I'm not sure if Bianchi still builds frames this way, but a couple years ago I read that their high-end aluminum road frames were injected with a structural foam around the bb area. This was done to supplement the stiffness of the junction. It may make it stronger as well, but perhaps not (as the stress may be transferred further up into those paper thin tubes?)
I'm riding a '99 Litespeed Ultimate with a curved seat tube. I'm also a big feller - 6'2, 220lbs. As I've put on weight, the frame is getting flexier when climbing (imagine that). I have a growing concern about the curvature snapping -- I've seen it happen on another frame.
Has anyone tried this structural foam trick? Pros/cons/suggestions?
I'm not sure if Bianchi still builds frames this way, but a couple years ago I read that their high-end aluminum road frames were injected with a structural foam around the bb area. This was done to supplement the stiffness of the junction. It may make it stronger as well, but perhaps not (as the stress may be transferred further up into those paper thin tubes?)
They are still dooing it on their Titanim frame (The one M.Backstead won P-R on in 2004)
On Apr 17, 11:21 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:
Scott Gordo said:
I'm not sure if Bianchi still builds frames this way, but a couple years ago I read that their high-end aluminum road frames were injected with a structural foam around the bb area. This was done to supplement the stiffness of the junction. It may make it stronger as well, but perhaps not (as the stress may be transferred further up into those paper thin tubes?)
They are still dooing it on their Titanim frame (The one M.Backstead won P-R on in 2004)
So I guess...I dunno. Is Bianchi the only company doing this? Any credible evidence that it does anything? Is this an application that's used outside the bicycle industry?
...Is this an application that's used outside the bicycle industry?
Well, sort of. The method of bonding thin sheets of stronger materials to both sides of low-density spacers/fillers is widely used, resulting in a stiffer yet light structure often referred to as a "sandwich" or similar.
Scott Gordo said:
Any credible evidence that it does anything?
Can't really visualize what it'do for a tube structure, but I imagine it'd make it more resistant against collapsing.
