This - I'd be really interested to see how custom this becomes.
I'd love to get a longer and taller speed concept, for example (pretty much to the point the the TT is level with the pads and the pads another inch or two further away so I could really stretch out) and will be following the development here to see what they can do.

I'm not an aerodynamicist, but would reckon that someone with the requisite skills could scale up (or down) bikes to fit fit co-ordinates better, or aero testing results.

Feels like it could be a bit of a frontier thing - work out the optimised position, and then print a frame module that fits that. OK, your bike will have basically no re-sale value but I think if I was looking for an ultimate race bike that I'd take a monetary hit for something that works and I can keep!

$700 for all carbon 3D printed wheels and $1300 for a complete bike? Im skeptical but hope this is a sign of things to come.

correct me if i'm wrong, but when using additive manufacturing (aka 3d printing) using carbon fiber filament you don't actually get the strength of carbon fiber because there is no weave. how are they achieving any actual functional strength?

3d printed skeleton and then wrapped and bagged? I'm on a work network that blocks Youtube, so I couldn't see the video...

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

I find the idea interesting.

Im not sure I would be willing to open up my wallet in this case. The price looks to be a little low.

also do not give many details. They say their full builds will have an 11 speed shimano drivetrain but don't specify which one. I wish they would give more details on the wheels like the weight.

Their comparisons are kind of funny. They are comparing their gravel bike against road bikes with Dura Ace. If I am interpreting the table correctly they highlight the boxes where their product is better than the competition, They claim their nameless shimano groupset is better than Dura Ace.

Part of me wonders at the idea that if you were the one who developed 3D printing of Carbon fibre - why would you start with a bicycle and then crowdfund it?

It seems to me that
A - there are much better markets out there for this technology (Aviation, Marine, ???)
B - Even within bike manufacturing, there are better applications, or at least you could be charging more money than they are currently, given how much we here pay for bikes.
C - If they had this new revolutionary technology, there are better ways to finance this than indiegogo

My guess is that this isn't as great as it is made out to be. Carbon fibre weave is able to put strength in certain directions but be flexible in other directions. Exactly the kind of quality you'd want in a high end bike. Part of me wonders if this thing flexes like a wet noodle.

Kestrel Airfoil. LOL.

My understanding of what they’re doing is continuous fiber printing. Not sure how that affects strength to be perfectly honest. So long as the bike was sufficiently stiff, strong, and durable I would trade a less than optimum stiffness/weight for an ideal TT position.

Most carbon parts are laid up using unidirectional plies in various orientations, so there's nothing about this process that would result in a weaker part. Also they didnt invent the process, I've heard of it being used in aerospace applications anyway, they're just the first to potentially apply it to bicycles it sounds like. Seems like it could be an interesting product, and potentially an awesome way to reduce the waste produced by traditional carbon manufacturing. I'm really excited about this idea for a ton of reasons.

This bike/concept looks pretty cool! These companies have to consultant with people who know something about bikes in before launching their marketing efforts. A Cat-3 racer who'll consult for a few cases of beer is a good start. In the first 30 seconds we see a freehub body with enough drag to turn the cranks. Then someone is walking a bike about 3 size too big. And every saddle is either pointed down or pointed way down...

Let's hope they don't suffer the same as the SpeedX (was it the short socks in their marketing pics/vids)

https://cyclingtips.com/...rowdfunding-success/

this is the part that doesn't add up for me. the strength of the plies comes from the strands of carbon fibers that simply aren't there when you're basically melting this plasticky substance in layers (which it appears is the exact thing they're doing). i find it interesting that the only clips of the actual process they show are a 1.5 seconds long and only show a tiny fleck of printed plastic. my guess is that that they are showing traditionally built prototypes and not actual 3d printed bikes.

industrial printing of rocket parts is done using metal which while it is a similar process, metal doesn't rely on strands for it's strength

Would you want to be the first to ride it down a rutted, rocky slope? I wouldn't.

Well, yes, i'm aware, I'm an engineer working with composites in aerospace. What they're doing is laying down dry fibers and matrix material at the same time to create the same constriction as you get with traditional composite manufacturing but without the tooling and waste.

The aerospace industry uses 3d printed metals, plastics, and composites, choosing the material depending on the need for the part. 3d printing metals is actually a completely different process though

3D printing engineer chiming in

This company isn't new- it's been around for a few years- check out Arevo for the original tech. you can find more information on the technology by looking up arevo rather than strata. Arevo has received major funding- last I heard series B and has some serious backers in mitsubishi group. My guess is strata is the bike segment of that. They sell their printer- the Arevo Aqua.

The bike is not 'true CF' as what you might be familiar with. There is a carrier material- usually a high grade thermoplastic like Nylon or ULTEM blend that forms the 'shell'. long continous strands of carbon fiber are embedded within this carrier material. If you are familiar with markforged- it is a similar tech, except they are using DED technology rather than FDM, so it is much faster and hotter than a markforged can ever hope to accomplish. the robotic arm also allows them to do this reinforcement in 3D, while markforged tech only allows 2D reinforcement with their CF fibers.

my guess is they are not showing off all their tech as well- certainly some patents and trade secrets behind that.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the more common term for what they are doing Filament Spinning or Filament Winding? Calling it 3-D printing is potentially confusion as its a very different process than say 3-D titanium. In effect they have scaled up a process which is already being used to produce wheels by a number of bike companies.

I understand the benefits for wheels in terms of reducing the cost of mass producing ultra-light carbon rims. I am not sold on the befits for frames though unless they can really bring the cost down. Filament spinning results in a homogeneous carbon weave so the whole frame will have the same material properties. Tube shape can influence the ride quality but I don't think a filament spun frames have any material advantages over a top end alloy frame. You could make an ultra-light frame but it would be fragile and if you want a frame that is as strong as current carbon frames it will be heavier without any directional flex/stiffness properties.

In my mind the more promising technology is automated carbon layup machines. These are already being employed by the biggest brands in the business and allow you to automated the process without having to make the sacrifices associated with a completely homogeneous carbon lay-up.

Very curious to see how this turns out...
First thing that comes to mind is the BMC Impec, afaik this didn't really workout well....although the bike itself was ok, think they even used it in TdF
The things BMC had done were really impressive (very cool factory tour!) however very costly as well, I think they were lucky to have basically unlimited financial backing to pull this project.

Thanks for your reply, that's enlightening and gives me some stuff to look up

The Kestrel was real.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

Custom frame building has been a niche that has never taken off. Serotta offered custom fit configurations in titanium and Guru offered custom fit in carbon fiber. In fact they didn't limit their options to 500,000. They offered infinite customization. (Yeah, 500,000 is a silly marketing number.) There have been others and I'm sure there are some in business today.

If this carbon printing process is really practical for bike frames and wheels, I'd think the best way to monetize it for the bike industry would be to license it to Trek, Giant, Specialized, etc. Or is the "new" idea to direct market to consumers.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

I sent some coworkers a link to the story on cyclingnews about this. One of my materials coworkers knows the company well and passed on some presentation material and white papers. The properties look very good. Quasi isotropic stiffness not quite aluminum, but comparable to other types of traditionally manufactured composites. Strength is pretty good as well.

My AM coworker does have some reservations about the use of thermosets and the potential for layer separation. But a big aerospace company is doing something similar.

Certainly questions around this strategy. Why the indiegogo campaign? Any AM company with technology at this level is worth 100x more than what they’ll get on crowdfunding and if the tech is ready for prime time airbus, etc will sneeze a million out at the chance to have one. Everyone could use the extra money but the potential bad press doesn’t seem worth it.

My guess is, they are using bikes as a learning case toward going to aerospace or other higher demand industries, where the QC requirement is way higher. QC of 3d printed parts is a prennial challenge because there are usually some factors you cant control on a print to print basis.