tello

does anyone know if there are bike made from beryllium?

Phatman

I've never heard of it, however, I know that there was a LeMans car had some beryllium chassis parts on it.

Trev Doyle

What are those Griffen bikes made of? It could be beryllium. Not sure.

late

https://www2.sjsu.edu/orgs/asmtms/artcle/final.htm

DieselDan

Isn't beryllium used as triggers in nuculear bombs?

HigherGround

I think Univega had some in the early to mid 90's, but they came and went without making much of an impact on the market.

Thylacine

Yeah, Univega had some Beryllium alloy frames, as did Kastan and Beyond Beryllium. Obviously they were Aluminium alloys with some Beryllium content ( just like 'Scandium' tubing is mostly Al ), and they were a PITA to weld. The Beyonds were bonded if I remember correctly. Can't remember what the proposed benefits are.

slvoid

Yes, your late model univega is now classified as a WMD.

Roadie Rob

I saw a link years ago that discussed Boralyn and its original use in NASA projects. Univega did make 2 sets of Boralyn bikes - a regular and a "light" version in both MTB and road. The only problem was that the light version tended to crack after only a few years of riding.

Lucky for me, a local shop was closing and I was able to score this frame for $65 cash, BRAND NEW. As built, it is only 22.1 lbs and that is official. The ride is simply amazing - it floats over stutter bumps and is 4x smoother than my titanium bike, 10x smoother than my carbons. Only problem, it takes a 26.4 post (not the most common, but found an old Syncros to fit - how classic is that?).

If you can find a boralyn framset - GET IT. Amazing material!!!

As for the old Univega company - they went broke (now selling through Germany, I beleive). Costs on the Boralyn frames were over $1,000 and the R&D put them in the hole (sound like GT or Schwinn lately.....?).

Click on the attachment for a detailed view of the ride. XT/XTR-9 build, Mars Elite, Hugi Wheelset

Finally, Specialized's M2 "metal matrix" was nothing more than glorified aluminum. I have one of those too, not worth going into detail on it.

Final, final note - don't lick the frame or eat the flakes of material. The frame is carcinogenic if ingested. That's a real pleasant thought when wrenching a tight BB, pressing a HS, or stuffing a seatpost - watch for those shavings...!

sorebutt

Do they make bike out of Dilithium crystals?

enduro

Haha, I'll pass on the carcinogenic bike.

Hawkear

Beryllium is great material, except for those silly "toxic" and "harmful to health" labels.

HigherGround

Isn't that taking "loving your bike" to a whole 'nother level?

halfspeed

No, but watch out for transparent aluminum: https://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPa...e02729_fs.html

My name is halfspeed and I'm a nerd.

james57

I have read about 15 yrs ago a road frame (tubes only) made out of berilium from Russia (probably aerospace) branded under Raleigh. If I recall the selling price tag was 20K .. never heard from them again ..

eurotrash666

i remember beryllium being a big hype in the early 90's as well. it was supposed to be light, but Be has to be alloyed with Cu, and who knows what kind of heat treat is involved. the dust from grinding is toxic. i think it was just hype and gimmick.
dilithium is unstable, but multiphasic tritanium would be the ticket.

Chef23

Beryllium Copper has been used in golf clubs in the past but in the last several years most companies have stopped using it because it is hazardous when worked with.

serotta

I think the makers of Beryllium frames have begun using Unobtainium and dropped the Beryllium line.

enduro

It's an unobtainium-drillium alloy. Space-age!

WorldWind

You are on the right track. In the early smaller atomic b configurations, metallic beryllium was compressed (sintered) into a shield to reflect the released particles back into the reaction to re collide and produce a more efficient yield.


In the alloying of aluminum (mixing in a tiny amount) many things are used with sometimes startling results.

Nothing (worth mentioning) is made of just Beryllium.

The spring contact carrier arms of relays are made from copper alloyed with beryllium.

eurotrash666

that's cause beryllium copper is nonmagnetic and nonsparking. i have several beryllium tools for use around potentially flammable stuff, i.e. gas lines. interesting that beryllium copper when in contact with acetylene forms an explosive salt. i guess brazing your own frame would be just dynamite...

BATMANs

can this MMC be powder or ceramic coated?

what heat range do they operate in?

DocRay

Beryllium was used for a brief period in F1 car engines due to its strength properties. However, it has been banned and generally avoided due to its extreme toxicity as a pure alloy. Some manufacturers called their aluminum alloys "beryllium" or "scandium", but these contain no more of those metals than what others call "aluminum". I prefer the less technical term, "bullshidium".

bbattle

Organoberyllium compounds are extremely toxic, so much so that everybody that worked with them died.

1955

I used to use a beryllium sledge hammer in the removal of old fuel tanks from gas stations. I have no idea how this applies to bikes, but what the heck.

Ralph