It is great to see all the progress in this thread. Congratulations!

If anyone sees a "Berk saddle/post combo" in le Tour....

Please try to post a picture, I don't want to miss it.

Thanks for all those nice comments!

I talked with the mechanic from SKY a few days ago and can't really say if they'll be allowed to use it. The problem is UCI and I don't know if UCI will allow to use a product like I made.. It would be a different story also if it would be Pinarello branded etc.,...for the next year we already have some plans so also if it won't be used this year I'll for sure continue working on those projects and it's a great experience. Don't know if I already posted this saddle combo (basicly a serial saddle bonded to the Dogma seatpost), saves almost 100g:




In september I'll most probably start with my own small company and start working on my projects even a bit more serious. I managed to get some more equipment that I need and as soon as I get also all the moulds etc. I'll start with it. Still won't really rush, but as soon as I'll have all that I need I'll start with it. Right now is my aim to make my new frame till the end of next month. There are already a few people interested for a custom made frame, so somehow I want to make a proto-type for myself in the next month, and then some more proto-type frames for testing - hope that till new year I could make the testings etc.,..in short, I'm working on my projects..a lot, I'll keep you updated .

There are also some other interesting projects in process. Together with a young guy who had an accident we're working on a carbon fiber leg splint etc.,..and as I already mentioned I'm working also on a carbon fiber biathlon rifle for the winter Olympic games. Would love to share some photos of the design etc., but unfortunately I'm not allowed yet.. If you're interested I can send some photos when possible also from other projects, it may be a bit offtopic, but hey, it's sport equipment for weightweenies who aren't cyclists ..otherwise the biathlon team trains a lot on road bikes during the summer. Oh and one more thing - I was also contacted to work on a project for the carbon fiber body of a sport car that is in process. It may take a few years until it will be made, but anyway, for sure very interesting for me..there are some interesting companies here in Slovenia who also work for moto-industry, like some carbon wheels "Rotobox", sport car "Tushek" etc.,..and because our country is very small there is quite a lot of chance to get in contact with someone who knows someone who works somewhere,..

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Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites - Handmade In Slovenia
Berk Composites

Share all the photos you can!

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"Stay cool and try to survive" A. Klier to the other members of the Garmin classics squad the night before P-R.

Awesome work and best of luck on all your future projects within the bike industry and outside!

You are right about the UCI and their strict rules. All equipment must be UCI approved and available for purchase by general public.

Hey wait a minute. I would consider myself the general public, and I have a Berk combo. So what's the problem? The UCI is a friggen' Kangaroo court of bs anyway. I'm looking forward to the first Berk Composites prototype F1 car chassis.

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Cervelo S2(5888g)
Cervelo P3(7850g and dropping fast)
Trek 5200(7050g)

This is where we get in on the ground floor, invest some money in to the start up of Jure's company - convince AC to ride a BERK and then retire

Seriously tho - good on you Jure - so many people talk the talk - you're someone that can walk the walk!

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S-Works Venge

OK

@plpete & ProfessorChaos
Thanks. Well yes UCI is quite precise with their rules...also if they don't have them yet for a specific thing they most probably won't allow to use a new product.


I had a scratched bar-end cap on a UCI 1.1 race...it was just before the start. A guy from UCI came to me and just couldn't get past the bar-end..and I had to put something that wasn't "sharp", the team car wasn't really close so I just had a last minute "repair/improvisation" and put on a watter cap from the watter bottle that I had with me on the start (it was really hot), and I put that cap on the end of the bar, and he was happy then..it actually looked "quite good" because our main sponsor is Radenska (mineral water) and I had a sponsor matching bar end . So somehow I won't be surprised at all if they won't allow to use it...unfortunately, but as I said we'll probably try to make something new for the next season, we'll see.

@Marzz
Thanks

I decided to invest most of the money that I earned in the past with cycling and some work that I made. I also made a smaller "downgrade" with the equipment for my bike for this year, already sell some parts that I don't really need and still have some, that I have to sell.. Otherwise I already have quite a lot of carbon fiber for my future projects, probably for a few frames, so I'm "safe" here, just need to save some more money for the procedure, testings etc.,..First of course I'll just build a bike with my new frame and test it on the road. Still without any problems with my PT4 bike and I'm quite alot on my bike these days. So I test it quite good, I guess I'll make with it around 10 000 km when I'll have my new frame. Have also some new equipment that will allow me to make it even better, so just can't wait to start with the work! I'll keep you updated, and thanks for all those nice comments here

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Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites - Handmade In Slovenia
Berk Composites

Some good news - the experiment with (NdFeB) magnets turned out perfect!!

Unfortunately I won't share photos from the procedure of the tubes, because I don't know if something similar already exists,...and if not, it would be stupid if I would publish it, sorry for that, but hope you understand.



Soon I'll start with the work on PT5, I guess at the end of this month. I'll keep you updated. This time I'll have probably a bit less photos, but I'll give my best to update you as much as possible.

The only thing that I still have to decide is which diameter of the seatstays to choose. I already wrote that I'll make it with 10mm (from profile, otherwise the seatstays are oval 10 x 13mm), but when I put together a woden model (just to see how it should look) I somehow prefer the 12mm (12 x 16mm) seatstays

And something inside of me tells me that I should make it with internal cable routing (who cares for that extra 30g for internal routing..)

Probably I'll add some more weight for my next build in any case - I'll go back to ALU bars etc.,..

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Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites - Handmade In Slovenia
Berk Composites

Would they be light/powerful enough to use as a retention system for external cable guides that could be removed when Di2 is used? You could have a small but ferrous cable guide that is held to the exterior of the carbon tubing by an internal magnet with a small decal denoting its position.

Probably not, but it would be possible to laminate those magnets in the frame and mount the battery with magnets.

A magnet, like that on the photo, can hold 900g and it weights only 0,8g.

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Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites - Handmade In Slovenia
Berk Composites

Thanks for the quick reply.

No problem.

Here some photos for a leg splint that I already mentioned.
First I made a model of his leg, that is the exact copy..



And then the carbon work...


Unfortunately he had an accident and can't move his tibialis (the muscle that "lifts" your feet), and I'm going to make a carbon splint that will hold his leg in the position instead of the tibialis that is "dead". He will be then able to walk again quite normal and without the serial splints that are really strange designed and you can't really hide it that good...well, this carbon "spring" will be thinner as 2mm. We'll make some more prototypes because if I'm honest I don't exactly know how strong should the "spring" be, but I'll give my best to help him!

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Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites - Handmade In Slovenia
Berk Composites

BERK PROTO-TYPE's SO MUCH MORE THAN BIKES!

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BIG DADDY B FLOW
AERO & LIGHT is RIGHT

Cervelo SLC 5890g/12.98 lbs

There are also other interesting projects in process, but didn't really shared them here because it's a forum for bike equipment...it's no problem for me to share also other projects, if you would like to see them of course

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Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites - Handmade In Slovenia
Berk Composites

Jure I believe that your heart is with the bike and I also believe that if any other bike company ventured off the bike path a bit that they would be allowed to post here as well. You are a cyclist in heart, body and soul so I think it would be ok to post a few other projects. We all want to support you in this way and I am sure I am not the only one that feels this way.

Please share.

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BIG DADDY B FLOW
AERO & LIGHT is RIGHT

Cervelo SLC 5890g/12.98 lbs