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Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

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Tough as lace

Posted: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 5:44 PM by Will Femia
Filed Under:

For all of my cynicism about the press event after the first day of the show, the exhibitors were not corporate conspirators but interesting and enthusiastic up-and-comers. One of my favorite items of the whole trip was the Arantix bike frame from Delta 7 Sports. It's made of carbon fiber and kevlar but draws its strength from the geometry which they call IsoTruss. This frame is so light, I swear my cell phone is heavier. The rep said the frame itself would retail for 7 grand and a complete bike will cost $12,000. I'll never own one but as I said to the rep, if they get picked up in something like the Robb Report they'll sell them faster than they can make them and be jillionaires by this time next year.



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Comments

This geometric "technology" is nothing new.  Probably the most notable example from the past would be the British WWII Wellington medium bomber, which relied on similar construction to reduce weight and increase structural integrity.

Michael T, Hollywood, CA (Sent Thursday, January 10, 2008 2:32 PM)

It is indeed a beautiful thing to behold.  I suppose if you have $12-K to drop on a bike, this may not be your biggest concern, but since this is a mountain bike frame, who the heck is going to clean all those nooks and crannies when it gets dirty?  And where am I gonna' put my water bottle cages? ;)

Beth, St. Louis MO (Sent Thursday, January 10, 2008 10:09 PM)

I've had the priveledge to race the Arantix a couple of times and felt compelled to respond to the dirt and cleaning issues of the bike since it is the most common question that comes up. It reality it is a non-issue. It sprays off easy and I've ridden it in some serious mud and it didn't collect more than a full tubed frame.

Karl Vizmeg, SLC, UT (Sent Wednesday, April 02, 2008 10:30 AM)



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