Trek announcing "something that will change cycling forever"
#76
Disco Infiltrator
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
Posts: 13,775
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
Mentioned: 72 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3126 Post(s)
Liked 2,102 Times
in
1,366 Posts
Well, I was thinking more along the lines of custom e-bike. Whether hidden or not.
__________________
Genesis 49:16-17
Genesis 49:16-17
#78
Senior Member
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.
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.
#79
Senior Member
1X drive train for the masses, reducing the learning curve shifting.
__________________
[insert clever quote here]
[insert clever quote here]
#80
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,645 Times
in
6,054 Posts
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.
#82
Disco Infiltrator
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
Posts: 13,775
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
Mentioned: 72 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3126 Post(s)
Liked 2,102 Times
in
1,366 Posts
Yeah its a material. A natural fiber per speculation on GMBN Dirt Shed Show
#83
Disco Infiltrator
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
Posts: 13,775
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
Mentioned: 72 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3126 Post(s)
Liked 2,102 Times
in
1,366 Posts
Nanotubes have been around longer than graphene, and it wouldnt 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 wont be the first place you hear about it.
#85
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Allen, TX
Posts: 2,624
Bikes: 2021 S-Works Turbo Creo SL, 2020 Specialized Roubaix Expert
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 762 Post(s)
Liked 3,982 Times
in
1,415 Posts
#88
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,645 Times
in
6,054 Posts
#90
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,645 Times
in
6,054 Posts
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!
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!
#92
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,645 Times
in
6,054 Posts
Trek's gonna put it in the bars!
#93
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Salt Lake City, UT (Formerly Los Angeles, CA)
Posts: 1,145
Bikes: 2008 Cannondale Synapse -- 2014 Cannondale Quick CX
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 212 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 83 Times
in
54 Posts
Airbags?
Last edited by daoswald; 03-05-19 at 11:17 PM.
#95
Occam's Rotor
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,248
Mentioned: 61 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2366 Post(s)
Liked 2,331 Times
in
1,164 Posts
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.
#97
I eat carbide.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Elgin, IL
Posts: 21,627
Bikes: Lots. Van Dessel and Squid Dealer
Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1325 Post(s)
Liked 1,306 Times
in
560 Posts
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.
__________________
PSIMET Wheels, PSIMET Racing, PSIMET Neutral Race Support, and 11 Jackson Coffee
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
#99
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Land of Pleasant Living
Posts: 12,153
Bikes: Shmikes
Mentioned: 58 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10103 Post(s)
Liked 5,781 Times
in
3,111 Posts
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.
#100
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: The banks of the River Charles
Posts: 2,020
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease, 2020 Seven Evergreen, 2019 Honey Allroads Ti, 2018 Seven Redsky XX, 2017 Trek Boon 7, 2014 Trek 520
Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 693 Post(s)
Liked 903 Times
in
486 Posts
1x12 wireless drivetrain