I was doing some thinking and seeing how drastic Bjorn's negative stem is, i came up with this idea. See pic below..
Basically, its an unconventional way of thinking. The red section represents the cutout section in the frame and the black colored thingy is the stem. Who says that the stem has to be clamped to the top of the headtube. What if the front of the headtube had a cutout where the stem would pass through and then the steerer tube continues to the top of the frame and the capped off at the top. All you would be doing is moving the clamped area of the stem lower between the 2 hearset bearings which would make the steerer assembly stronger. With the advancement of carbon frames, almost all kinds of shaped can be made up. Multiple layers of carbon can also be laid in the cutout area to strengthen the frame area. So what if the head tube is a little beefier and wider. The aerodynamics gained from moving the rider's body lower would be wayyyy greater.
Of course, this would not be very feasible for the average bike rider because of the great drop. The frame will probably be a "one-of" or built for the tour riders only or something like that.
Hey Gerard, when u build off of this idea, don't forget to send me some cash (or at least a souped up bike. I'll settle for a P2C as long as its not this year's red/white/black color frame. I'll take the blue/black scheme).
Herbert, if you develop this idea first before Cervelo, i'll take a Lucero.
Paul..
Basically, its an unconventional way of thinking. The red section represents the cutout section in the frame and the black colored thingy is the stem. Who says that the stem has to be clamped to the top of the headtube. What if the front of the headtube had a cutout where the stem would pass through and then the steerer tube continues to the top of the frame and the capped off at the top. All you would be doing is moving the clamped area of the stem lower between the 2 hearset bearings which would make the steerer assembly stronger. With the advancement of carbon frames, almost all kinds of shaped can be made up. Multiple layers of carbon can also be laid in the cutout area to strengthen the frame area. So what if the head tube is a little beefier and wider. The aerodynamics gained from moving the rider's body lower would be wayyyy greater.
Of course, this would not be very feasible for the average bike rider because of the great drop. The frame will probably be a "one-of" or built for the tour riders only or something like that.
Hey Gerard, when u build off of this idea, don't forget to send me some cash (or at least a souped up bike. I'll settle for a P2C as long as its not this year's red/white/black color frame. I'll take the blue/black scheme).
Herbert, if you develop this idea first before Cervelo, i'll take a Lucero.
Paul..