the rave reviews
still abound.
From their sexy CNC machined suspension pieces down to
their smallest cable stop, every piece, of every Ventana
frame, is painstakingly produced by Ventana. While
other so called manufacturers market "Hand-Built,
American" bikes actually built by large production
houses in the U.S. and Taiwan, Ventanas are truly
born and manufactured in the same region as the sport
itself -Northern California.
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