| GET TO THE HEART OF YOUR RIDE Most of your bikes' ride comes from the frame. That's why it is
important that you understand the various materials that are out there and their
strengths. Traditional materials like steel and aluminum have recently been making way for
more exotic materials like aerospace aluminum and carbon fiber. Each material gives a
different ride and requires master craftsmen to bring out the strengths of each material.
More traditional materials generally cost less as the frames can be mass produced there
are some beautifully handcrafted steel frames available that ride as good as titanium.
Treatment of the tubes, weld quality and frame geometry can also influence a frame's
overall performance.
|
Frame
Materials |
| CARBON |
TITANIUM |
ALUMINUM |
CRO-MOLY |
 | Trek
OCLV® Carbon
Trek pioneered using this aerospace
material in bike frames. Today we've taken it a step further, testing the material at the
highest level in the Tour de France and introducing the revolutionary Honeycomb Nomax
material. The strength-to-weight ratios of OCLV blow away any other frame material.
|
 | 
OCLV® 110 (Optimum Compaction Low Void)
At 1030 grams, Trek specifically engineered this frame to help
Lance Armstrong defend the yellow jersey.| Weighing in at 160
grams less than the original Tour winner, it's the ultrastiff,
ultrastong frame material worthy of the worlds greatest cyclists.
|
|
OCLV® 120 (Optimum Compaction Low Void)
OCLV 120 is the strong and stiff all-around carbon workhouse the
USPS team rides in the most demanding races in the world.| Tipping
the scales at a slight 1090 grams, this handbuilt frame material
will keep you riding for miles.
|
|
OCLV® HC (Optimum Compaction Low Void Honeycomb)
A honeycomb of Nomax® is
sandwiched between layers of OCLV Carbon to create the large,
aerodynamic surfaces of Lance Armstrong's Team Time Trial frame.|
The strength of the honeycomb requires less carbon, which reduces
the total weight of this remarkable
|
| 
OCLV® (Optimum Compaction Low Void)
The material that started it all.| Featured in both Lance's '99 Tour winner and the
Trek/VW team's 2000 ride.| The perfect blend of 65% fiber and 35% epoxy with less than 1%
voids.| It uses 150 grams of carbon fiber per square meter of OCLV material.| Computer
assisted strength specific design.| Handmade in the USA.
|
| Klein Hexcel™ Honeycomb
Klein uses a one-of-a-kind carbon
composite that sandwiches a honeycomb core between layers of the carbon laminate to make
one of the stiffest, strongest and lightest structures possible. Aerospace companies use
this same technology, so it's no wonder Klein's carbon models fly. The stiffness of a tube
is mostly defined by its outer diameter. So, if you want a tube to be stiffer, you should
make it bigger in diameter, not thicker. But flat surfaces are different. When you look at
the stiffness of a flat surface, think about its two surfaces like the outer walls of a
tube. The further apart, the greater the stiffness. You can separate the surfaces of a
flat section by simply adding material. But even with a low-density material like carbon
composite, this adds weight. What Klein has done is separated the carbon surfaces with a
hollow honeycomb in a sandwich construction. This provides a very stiff laminate that is
still very light. Compared to bikes made with some conventional carbon laminates,
Honeycomb gives Klein bikes a lighter structure that is about 20% stronger and also 20%
stiffer.
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| Litespeed
3Al-2.5V titanium tubing
This tubing comes from several
manufacturer throughout the United States. Litespeed only sues certified aerospace
grade..the highest grade tubing the mills offer. They are the largest purchaser of
titanium in the bike industry, so they are given the highest priority on premium quality.
When the tubes arrive at Litespeed, they are throughly inspected for straightness,
roundness and uniformity of wall thickness; only then is it place into the inventory.
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| Litespeed 6Al-4V bladed titanium
tubing
This tubing is created in house by forming sheets of 6Al-4V into the aerodynamic
shape and welding the edge seam, thus creating an extremely strong and stiff tube. These
low-profile tubes have been sued to build the fastest bikes in the world, and the success
of this project has led them to develop the 6Al-4V round tube
|
| Litespeed 6Al-4V round titanium
tubing
This tubing is also fabricated from sheet. It is the only large-diameter 6Al-4V
tubing available in the bike industry. Litespeed has developed the tubes to create a
tubeset that would be strong and stiff, yet lighter in weight than their 3Al-2.5V
tubesets. Their 6Al-4V tubing is nearly forty percent stronger than their 3Al-2.5V tubes;
therefore, they can use a thinner-walled tube Ti save weight without sacrificing strength.
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 |
Reynolds 3/2.5 Butted
Titanium Tubing
This tubing is made in the U.S. with LeMond Cycles having full control over the
manufacturing process. Ti's fine qualities built to Greg's specs. The Ti LeMond frame
should weigh the same as a carbon frame, be as stiff as an aluminum bike and yet ride like
a great steel bike. This titanium platform is designed to do all that and more. Butted,
shaped tubing is evident all over the frame. And they even butt the chainstays.
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| Trek Alpha™
Aluminum
Trek Alpha Aluminum has revolutionized
aluminum at all levels of performance. From high-end Alpha SLR racing frames to
value-added Alpha comfort frames, Alpha aluminum bikes are engineered and hand-built by
the world's finest craftsmen.
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| 
ZR
9000 Custom Alloy
ZR 9000 Alloy is the first alloy developed exclusively for the bike
industry.| To make superior bike tubes, an alloy must be able to withstand the stresses
and stains unique to cycling.| The frame material has to be strong, but at the same time
be dense, weldable, formable, and capable of heat treatment.| By adding the hardening
element Zirconium, Trek found the answer.
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|
| 
Alpha™ SLR (Superlight Race)
Double-butted, seamless drawn tubing in a race design.| Custom butted headtubes.|
3-D forged wishbone monostay.| Stiff, powerful, elliptical chainstays.| Replaceable
derailleur hanger.| Handmade in the USA.
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|
| 
Alpha™ SL
(Superlight)
Double-butted, seamless drawn tubing.| Custom butted headtubes.| 3-D forged
wishbone monostay.| Stiff, powerful, elliptical chainstays.| Replaceable derailleur
hanger.| Handmade in the USA.
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| Alpha™ FS (Full Suspension)
Oversized, ovalized downtube.| Laser mitered and TIG welded.| Reinforced gusseted
seat tube, head tube and swingarm.| Custom butted headtubes.| Disc drive chainstays.|
Replaceable derailleur hanger.| Handmade in the USA.
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| 
Alpha™ ZX (Zero
Excess)
Seamless drawn tubing with a superior strength-to-weight ratio.| Custom butted
headtubes.| 3-D forged Wishbone monostay.| Stiff, powerful elliptical chainstays.|
Replaceable derailleur hanger.| Handmade in the USA.
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| 
Alpha™
The lightness of Alpha aluminum.| TIG welded.| Oversized aero power tubes.|
Wishbone monostay.
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| Klein Gradient™ Aluminum tubing
In the twenty years since he built the
first bike using oversized aluminum tubing at MIT, Gary Klein has learned that what goes
into shaping the tubing is more important than the raw material itself. That's why Klein
designs its own aluminum frame tubing.
All Klein bikes are built using either Gradient or
Power Tubing. Both are Klein exclusives which result in lighter, stronger, better riding
bikes. Gradient tubing is the end result of a proprietary process that takes raw aerospace
grade aluminum and works it over, using a variety of custom designed and handmade
machines, to create a premium material that exists nowhere else. Gradient tubing is made
from a proprietary aluminum alloy, because off-the-shelf alloys do not lend themselves to
the extreme metal manipulation of the processes used to create Gradient tubing. Gradient
displays our most advanced metal shaping techniques, tapered both internally and
externally, maximizing the strength of the structure while minimizing the amount of
material needed to achieve that strength. Cut open a Gradient tube and you'd see that the
walls have gradual tapers, with wall thickness that vary as much as 260% between sections
of high stress and low stress.
Other companies use butted tubes that have a short
transition areas from one wall thickness to another, essentially just to reinforce the
weld zone. Gradient tubes vary in thickness over the entire length and diameter of the
tube. This gradual variation avoids stress risers, points of high force concentration
caused by the sharp transition of butts. Because we accomplish this from outside sources,
Klein has pioneered this with their own vertical integrated process at the Klein Facility
in Chehalis. The result of Klein's Gradient Tubing? The lightest and strongest production
frames available--2.9 lb. ATBs and 2.7 lb. road frames.
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|  LeMond
Aeroluminum™ tubing
These frame are amongst the lightest
Aluminum frames in the world. WIth the right mix of large diameter tubes in the main
triangle and smaller diameter, more forgiving stays, Aeroluminum LeMonds offer an optimum
balance between stiffness and long-ride comfort. The oversized downtubes make their
drivetrains stiff, efficient, powerful and fast. And the relatively short, yet not overly
large chain and seat stays have a bit of engineered forgiveness from the pavement . As
Greg knows better than most, a comfortable ride is a faster rider.
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Trek
Steel
Steel's where we started. And where we continue to excel over the rest of the
industry, with innovations that maximize steel's shock absorbency and minimize weight
while maintaining its value.
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| Trek Cro-Moly
High-grade, Trek-engineered, butted Cro-Moly steel.| Excellent shock absorption.| Highest
price-to-performance ratio of all the Trek bikes
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| Trek High Tensile Steel
Quality engineered grade steel.| Value material.| Durable and shock absorbing.
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