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Trek announcing "something that will change cycling forever"

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Trek announcing "something that will change cycling forever"

Old 03-05-19, 10:46 AM
  #76  
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Well, I was thinking more along the lines of custom e-bike. Whether hidden or not.
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Old 03-05-19, 10:51 AM
  #77  
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Whatever it is, it's not UCI approved, or else we'd know about it already, right?
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Old 03-05-19, 12:21 PM
  #78  
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Originally Posted by cthenn
Are the jokes still in full effect? Anything substantive yet?
Maybe it came off as a joke, but I'd go even money that it's a new weave that incorporates nanocellulose, which a team in Finland has already used to make a bike frame.

This material, according to published reports, is stronger and lighter than carbon, less expensive, environmentally responsible, and can be sourced locally -- in fact, it's being produced at Forest Products Laboratory just down the road from Trek's headquarters.

If you look at the photos Trek's posted, especially on social media, they show a two-color weave. It's under a stylized kind of yellow/greenish light, but it looks like the pale yellow or off-white of nanocellulose and the darkness of carbon. My guess is that they've combined the two materials for a new layup.

I'll be interested to see if I'm right, and, if so, how they introduce it. Maybe they can take the weave and just substitute it into the same molds and processes they use for carbon, or maybe it's more involved.

One thought would be to offer it as a Project One option. They could then see for which segment it's most attractive, and build a kind of profile for the likely buyer.

A riskier approach would just be to use introduce it on a new model bike, or put it into production as a third option for the many frames already offered in carbon and aluminum. Hard to guess.

I think it can honestly be marketed as more environmentally friendly, and whatever performance advantages it might have over carbon can easily be verified by any testing lab. Seems like it has the potential to offer a really compelling narrative in Europe, where climate change and other environmental concerns aren't such controversies, and a clear distinction from other big carbon frame builders.

Maybe someone knows how to dig around in UCI or Patent Office filings; it could be that it's already been under the paint of pro riders.
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Old 03-05-19, 12:28 PM
  #79  
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1X drive train for the masses, reducing the learning curve shifting.
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Old 03-05-19, 12:31 PM
  #80  
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Originally Posted by DGlenday
My guess - New material : Carbon nano-tubes (CNT).

Same strength as CF, at less than 1/20th of the weight. Google it.
​​​​​​Current frames are pretty light. I mean, nobody would mind getting rid of 19/20 of that weight, but you'll still have your groupset and wheels and everything. So my 18 pound gravel bike could be 16 pounds with this sort of frame.
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Old 03-05-19, 01:59 PM
  #81  
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Obviously, it's front wheel drive.
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Old 03-05-19, 02:24 PM
  #82  
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Yeah it’s a material. A “natural” fiber per speculation on GMBN Dirt Shed Show


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Old 03-05-19, 02:27 PM
  #83  
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Nanotubes have been around longer than graphene, and it wouldn’t be new to put them in bike frames. If someone figures out how to make them longer than a mm and put them on a spool for weaving, Trek Bikes won’t be the first place you hear about it.
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Old 03-05-19, 02:29 PM
  #84  
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My guess is that it will change cycling as much as Vittoria's graphene-infused tires did.
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Old 03-05-19, 04:32 PM
  #85  
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Originally Posted by wgscott
I have a dentist appointment.
I actually have a dentist appointment on 3/19/19. That's funny!

-Matt
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Old 03-05-19, 04:38 PM
  #86  
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Or we can wait until March 19
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Old 03-05-19, 05:00 PM
  #87  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Invisibility, like Wonder Woman in her flying car.
That's Harry Potter, WW has an invisible jet.
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Old 03-05-19, 07:38 PM
  #88  
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Originally Posted by PepeM
My guess is that it will change cycling as much as Vittoria's graphene-infused tires did.
Holy crap, twice in a lifetime??
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Old 03-05-19, 09:29 PM
  #89  
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C'mon, y'all. It's about time for flying bikes. I can't wait.
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Old 03-05-19, 10:28 PM
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Oh my ****ing god. I figured it out!

Think for a minute, what's going to change road cycling in a profound way?

Trek is going to make cell phones refuse to function while they're in cars!
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Old 03-05-19, 11:06 PM
  #91  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Oh my ****ing god. I figured it out!

Think for a minute, what's going to change road cycling in a profound way?

Trek is going to make cell phones refuse to function while they're in cars!
We all know how to do that, but the phone + auto manufacturers won't do it.

Some movie theaters have been doing it for years.
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Old 03-05-19, 11:10 PM
  #92  
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Trek's gonna put it in the bars!
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Old 03-05-19, 11:12 PM
  #93  
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Airbags?

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Old 03-05-19, 11:23 PM
  #94  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Trek's gonna put it in the bars!
I wish we could do something like that, but the distraction of the dropped call might do more harm than good.
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Old 03-05-19, 11:47 PM
  #95  
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What would be kind of nice is if they introduced a new frame material that was more recyclable and environmentally friendly than carbon fiber resin.
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Old 03-05-19, 11:53 PM
  #96  
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Originally Posted by wgscott
What would be kind of nice is if they introduced a new frame material that was more recyclable and environmentally friendly than carbon fiber resin.
Aluminum is easily recyclable.

Maybe Trek is going all Aluminum.

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Old 03-06-19, 05:26 PM
  #97  
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I'm seeing some other stuff in the industry start to hedge up saying big stuff is coming around the same time. Not just Trek specific. Either multiple announcements or the same thing leveraged across brands. There's enough here that I'm going to be conservative and reserve my judgement. This might be interesting.
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Old 03-06-19, 05:42 PM
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Is Trek big enough to launch its own drivetrain offerings?
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Old 03-06-19, 05:44 PM
  #99  
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Originally Posted by noodle soup
Aluminum is easily recyclable.

Maybe Trek is going all Aluminum.

Aluminum takes massive amounts of energy to produce and bauxite quarrying is a source of water and land contamination. I say bamboo, genetically engineered for enhanced lignin expression, viz. natural carbon (carbohydrate) fiber.
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Old 03-06-19, 05:46 PM
  #100  
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1x12 wireless drivetrain
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