Revolutionizing Carbon Bikes with Guerrilla Gravity - The Inside Line Podcast 20

Four bikes in one! A new carbon material and an incredible amount of work have resulted in some exciting, affordable, USA-made bikes and what may be the way forward for bicycle manufacturing.

bturman
1/30/2019 10:08am
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Related:
Guerrilla Gravity
First Ride
First Look
Podcast
The Inside Line
20 comments

View replies to: Revolutionizing Carbon Bikes with Guerrilla Gravity - The Inside Line Podcast

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grinch
5 years ago
Will they blowing out the aluminium frames at discounted prices? Taking Canadian pesos at par?
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jeff.brines
5 years ago
Cool. But I wish companies would bark up a "tree that matters". Carbon vs Carbon vs Aluminum bla bla bla really doesn't matter all that much on the trail. Unlike road riding, there are so many factors that contribute to ride quality. Tires, suspension, handlebar etc. Carbon fiber frames aren't bad, but they feel more like a byproduct of a stale industry (back when nobody knew where to take things to sell more of them...) than something fully revolutionary.

Small bike companies, here is an idea that'd be a game changer. Focus on getting the front and back tire equally weighted through an entire size run. Unlike frame material, I guarantee this would translate to seconds on the race course, and I'd happily take a 2 pound heavier bike to have it so.

Figure out a manufacturing process that allows this and you will win. Skis aren't all mounted at the same spot, neither too should mountain bikes.
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BetterRide.net
5 years ago
Love to see small businesses pushing the envelope, in this case with seat tube angle too. As a person who runs a 250mm seat post (from top of seat tube to seat rails) I really want to ride a bike with a 77 degree seat tube angle! Would be nice to not be sitting just forward on my rear axle. The Smash seemed perfect until I saw that the effective seat tube angle has gone down from 77 to 75.9 degrees on the XL (and with a 73 degree actual angle doesn't that mean that the longer my post the less seat tube angle?). Don't get me wrong, that is still steeper than most but it seems like XLs should have the steepest seat tube angles.

Not picking on Gorilla Gravity as it seems this happens on most bikes as they grow in size. Would love for a frame designer to explain why this happens and if there is a way to change this.
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The Enginerd
5 years ago
Gene, you pointed out why it sucks when the ACTUAL seat tube angle is not listed in most geometry charts, and the limitations of the EFFECTIVE seat tube angle. The effective angle gets slacker as you raise the post on modern bikes where the seat tube is offset in front of the BB. The effect is smaller on GG bikes than many others due to keeping the actual angle steep and minimizing the offset in front of the BB. It's a packaging nightmare to make that happen, but it helps the bike fit better.
Also keep in mind that the effective angle is measured at roughly the height where most folks have the saddle while descending. Raising the saddle for climbing amplifies the issue if the actual angle is pretty slack (eg the bikes with a large kink in the seat tube).
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LLLLL
5 years ago
is it HexMC, used " the 787’s larger window frames, which on the 787 are considered a primary structure. HexMC is a quasi-isotropic form of prepreg for compression molding, produced by precision cutting of prepreg unidirectional tapes, yielding considerably higher properties than traditional SMC or BMC." ?
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Unruly Baker
5 years ago
Not HexMC. HexMC comes in epoxy and BMI resin but both are traditional thermosets with 350F cures. You can postcure the BMI up to 450F. See link to patent below. GG stuff is clearly thermoplastic. The higher impact strength and increased recycleabilty claims are the key give away that they are using thermoplastics.
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Allen_Gleckner
5 years ago
Channeling my inner Brines: with the alloy rear ends and single front triangle design, seems like there could be future ability for GG to offer different CS length options.
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veefour
5 years ago
If they can also allow for numerous axle standards, could this actually be a future proof bike? Surely that can't be allowed to happen.
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duc
5 years ago
Yea GG! It must have been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to reach this milestone. Stoked for you!
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Unruly Baker
5 years ago
As an engineer working in automotive and aerospace composite automated fiber placement R&D for the last 15 years, this is RAD! My guess on their process is automated tack welding of thermoplastic prepreg (PEEK, PEKK, maybe PPS?) to make preforms, then load preforms into mold and heat to melt temp, consolidate and quench. Kapton tape in the images means they are going to 600 F or so to cook it. No reason to use that fancy expensive tape if your not going HOT.
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bturman
5 years ago
Based on the material properties and Guerrilla Gravity's patent, thermoplastic composite is definitely in use. Those wanting to learn more about the family of materials and manufacturing process should check out our Patent Thread.
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jstuhlman
5 years ago
hellz yeahhhh...need this in the megatrail with a reign in blood colorway please!!!
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metadave
5 years ago
This is very interesting news. I've always been a fan from afar of GG, but unfortunately the Canadian dollar/risk of high duties made it a bit too pricey to sling across the border. This makes them even harder to stay away from the if this material does everything it says. Stoked to see more!
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