JonathanGennick 

I haven't seen much Interbike news on these boards. The most interesting bit for me is probably this new, magnesium alloy:

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/prod...s#.W6Yxo2hKjb0

I'm not fond of carbon, so a metal that is lighter in weight than aluminum is appealing.

clengman

I think magnesium is really prone to corrosion. I think the trick is to find a good durable surface treatment to prevent that. I'm sure they must have something worked out. Wonder what it is.

rydabent

Sounds good. Everyone should always welcome advance. And IMO any type of metal for a bike frame is better than a plastic CF frame.

rosefarts

I had a pair of hubs with magnesium flanges, like 20 years ago. Of course there was the Rock Shox mag 21, it had magnesium lowers and brake arch.

I used to see magnesium bikes 10 years ago when racing. I'm sure they're still around but I'm out of the loop.

Fun story. A friend switched from cantis to V brakes way back when. We ground off the cable hanger on the brake arch. Of course we attempted to burn the filings. It was a strong white flame if I remember correctly.

fietsbob

It Has already been done

jon c. 

But carbon isn't recyclable and the Allite Super Magnesium alloy is

So is steel.

skidder

It should work, just get the alloying and engineering correct for magnesium's peculiar properties. A lot of aftermarket car wheels are made from magnesium. Remember the old air-cooled 4-cylinder Volkswagen engines? The blocks of those were magnesium.

WizardOfBoz

Pickett made slide rules of magnesium back in the day, and it does corrode pretty badly.

On the other hand, my Dad owned a manufacturing company that made lawnmowers. REALLY industrial mowers. Like 24" mowers with an 18 HP Wisconsin engine and quarter-inch plate steel decks. Anyway, his small 21 (or 19"??? Can't recall) was made from a Mg casting. With paint, that lasted pretty well. I'll see if I can dig up a pic of the wood pattern that was used to cast the mower decks.

General Geoff

Sounds impressive, guess we'll see how widely adopted this stuff becomes in the next few years. If it truly is lighter and stronger than aluminum but costs the same, it should see widespread use on consumer bicycles.

Cyclist0108

Bike Snob NYC reviewed one in 2009:

Bike Snob NYC: BSNYC Product Review: Segal Magnesium Road Bicycle

mentioned this, and the OP subject, in the most recent post:

Bike Snob NYC: Timeless Design Is Timeless

Slightspeed

Saw this at the Eroica California Concours.

Keiffith

Magnesium isnt anywhere near as easy to cold form as aluminum. And since it has properties close to aluminum, this becomes a major con.

Casting, like the white bike shown, is more likely.


Personally i think Ti is the better of metals since corrosion is zero and its closer to the properties of steel, just lighter and harder to work.

son_of_clyde

I don't mean to derail this thread too much, but was your father associated with Sensation mowers by chance?

themp

Interbike 2018, Part II | RKP

catgita

Hoopdriver

Yes, I have a magnesium-bodied router. Every few months I had to clean off the oxidation until finally I coated it with lacquer. After a few years, the manufacturer (Bosch), switched to aluminum because of this issue.

And when you had an engine fire, these things burned spectacularly.

JanMM

Paketa has made some very light magnesium tandem and single bikes. Reported that they are out of business - website doesn't indicate any current production or sales: Paketa Custom Magnesium Bicycles :: Tandem bicycles colorado::Road Racing Bicycles :: Mountain Bikes:: Tandem bicycles denver colorado :: paketa cycles website

I have magnesium pedals from Nashbar on one of my bikes. Don't know who they were made by. No signs of oxidation.

WizardOfBoz

My Dad's company was named DeVere-Locke. I can't find pics of any of the really beefy rotary mowers they made, but here's a reel-type from about 1961 (before my Dad purchased the company). This was not the magnesium-deck model, but is old school (cast iron, and the paint job has pin stripes!).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zSAn622L6NvrSnLk8

WizardOfBoz

For those interested, here is a pic of the wooden pattern used to make the cast magnesium mower decks:

son_of_clyde

Cool. Thanks for posting those photos. Sensation made commercial 21" push mowers with magnesium decks in the '70's and '80's. They were originally out of Nebraska, I believe. I didn't realize there were other manufacturers using magnesium.

fietsbob

So get one, get something else next spring, there will always be something else..

rydabent

I have wondered for years why frames are not made this way. Close the mold and with one high pressure squirt of magnesium, and you have an instant bike frame. It should be a very inexpensive way to make a frame.

joesch

AELLE IS A CHROME MANGANESE (NOT CHROMOLY) ALLOY THAT LENDS ITSELF TO AUTOMATED
WELDING PROCESSES. THERE IS A BUTTED VERSION.

Some years after the original Aelle
introduction Columbus began making the butted manganese moly tubes, but
soon after their introduction they introduced the Cromor set which cut
into the marketability of the former. Our local shop sold the Torpados as
a budget racer.

tsiklonaut

I wonder if it's really "normally" weldable as they advertise, I'm guessing it needs a special type of welding to make the welds strong enough for high torsion use on a lightweight frame.

ChrisWagner

And dangerously. Attending fire fighting school in the Navy, I learned burning Mg is impossible to extinguish. Jets are/were constructed with magnesium. Burning Mg explodes when doused with water, CO2 is broken down and the fire burns the oxygen for more flame. Our instruction was to coat nearby fuel for fire sources with foam and push it overboard.