Engineering bicycle part by part

[Komarov]

Hi everybody!
Been silent for some time because as you might know we currently live in Russia and our crazy dictator started this terrible war in the Ukraine for witch all russian nation will be held accountable our days. So didn't feel like chatting about bike stuff (Sorry, no more politics here)

Anyway! While everything went to shit we managed to continue working and FINALLY after 15 broken prototypes launched the production of first batch of the handlebars. Weight is 170g and they are still a little stiffer than their heavier competitors (I didn't say S-works or Easton, did I?). Drop 125mm, reach 75mm, flare 6deg.

Also we moulded prototype of new iteration of computer mount. 16g including all metal parts made from PVD black coated titanium, plastic insert and little steal insert bolts. Crazy stiff, far better than a previous one. Looks like couple of more prototypes and into serial production it goes.Also looks so good in my opinion. The only disadvantage is that it requires very complex mould and complicated to produce in general for such a small part.

Last, but not the least - we assembled as a test couple of cork padded saddles. The idea is that cork will deform under the seatbones (just like it happens in the insoles of a good boots with a cork layer - its a quite a quick process), so the saddle will be "custom fit" to the rider's pelvis. And the weight is 101,5g for the whole saddle! Just need a proper elastic coating to protect the cork from wear and grease.

Thats about all, a lot of stuff actually. Hope we will survive this mess to bring these parts to our clients.

[Konsi]

The cork saddle looks great! Would be perfect on a vintage bike or anything with tan sidewalls

[Komarov]

The cork saddle looks great! Would be perfect on a vintage bike or anything with tan sidewalls

Honestly, I plan to use black colored PU coating for the cork But can be left natural colored for those retro projects/tan sidewall bikes as well

[Komarov]

Almost ready with the cork saddle.
Really dampens vibrations from the road damn well, used it for 2 weeks to commute without bibs (1 hour long ride twice a day) - felt very nice, I'd say even unexpectedly nice. Now bought laser to engrave the logo on the cork (We've made a new logo so here it is).
PU lacquer seams to work nicely doesn't make the cork harder and allows no wear on the cork at least for now. Also no moisture adsorption noticed.
Ordered couple of squre meters of cork for cnc-milling more pads, so hope to make a relatively big batch very soon

[Komarov]

Sup everybody!

I've been thinking about making stems for quite some time, but everytime I modeled the stem - it didn't feel right.
It really annoyed me to make clamps for the steerer and handlebar from carbon because it requires metal inserts for the bolts to be put in and these inserts make the part bigger and just not looking as elegant as I want to (I dont want to make Darimo e t.c. kind of stem because it just looks ugly IMHO). So I figured carbon isn't perfectly fitting material for the part with so many threads.

Metal stem would be more elegant, but it would be quite heavy to allow same stiffness as a carbon one.

So I figured: what if I let each material do what its best for? So I ended with a design below with 2 Titanium 3d printed pieces (clamping zones) bonded to the carbon tube. And despite the fact I already find out how to improve it - I "sent" it to the prototyping stage with 3 parts being made for tests.

Metal pieces are already 3d printed from Grade5 titanium, top bolts on the handlebar clamp are replaced with an axle for the cap to rotate on.
Ti parts will be bonded with carbon tube and while it may sound a bit dangerous - there are a lot of things (even flying ones, not speaking about Bastion bikes) which are kept running with an adhesive.
So I feel quite confident in a bond and also I figured how mould carbon tube along with Ti parts so they are mechanically locked too.
But this will be the base for the next batch of prototypes

[Kayrehn]

Nice effort! This looks like the old Zipp sl sprint stem actually. The clamp part looks really thin, even more so than the extralite stem which some people worry about. But then again I'm using a Darimo stem which can only torque up to 3.5nm so who am I to judge

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[OnTheRivet]

Sup everybody!

I've been thinking about making stems for quite some time, but everytime I modeled the stem - it didn't feel right.
It really annoyed me to make clamps for the steerer and handlebar from carbon because it requires metal inserts for the bolts to be put in and these inserts make the part bigger and just not looking as elegant as I want to (I dont want to make Darimo e t.c. kind of stem because it just looks ugly IMHO). So I figured carbon isn't perfectly fitting material for the part with so many threads.

Metal stem would be more elegant, but it would be quite heavy to allow same stiffness as a carbon one.

So I figured: what if I let each material do what its best for? So I ended with a design below with 2 Titanium 3d printed pieces (clamping zones) bonded to the carbon tube. And despite the fact I already find out how to improve it - I "sent" it to the prototyping stage with 3 parts being made for tests.

5c51219a-5ede-46bf-b21d-e63950b146fc.png
99e74a4b-7555-4c18-92d2-b394881a1d5e.jpg
772e2cd5-a020-4e05-a715-204eda941856.jpg
IMG_1857.jpg

Metal pieces are already 3d printed from Grade5 titanium, top bolts on the handlebar clamp are replaced with an axle for the cap to rotate on.
Ti parts will be bonded with carbon tube and while it may sound a bit dangerous - there are a lot of things (even flying ones, not speaking about Bastion bikes) which are kept running with an adhesive.
So I feel quite confident in a bond and also I figured how mould carbon tube along with Ti parts so they are mechanically locked too.
But this will be the base for the next batch of prototypes

How
Looks really cool. Curious about the metal printed parts, you seem to not rave radii in a few of the transitions, do you worry about stress risers? How does that material react under fatigue cycling?

[Komarov]

Nice effort! This looks like the old Zipp sl sprint stem actually. The clamp part looks really thin, even more so than the extralite stem which some people worry about. But then again I'm using a Darimo stem which can only torque up to 3.5nm so who am I to judge

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

Its probably thinner than extralight, but its Titanium, not Aluminium So should be strong enough

[Komarov]

Sup everybody!

I've been thinking about making stems for quite some time, but everytime I modeled the stem - it didn't feel right.
It really annoyed me to make clamps for the steerer and handlebar from carbon because it requires metal inserts for the bolts to be put in and these inserts make the part bigger and just not looking as elegant as I want to (I dont want to make Darimo e t.c. kind of stem because it just looks ugly IMHO). So I figured carbon isn't perfectly fitting material for the part with so many threads.

Metal stem would be more elegant, but it would be quite heavy to allow same stiffness as a carbon one.

So I figured: what if I let each material do what its best for? So I ended with a design below with 2 Titanium 3d printed pieces (clamping zones) bonded to the carbon tube. And despite the fact I already find out how to improve it - I "sent" it to the prototyping stage with 3 parts being made for tests.

5c51219a-5ede-46bf-b21d-e63950b146fc.png
99e74a4b-7555-4c18-92d2-b394881a1d5e.jpg
772e2cd5-a020-4e05-a715-204eda941856.jpg
IMG_1857.jpg

Metal pieces are already 3d printed from Grade5 titanium, top bolts on the handlebar clamp are replaced with an axle for the cap to rotate on.
Ti parts will be bonded with carbon tube and while it may sound a bit dangerous - there are a lot of things (even flying ones, not speaking about Bastion bikes) which are kept running with an adhesive.
So I feel quite confident in a bond and also I figured how mould carbon tube along with Ti parts so they are mechanically locked too.
But this will be the base for the next batch of prototypes

How
Looks really cool. Curious about the metal printed parts, you seem to not rave radii in a few of the transitions, do you worry about stress risers? How does that material react under fatigue cycling?

Only tests will tell for sure, but Titanium is much better in terms of fatigue than Aluminium, so should be fine I hope)

[wheelsONfire]

The stem looks really hot

[Komarov]

Titanium parts arrived. Hope to manufacture carbon tube quickly and test the stem until its snow all over the place

Its looking like this stem wont be the lightest in the world with set of Ti parts weighing 58g, but for me its the most beautiful one and tests will tell, but my hopes for stiffness is also very high

[spokenwords]

What a great thread. Thank you for taking the time to keep us posted on your work. I have always wanted to add a layer of cork to a saddle and to this day still make my own insoles out of cork. Great work. I look forward to more!

[spokenwords]

Also, can you make an exact replica of the Basso stem out of carbon and ti? asking for a friend.

[MrCurrieinahurry]

Also, can you make an exact replica of the Basso stem out of carbon and ti? asking for a friend.

Errrr hello carbon basso stem whats this dream your talking about

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[Komarov]

Also, can you make an exact replica of the Basso stem out of carbon and ti? asking for a friend.

I think the cost of even serially produced stem will be quite high (if not the highest) and copy of Basso stem will require hours of engineering work, costy 3d printing, moulds for custom carbon part... So yeah, of course I can do it, but it will cost thousands $