a carbon road bike you design and make yourself?…. how hard can it be!!

cjjones wrote:your obsessed

cjjones wrote:

your obsessed with the canyon 😛

CJ, don’t know which is the ‘third one’ but click on the awesomer link for more details of some funky carbon bikes and designers. The stealth aero bike with the angled tubes is particularly nice.

cjjones wrote:that’s the

cjjones wrote:

that’s the problem I cant build it myself as the carbon fibre weave is manufactured in a different way and professionally done, the logos no problem I have licensing to use Lamborghini’s name which was a ball ache!

Really? Well if that is the case then Lambo are the best people to ask as I don’t doubt they use CF in their cars. If you have to go it alone here is some inspiration as to what is possible:

http://theawesomer.com/?s=carbon+bike

At least some of these aren’t really off the shelf, still cheaper, you could always get in touch with these small manufacturers. That £200K is feeling heavy in your pocket. Don’t forget the Canyon for me please. 😉

Right, so you got a 2-D
Right, so you got a 2-D echa-scetch and wish to know why it’s so expensive or difficult.

As said before, need to create a 3-D “blueprint” by someone who knows what they are doing. Are you using 3K,12K or unidirectional weave? What Toray rating? Nanotubes?

Transfer this into a seriously powerful CAD package that can workout the stresses on the frame. This needs to be programmed with the relavent stress factors of the carbon weave and resins you wish to use to allow a “correct” lay up to be designed in.

Chuck said design through another programme to work out airflows etc and return to original programme to recheck the strength of any aero changes. And repeat until the bike is light enough, strong enough and areo enough for you.

These dimensions are then transfered into the build of a one-off mould and bladder set up. The carbon sheets are then cut to size, layered and shaped as required before cooking in a pressurized oven. And that’s before the first prototype can be test to destruction. All the data is then fed back in the computer packages for any changes to be made. The first mould and bladder are thrown away and fresh one made. Repeat until the frame is strong enough/light enough to take the punishment. Don’t forget to through in a wind tunnel or two.

End result is lot’s of trashed frames, moulds and bladders and one ridable frame.

Now I know very little of the actual processes involved other than the very basics as above, but that could be why it’s so expensive and difficult.

Looking at what you done, I’d say it’s illegal for UCI events as it can not conform to the 3:1 ratio and be aerodynamic or light enough. The kink in the top tube looks to be a useless stress point and probably would get in the way of the rider.

This is fucking brilliant.
This is fucking brilliant.

bashthebox wrote:Could you

bashthebox wrote:

Could you not have licensed their logo too? I mean, since you’re throwing all this cash about and all.

I don’t think you can import logos into Microsoft Paint.