Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

July 26, 2003 Saturday FINAL EDITION NEWS; Pg. 01B

Seeking that extra edge Trek finds it in carbon fiber

CATHERINE NANGINI Aluminum has a reputation for for Trek. When he wants a [email protected] being stiff, which can be hard new bike or has an idea about m on the rider over long dis- a new bike, Trek ends up tances because it doesn't ab- building one the public can is pitting sorb shock very well, Daehn buy at the store, Swenson strength, endurance and will- said. But too much springi- said. power against rival Jan Ullrich ness in a frame makes the in a bid for a fifth consecutive bike less efficient for the rider. Long road to composites win in the . But beneath the battle of the cy- A carbon-fiber frame is stiffer Bikes have come a long way clists is the battle of bike- than aluminum but can better from the wooden "bone frame technology. absorb the vibrations of the shakers" of the mid- road, said Steve Swenson, a nineteenth century. In 1870, Armstrong rides a carbon-fiber technician at Trek. "It transmits new metallurgy made possible bike designed and built by vibration less harshly than the first all-metal bicycle, Waterloo-based Trek Bicycle aluminum," which translates known as the high wheel, Corp. Ullrich is banking on into a more comfortable ride. which tipped riders headfirst 's Italian-made alumi- when the bike's large front num alloy frame. Both materi- More riders are choosing to wheel stopped unexpectedly. als are super light, but that's enter the Tour de France with Developments a couple of about all they have in com- carbon-fiber bikes than ever decades later produced the mon. before, said Jim Colegrove, a familiar parts that endure to- manufacturing engineer of day, such as chains and Weight is the driving force composites at Trek. Alumi- gears. behind bike design, which led num, though, still remains a to high-end carbon fiber and popular favorite. Tour de France bikes have new aluminum alloys. changed radically in the race's For non-professional riders, 100 years. In the early 1980s, "They're all very similar frame evaluating a bike frame in- the era of light bikes began, weights," said Glenn Daehn, volves many factors. Some starting with aluminum mod- professor of materials science are technical, and some els. Aluminum is a handy ma- and engineering at Ohio State purely subjective, such as ride terial of choice, being the University, but each has its quality and feel. most abundant metal in the own unique response. Earth's crust. And some are purely financial. "In a bike frame you need A carbon-fiber bike can cost At first glance, carbon fibers -- something that's pretty stiff," almost 1 1/2 times as much as about five times thinner than a said Bruce Pletka, professor an aluminum bike with the human hair -- seem unlikely of materials science and engi- same components, Swenson candidates to withstand the neering at Michigan Techno- said. grueling demands of the logical University in Hough- world's best cyclists. "For its ton. But what really matters is For elite cyclists, however, it's weight, it's about the strong- toughness, strength and how all about weight and perform- est material you can find," said many times a material can ance -- as well as personal George Sines, professor of withstand small stresses be- preference. materials science and engi- fore failing, he said. neering at the University of Armstrong has turned out to California-Los Angeles. be the perfect experimenter

CompetitivEdge 1-888-881-EDGE www.clipresearch.com Electronic Clipping "Carbon fiber comes to us in a Dedacciai in Italy, which sup- sheet-like form," said Trek's "Pure aluminum you can bend plies Bianchi. That's like sup- Colegrove, so areas of the in your hand," Pletka said, so porting a 12-year-old boy on a bike that need more strength zinc or magnesium often is wire as thick as the tip of a can be given more layers, for mixed in. ballpoint pen. "It means that example. "That is some of the this aluminum is better than beauty of carbon fiber," he Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de some steel." said. France champion, is probably not worrying about the What materials will go in to the Aluminum bikes can be strength of his Bianchi frame future Tour de France bikes? strengthened by a combina- as he plans his race strategy, No one really knows. "It's con- tion of the right alloys and nor should he. stantly evolving," said Marc shape, with wide tubes for Muller, design engineer for stiffness that are thicker near One square millimeter of alu- Waterford Precision Cycles in joints and thinner in the mid- minum wire can suspend 40 Wisconsin. "That's what's dle where stresses are kilograms, said Stefano Lo- fun." weaker. catelli, an engineer with

CompetitivEdge 1-888-881-EDGE www.clipresearch.com Electronic Clipping