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Felt has employed TexTreme Spread Tow technology in its new carbon Nine frame, anticipated to tip the scales at just 900 grams.
Textreme works by spreading the carbon fiber yarns into tapes and arranging them in the woven structure in the straightest orientation possible, both in and out of the plane, the fiber properties can be exploited most effectively for carrying tensile and compressive loads. This creates an optimal strength to weight ratio and is a new way of working with carbon fibers, to weave with tapes instead of yarns.
Felt uses TeXtreme to replace the heavier base structure of uni-directional carbon fiber. Any time you have off-axis plies such as +45/-45, two layers of uni-directional material are needed. Now, because of TeXtreme, both plies can be integrated into a single layer, meaning half the weight while retaining the needed balance of structure. This material integration helps protect the delicate high-modulus fiber from impact.
Jeff Soucek, director of R&D of Felt Bicycles said: “We were looking for reduced weight on our frames, but still needed the same high properties of stiffness and strength. By using TeXtreme we succeeded in making a frame that was lighter, as stiff, while actually increasing the impact durability. Because TeXtreme is so thin we could work with several plies to get the same thickness or less, resulting in significant improvements and a better riding experience.”
TeXtreme is produced using Oxeon’s novel Spread Tow and Tape Weaving Technologies, rendering in optimised Spread Tow Tapes and Spread Tow Fabrics that enable production of composite parts that are 20 to 30 per cent lighter with improved mechanical properties.
Shimano is expected to reveal a Pro disc wheel at Eurobike later this summer, which also uses the high volume weave technique.
Saddleback distributes the Felt label in the UK and is contactable on 01454 285285.
