Equilibrium Cycle Works

[devlin]

Yes. That thing rocks. Especially the rear 3/4 view.

[PLAIN]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys , will keep on posting

[sk_tle]

I love that you are building stems too. Makes the whole bike more complete to me.

[Amaro Bikes]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys , will keep on posting

We want more!

[PLAIN]

Back on the road again ...

_IGP2223 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

_IGP2218 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

_IGP2204 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

_IGP2237 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

_IGP2212 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

_IGP2228 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

[Amaro Bikes]

Good to see your amazing pictures back!

[PLAIN]

Aimar , thanks a lot for kind words .
Will keep them posted .

[PLAIN]

EQUILIBRIUM Pegasus disc road bike


IMG_2586 (1) by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

[PLAIN]

EQUILIBRIUM Pegasus disc road bike's ride impression :

Time passed from NAHBS and I had a chance to have a test ride on my latest road disc brake bike “Pegasus” .

Building a show model bike was good opportunity to think out of the box and try something new , to experiment with materials and construction . In that regard I chose to use as large diameter tubes as I could find on the market to see how stiff things can get and what influence it has on riding quality .

First of all I wanted to build a allrounder bike that capable to handle different situations , road/off road , long distance riding , nevertheless it has to be as fast and responsive as a proper racing machine .

By choosing lower bb hight 75mm and slightly longer chain stays 415mm and trail of 58mm
the handling was nailed to perfection , outbalancing the stiffness of materials giving a reasonable flex around BB area .

Curved stays played it role as a rear suspension increasing the comfort and traction of the bike , especially when road condition wasn’t perfect at all it glided smoothly over the surface . The rear wheel stayed glued to the road in very tight turns and tricky spots
without compromising stability and balance .

Another thing that pleasantly surprised is how fast I could get on the bike and holding very decent average speed and still staying in my comfort zone over prolonged period of time , seemed the bike responded better to a heavy ratio 52/15-14 at a 85-90 rpm on the flat sections .

Overall performance passed the test for the racing machine with extended usability .

[corko]

Although I am only speaking from the pictures, gotta say you've produced something so thoroughly modern from traditional materials that really makes me want to know more, are some of the gussets/buttresses an attempt to incorporate aero considerations to the frame.? Is it significantly heavier than a 'traditional' brazed frame?

Love the dropouts and the transition of stays into them, the 'flow' of the lines looks particularly attractive.

Looking forward to seeing where this design takes you......

[one60]

Would love to see photos of your NAHBS frame during the brazing & building. Didn't find them on your flickr page. Truly wonderful stuff!

[PLAIN]

Although I am only speaking from the pictures, gotta say you've produced something so thoroughly modern from traditional materials that really makes me want to know more, are some of the gussets/buttresses an attempt to incorporate aero considerations to the frame.? Is it significantly heavier than a 'traditional' brazed frame?

Love the dropouts and the transition of stays into them, the 'flow' of the lines looks particularly attractive.

Looking forward to seeing where this design takes you......

Thanks a lot for your interest ,

The gussets indeed is my quest for aerodynamics and increasing rigidity of the frame ,
however I had no chance to test the bike in in a wind tunnel but believe it or not it felt like moving with it's own inertia , undisturbed at higher speeds .
Regarding the weight all shaping added less then 100gr , the total weight is 2.1kg frame only , for comparison Columbus Max fillet brazed frame with 44mm Paragon head tube
would weight around 2 kg .

For sure will keep investigating the matter and keep on updating .

[PLAIN]

Would love to see photos of your NAHBS frame during the brazing & building. Didn't find them on your flickr page. Truly wonderful stuff!

Sorry I was too busy to take any pictures , I finished my other show lugged frame just right before I had to leave to airport .
I have a number of aero frames to build in a near future , I promise they will show up in a building process on my Flickr and here on the forum .

[rauce]

I saw some photos of the process on your flickr, looks like you there's some steel to give a rough shape and then some sort of sandable filler over top.

I'd be curious what the filler is and how thick you're applying it, I understand though if it's a "secret sauce" sort of thing though.

[j44ke]

I'd reiterate what Corko said - for me this was one of the most interesting frames I saw in all the photos I went through coming out of NAHBS. I had the sense that the shapes, arcs and fill-ins had a functional purpose, not just ornamental. Your write up confirms that. It is a really striking looking bike. I look forward to more detail on your developments as you make additional models.

[PLAIN]

I saw some photos of the process on your flickr, looks like you there's some steel to give a rough shape and then some sort of sandable filler over top.

I'd be curious what the filler is and how thick you're applying it, I understand though if it's a "secret sauce" sort of thing though.

There is no "secret recipe" really , I suppose any kind of two part epoxy filler that sticks to the metal will work fine , the ones meant for the aircrafts
will be the best choice cause they made to withstand the flexion of the structure .
First of all I do reinforce all the joints by the tubes or plates to prevent any load on the filler , so it has cosmetical purpose only .

[PLAIN]

I'd reiterate what Corko said - for me this was one of the most interesting frames I saw in all the photos I went through coming out of NAHBS. I had the sense that the shapes, arcs and fill-ins had a functional purpose, not just ornamental. Your write up confirms that. It is a really striking looking bike. I look forward to more detail on your developments as you make additional models.

Jorn , thanks a lot for your appreciation .

It was scary as hell to go outside the traditional forms , could end up with tons of man hours wasted to build something with no meaning but after
the first test ride I didn't regret any single minute spent on the frame .

[one60]

Curious for more insight about the effect of the curved (convex) seat stays you used on the NAHBS frame & a few others. I've read David Kirk's take on his terraplane stays and recently came across the Dedacciai Adamantis tube set with a similar bend.

Beyond the aesthetics, are there riding conditions where you prefer them?

apologies for the poor image quality
dedacciai-dr-zero-adamantis.jpg
http://www.airoo.cz/830-2886-large/d...-adamantis.jpg

[PLAIN]

Curious for more insight about the effect of the curved (convex) seat stays you used on the NAHBS frame & a few others. I've read David Kirk's take on his terraplane stays and recently came across the Dedacciai Adamantis tube set with a similar bend.

Beyond the aesthetics, are there riding conditions where you prefer them?

apologies for the poor image quality
dedacciai-dr-zero-adamantis.jpg
http://www.airoo.cz/830-2886-large/d...-adamantis.jpg

There is no doubt curved ( convex ) stays work very well as a suspension , increasing the rear tire contact with a surface , instead of hoping
over the bums , small cracks , stones , sand , etc. bike stays attached to the surface without loosing the traction - it gives a very smooth ride
and confident handling also the bike will go faster , same effect as having wider rims with a slightly lower pressure tires .
Another application were I noticed a difference was a climbing , in and out of the saddle , seemed like the stays by the vertical flex gave me a push to go uphill.
Overall having a softer tail to my mind is an absolutely win - win situation .

[PLAIN]

IMG_2864 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

IMG_2850 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr

IMG_2853 by EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE WORKS, on Flickr