Carbon fiber prototypes, Super low dust covers and more to come!

[jobvisser]

Covers are now available, please get in touch through PM to order!

Hi,

I'm a 18 year old student from the Netherlands. Besides studying I race on the road as a U19 and make some carbon fiber components for fun.
Inspired by the topic of Berk I started making simple carbon fiber and 3D printed parts. I am now working on carbon fiber covers, like the ones made by veloflyte as I only have one cover and multiple bikes. I'm also working on a saddle seatpost combo and some timetrial parts as I really "enjoy" timetrialing .



Here are some pictures of the carbon covers, which were also posted in Godzuki's thread.


Keep in mind that these are still prototypes, proper molds will be made soon.

[burglarboycie]

Welcome! I saw these on Godzuki's thread and thought they looked great. Keep us posted on other products and developments.

[dereksmalls]

Awesome!!

[1415chris]

Nice, there was a need for somenone to step in and fill in the gap left after Veloflyte closed their doors. If you are ready, surely there will be orders flying in your direction.
Waiting for updates, good luck.

[Peeza21]

This is exciting! Good look so far!

[KCookie]

I need one for a new build. So I'd buy one in UD Matt.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[jobvisser]

I have been prototyping with 3d printed molds, but the plastic used cant be polished which makes it hard to get a perfect cover. Therefore an alloy mold will be made, but as I'm just a student I have to get it right on the first attempt as it's really expensive for me.

I am not sure in which sizes the covers should be made, obviously a lot of people need a 1 1/8 inch one but i can also make a mold for 1 1/2 and 1 1/4 inch covers. This way Giant, Canyon and pinarello users can use a low dust cover as well ! I would love some input from the community on this part as I want everyone to be able to use one!

Do not hesitate to send me a PM if you would like something custom made or have some special requests!

[Klaster_1]

What's the weight? I've been using a DIY plastic 3D printed dust cap for a year and it seems to hold well. If your product is less then 1.7g, then you might have a customer

[1415chris]

I was always wondering if someone willing to start making carbon dust caps could contact Douglas (Veloflyte) and if possible aquire his molds...? I think it would be easier than starting the whole process from square one. I am not saying he is waiting for business proposals, but worth of exploring this option, of course if it is a feasible option at all.
On the size of the dust capas, it is more driven by the external diameters of the head tubes rather than internal size 1 1/8 or 1 1/4. It is not the case that all 1 1/8 headtubes would work nicely with the same sized dust cap, unfortunately.
So for the start if you decide to make your own molds, explore which diameters would be the most common among bike brands and start from this.

[Dannnnn]

Is the underside going to be profiled so it doesn't leave a gap between the top of the headtube and the top of the bearing?

Most of the ones I've seen/found leave a gap between the two and it looks crap

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[AZR3]

I was always wondering if someone willing to start making carbon dust caps could contact Douglas (Veloflyte) and if possible aquire his molds...? I think it would be easier than starting the whole process from square one. I am not saying he is waiting for business proposals, but worth of exploring this option, of course if it is a feasible option at all.

I actually contacted Douglass this past Tuesday asking if he had any extras left and this is what he said

"You should have asked a few months ago. I did have a stash of them remaining. But I finally recycled my molds and discraded with everything else.
I have no way of making any more.

I'm sorry. I wish I could help you."

So that's not a possibility

[JerryLook]

Very cool. Also looks just like the Slam that stem dust cover I'm using. Except mine is made out of aluminum. It's around 2mm tall and weighs around 2g.

I definitely think there is a market for these for anyone looking to slam their stem

[jobvisser]

What's the weight? I've been using a DIY plastic 3D printed dust cap for a year and it seems to hold well. If your product is less then 1.7g, then you might have a customer

One of the earlier covers was around 0.8 grams without sanding the edges all te way, so i think it will be around 0.75grams when it's fully done. I'm also trying a version with thinner carbon which will be around 0.5 grams.

I was always wondering if someone willing to start making carbon dust caps could contact Douglas (Veloflyte) and if possible aquire his molds...? I think it would be easier than starting the whole process from square one. I am not saying he is waiting for business proposals, but worth of exploring this option, of course if it is a feasible option at all.
On the size of the dust capas, it is more driven by the external diameters of the head tubes rather than internal size 1 1/8 or 1 1/4. It is not the case that all 1 1/8 headtubes would work nicely with the same sized dust cap, unfortunately.
So for the start if you decide to make your own molds, explore which diameters would be the most common among bike brands and start from this.

That's one of the problems i have, as all bike brands have a different outer diameter for a 1 1/8 headset. I'm trying to get a list of all the different dimensions but it's quite hard to find.

Is the underside going to be profiled so it doesn't leave a gap between the top of the headtube and the top of the bearing?

Most of the ones I've seen/found leave a gap between the two and it looks crap

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Of course it has a profiled underside, the protoytpes closed the edges perfectly on my supersix evo. I have tried it on a Cerveo R3 and it was fine as well, But there isn't an industry standard height so it might require a micro spacer underneath the cover for some brands.

[scant]

jobvisser, nice work!

I guess you need to know the critical dimensions, obviously 1 1/8 is set, but also depth (to cover the bearing) & outer diameter. if forum members can measure & state their current set ups with whatever brand they're using, you'd be able to quickly work out if theres any size cross compatibility between different brands

[jobvisser]

jobvisser, nice work!

I guess you need to know the critical dimensions, obviously 1 1/8 is set, but also depth (to cover the bearing) & outer diameter. if forum members can measure & state their current set ups with whatever brand they're using, you'd be able to quickly work out if theres any size cross compatibility between different brands

That would really speed up the proces indeed, and it would be really appreciated!


I think that there is one diameter that will work for all 1 1/8 inch headsets. As the bearing outerdiameter is a constant and there is a minimum amount of material needed on either side. If the covers have the diameter of that minimum value + the bearing diameter the cap will never be wider than the headtube and it will still protect the bearing underneath.