Hello everyone,
My name is Fred Thomas. I am the modern face of Austro-Daimler cycling. I used to race an Austro-Daimler Superleicht when I was a youth and I wanted to do so again as a masters category cyclist. I obtained the abandoned rights to the A-D logo and reintroduced full carbon road, time trial and cycle cross frame sets to the market and the peloton in 2012. Here I am three years later making my first post ever in a forum to talk about it.
I have three frame sets in the market: the Superleicht Carbon Limited (road), the tt Carbon Limited (time trial / triathlon) and the Ubercross Carbon Disc Limited. I sell only frame sets at the moment to customers all over the world through my web site (http://www.a-dbikes.com). The UK and Thailand are my biggest international markets so far. I will have the Ultima Carbon Limited (aero road) in the market later in 2015. I am running a Kickstarter campaign about that now which you can find on the A-D Bikes website and on the A-D Bikes Facebook page. The plan is to reimagine, remix and restore the brand for the for the twenty-first century and innovate the way performance cyclists buy and sell their bikes. All very lofty goals, but achievable I think, given some assistance from the collective wisdom of the Slowtwitch Forum!
Thank you for having me and I will be pleased to talk about this with the Slowtwitch Forum.
These are some really nice frames, very long-low geometry for those who’re in the market for a new TT ride. I’ve got my eye on the Ultima or Ubercross myself…
It seems that these small companies are the only ones who can get paint schemes right, as far as I am concerned. I don’t know how much engineering got into the TT frame but I would get this paint job in a heart beat. Looks awesome.
Thank you for pointing that out. I made the change in the link.
The frame sets are designed in Taiwan and manufactured in China. I use two suppliers. They are real companies and I have been to Taiwan to meet them; very professional. I have been working with them since 2012 and racing the road and tt frame set since around New England; they have been great. I basically use a graphic design expert to reproduce the exact color of the original Austro-Daimlers and to position all the decals correctly; that is where the real work is.
Thank you for the post.
The Ultima should be ready to ship in April; it turned out really well I think; the color is exactly right and the frame set offers great features; oversized head tube, dual electronic mechanical compatibility, BB86 Pressfit. I ride my Ubercross during the fall and rough weather; it is so much fun and the disc brakes are great. I cannot believe that no one thought of Ubercross; I trademarked that!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out: I am on Skype: fredthomas2009 or 207 221 5151 in the US
Fred
Thank you for asking Grill. Eugene Yeh of More Choice Inc does the design work and Dongguan Carbon Sports does the manufacturing; Toray 800 is the carbon type throughout; here is the weight for a tt Carbon 57 cm (includes TRP 922 aero brakes, Cane Creek 110 Series head set). Total weight: 2.8 kg / 6 pounds 4 ounces (frame with seat post clamp, rear brake and bottom bracket faring: 1,840 g uncut fork with brake: 540 g uncut seat post and clamp: 270 g headset components: 150 g).
Here is the weight for a Scott Plasma 3 56 cm (no brakes included) Total weight: 2.2 kg / 4 pounds 15 ounces (frame with integrated stem: 1,550 fork: 430 g cut seat post: 225 g seat post fitting: 35 g). Dura-Ace 7900 brakes weigh about 300 g; if you factor that in, a Plasma 3 56 cm would weigh in at 2.5 kg or 300 g lighter than a tt Carbon 57 cm
You would buy a tt Carbon primarily because it speaks to you, but also because of its features and the customer support programs I offer:
30 day full refund, A-D Bikes Crash Replacement, A-D Bikes Credit or Cash Program and the A-D Bikes Conversion Program.
The Credit or Cash Program allows you to send the frame set back to me when you are tired of it or want to upgrade; I auction it on the Frame and Wheel eBay Store (A-D Bikes sister company) and you can use the net proceeds as a credit towards a new A-D frame set or you can just take the cash. The A-D Conversion program is similar but it allows you sell your exiting Scott Foil or Felt AR on the Frame and Wheel eBay Store and use the proceeds towards an A-D frame set. I have had two customers utilize the A-D Conversion program and they told me that when they were looking around was what sealed the deal. This is part of what I mean when I describe the company as Bike Company of the Future.
Thank you rrheiseler. The purple is an exact replication of the Thondorf Purple on the original Ultima; I had Insync Design in New Jersey do the color match and the decal placement; these guys know what they are doing. For now it is frame sets; the new website will be designed to have the functionality for the customer to order group sets and wheels; keeping it simple is the plan: good, better best for components and wheels; everything will get sent to the customers favorite bike shop who will do the build and fine tuning; that is plan, but it is very much an intermediate step towards building up bikes and shipping them out.