Interbike 2009

[madcow]

Next a couple pieces from Schmolke, the new 31.8 road bar and a 31.8 mtb bar, both in TLO versions and both within a couple of grams of the smaller versions.

[madcow]

Now for some stuff from Ax.

I failed to take pictues of the 42mm and mtb rims/wheels and since all of our stuff is already in Vegas(and I won't be until tomorrow) pictures of that will have to wait.

I did take a quick one of the crank prototype, no idea when this will go into production, but I think it will be several months.



The rims pictured on my twitter account, are unfortunately not production and won't be in the near future. Ax seems to be focusing on several new business aspects for themselves. With their new facility they are trying to build products with a broader appeal, stronger and less expensive(higher weight limits and no weight limits are possible for some coming pieces). The production version of the rims will weigh around 200grams, but will be far less expensive than the prototypes shown here. Those rims with a Tune Mag90 and C4 front hub built up into an incredible 608.8 grams.






And the Tune Mag90 hub we used. I got a chance to disassemble this and look at it from the inside, I really like the approach they took to the ratchet(not pawl) system in this hub. I hope it spreads throughout the Tune line this year.

[madcow]

I can't decide which of the next two would be my favorite piece for the show, so I flipped a coin which one to show next.

My 3949gram Di2 bike. While the weight is certainly light, we didn't go after a weight alone with this one(example, our wheels are 230 grams heavier than the 608gram set we built for the show, as well as the custom embossed leather bartape). The idea was that light doesn't have to be boring so weight was traded for style.

The look of this bike(and much of our booth this year) was designed by Geoff Mcfetridge. For a working artist as popular as Geoff to have devoted as much time as he did to this project is truly amazing. I can't thank him enough nor will I be able to settle this debt anytime soon with him. So I would certainly like to say a huge Thank You to Geoff. I'd also encourage people to google his work, it's truly awesome stuff.

The parts of the bike are predominately Ax(fork, rims, brakes, bars, stem, post, seat) and Shimano Di2(shifters, derailleurs, battery etc...) The crank is a prototype that while is extremely light won't be going into production, but is leading to other things.

[madcow]

My last one for today. We started working on this one back in Feburary because we thought it might be hard to pull off. In fact it wasn't nearly as hard as we had expected.

This is our electric Di2 MTB.

2x10 drivetrain with a 29-42 up front and an 11-32 in the rear. Internally routed electronics and hydraulics. Carbon rotors and custom carbon pads from Fibre-Lyte. USE Sub fork. Graphic concept was created by our in house designer Brian, and the technical drawings were stolen from Shimanos patent for Di2.
















I'll be in Vegas by this time tomorrow and will try to take and post as many pictures as I can to my twitter account: http://twitter.com/fairwheel so make sure to check it frequently. I'll also have Brian taking lots of professional pictures from all over the show that we can share with you when things are over.

[dunlinii]

This is just porn, there is no other word to describe it. God I wish I worked for you guys.

Mr. Mcfetridge's work is incredible, can't wait to see some more pics of it on the bikes. And that Ax crank looks real nice.

[morrisond]

Does those Carbon Brake Discs work? Weight?

While on the topic of Fiber-Lyte, has anyone used there Rings for an SS, front and rear?

[dbohemian]

[quote="madcow"]S
First up a sneak peek at our Bohemian. Built with a new stainless tubeset from KVA. http://kvastainless.com I'm told it's about 30 grams lighter than 953, per tube. I don't have cost information yet, but will get that later this week.

Next, built by one of Dave Bohms (Bohemian) apprentices. Corey Rosene. A stainless CX bike.

***********************************************************************

Jason, The completely built bike (Bohemian) looks great. It will be fun to see peoples reactions this week.

The first offerings of KVA are a little on the conservative side (that is a good thing) and will not weigh much if any different than current offerings. Density is a trait we cannot get around with metals. My tubing was about 40grm lighter per tube but then again it was pulled to .4mm wall. To put that in perspective a typical carbon tube on a lightweight sub 1kg carbon frame has tubing 60 thousands thick. Mine is 15 thousands thick.

As far as I was told it will cost somewhere around 350 dollars per tube set. Not that raw material costs have a lot to do with final price it will be nice to a US option and someone who can make some of those special tubes many of us framebuilders have been wanting.

Just like carbon, if we can use a higher strength material we can thinner still while keeping reliability up but we will have to see how far we can push that. If we try to push things too far we lose some of the reasons we may use steel. That is ease of design for all types of frames and reliability.

I am very proud of Cory. He has done a wonderful job on this frame. I don't have apprentice(s) Just one...ever

The other bikes look great. I was able to see the MTB in person and it is super trick, Fairwheel did a great job.

[djconnel]

Great seeing the Ruegamers! Is the mountain frame with the überlight tubing? And how much did the paint add to the road frame?

[alienator]

Cow, will we be seeing this on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and cardigans? It's pretty cool:

[j_imaizumi]

Madcow, looks like you'll continue to steal the show with those ass-kicking bikes and thanks for taking the time and energy out to sharing them with us despite all the time and dedication being put into the event! Those Ax Lightness rims are incredible!

[andy2]

Stunning stuff!

Jason, how do you rate the USE SUB fork compared to the German:a kilo (You've had that on a previous bike, non?)?

They both have the same anti-dive feature, the German with the parallelogram on top, the Brit down by the hub.
USE is priced roughly 0.5 to the SUB. Is the USE contraption anywhere near as light as the Kilo?
That's a tune Cannonball hub on there right?

Gotta know, planning a 'me too' MTB now that the Intro X is nearing completion and I don't have Nils to copy on this.

/a

[madcow]

Morrison yes the rotots work but the custom pads squeal. Were talking with swiss stop about trying something new on them.

Dj, no the frame does not use ul tubing it is not meant to be light but rather durable

Alienator, we already have some shirts made for the show, stop by the shop next week, I'll save you one

Andy the sub works great, it is however far heavier 1800 grams and change. Its not a tune front hub but is a use hub. We tried to make this build a little heavier so weight wouldn't overshadow the other aspects. I think with some attention it would have been about 13.5 lbs instead of the 18 that it is.

Sorry for typos I only have my phone for internet this week.

[coloclimber]

Once again you woo us with your attention to detail and innovation.

[pritchet74]

I can't believe that you built a 610g wheelset....

[alienator]

Bessie, was the Rue mountain bike designed with the USE fork in mind? I wonder how the loads from two legged fork vary with those from the USE. It seems like there'd be an additional moment.....er, torque.....at the steering head.

And with the CF rotor.....how does the braking compare to a regular SS rotor? Is there anyone making cast iron rotors? In racing I found that cast iron rotors increase braking mojo by a factor of at least one shitload. I would think a heavily drilled/machined iron rotor wouldn't weigh too much. Also what's the wear rate like on the CF?