7 Broken Steerer Tube : Composites Are Not Perfect

Thanks to some high quality pictures from Erik (I hope I got the name right), we can now visualize a suspect carbon steerer failure in high resolution. The bicycle is a Bianchi Virata, possibly from the company's 2006 lineup. Some pictures of Erik's injuries can be viewed here (since he's made the page public). Lets hope he has fully recovered.





I notice how the metal-cf bond has failed at the headset junction, and the fiber within has just snapped like straw. Honestly, I do not have a lot of composite experience so I cannot really tell you how this fork failed. Only Erik knows best what he did with the bike before this happened. We can sit here and postulate too. But I'll be posing this question to some composites experts. Understanding this culprit is vital for my brain's health.

Composites consist of a combination of materials - a matrix and sheets of short or long fibers. Each of these two have their own characteristic properties and when combined together and designed well, they take care of each other's weaknesses and yield a high strength composite having properties like no other conventional material. This is called complementary nature (sum of parts is greater individual parts).

Some important design factors to consider in dealing with these materials are :

1. Aspect Ratio , defined as length divided by cross sectional diameter. Fibers can be long or short and each of them have advantages and disadvantages.


2. Ply orientation. A ply is basically a strand or layer of carbon fiber and how you orient it in your design will speak of how it'll perform in real world. Orientation depends on structural application for example, a golf club shaft.

Pictures courtesy of a University Webpage.

3. Choice of fiber and matrix.

4. Choice of manufacturing method.

This is why composites are so attractive. You can tailormake them to give specific properties in specific regions. They are also tremendously lightweight and strong anisotropically.

Composites are also a funny material. They are great for on the edge, performance based design. But theydon't show warning signals before failure (unlike metals), and are infamous for snapping catastophically.

The modes of failure are divided into three :

1. Fiber Failure
2. Resin Failure
3. Delamination

You can read all about composites on the left hand portion of this page.

Generally, I think one would desire the following :

1. As much fiber as you can cram into the piece, but not a whole lot such that dry fiber results.
2. Delamination and failure can also happen without an appropriate percentage by volume of fiber.

The above pictures could reflect a manufacturing defect (such as leaving voids, using less resin or fiber etc), or just outright negligence of design principles such as factor of safety, laterial and longitudunal loading conditions (including impacts and those damn bumps on the road).

Either way, its a failure of engineering ethics.

Morals of the story :

1. Composites are a very specialized field. Good design with composites takes years of experience and learning. So do not buy unbranded bikes or forks from someone you do not know, for example, Ebay.

2. Don't laugh the next time you see a warning label on your handlebar or seatpost. They are there for a reason so READ instructions and tightening values carefully!

3. Check your carbon fiber equipment at all times. Look for any suspicious (if not tiny ones) scratches and nicks. They can be stress risers for the material. Be attentive to weird noises as you ride. Use a coin and gently tap the surface for variations in noise. I know these are archaic methods, but if you can afford the latest ultrasound technology to detect duplicate echoes, go right ahead.

10 Lost in Words : Pinarello ONDA Fork Design

Pinarello has been making some great looking bikes over the past 20-30 years or so. In an industry which has only so much freedom to play around in (primarily due to the UCI restrictions), the Italian company has been taking some bold steps with its radical designs such as magnesium alloy framework, proprietery headsets and S-bends in more places than you can think of. While many adore the eye catching paintwork and curvylicious exterior, a fair share of others also think its simply overkill.

This factory is responsible for those curves in your Pinarello. Some sections of Pinarellos also seem to be made in China but I'm not sure about this.



Pinarello has a patented method of attaching the front triangle to the monostay (or rear fork). As I saw the fatigue testing of one of their wavy forks, also called "ONDA" , I asked myself : What possible advantage could this radical shape really offer?

Keen observers will have noted that this is not the first time a wavy design has been incorporated into the bicycle. Think Hetchins :


Or a Bates from the 50's :




The question of whether Pinarello jumped on someone else's idea is really moot.

But the fact is, the average cycling Joe, curious about the design, is lost in words and seeks to find if theres any real "gold" in ONDA's waves, if you will. Afterall, one of these Pinarellos can easily set him back by 5K or above. Fear not! Lo and behold, lets try and steer this article to make some sense.

Much of the hype/talk about the benefits of this enigmatic fork seem to be drowned in subjectivity and advertising statements. It was an interesting experience for me to see what various people had to say on this topic.

The following statements were collected, & reasons are made in brief and in bold. (Sadly, nothing else exists and if there's anything else about it out there, its probably all hush hush)


Turning Power While Eating

Dear Chas,

The waviness of the fork offers increased turning power.

Also known as fork-torque.

This is crucial when eating spaghetti. Noodles tend to slip off
straight tines.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel - Rec.Bicycles.Tech

The Pro's Love It!


The new Onda carbon fork - Onda is Italian for "wave" - has been very popular with the riders on all three teams, according to Pinarello. "They are more comfortable, and the riders especially like them in descents," he says. "All of the riders have been using Onda forks all season [mostly on aluminum Prince SL frames] and love them. The old fork is more rigid, and they use that for the classics with cobblestones. Zabel, for one, used an Onda fork on his magnesium frame in all of the classics except Paris-Roubaix." - VeloNews


Stunning Kiss of Smoothness, Pure Power Transmission


And even more distinctive was the fact that the Prince SL was built with an Onda fork and seatstay -- the swooping S-curve design standard on all of Pinarello's top-dollar frames to this day. The Onda design looks stunning, and it adds a kiss of smoothness to a bike otherwise designed for pure power transmission.
- Competitive Cyclist


Stiff Yet Compliant - ("Yawn")


Road Tests Have Confirmed Our Expectations. The FP2 is stiff yet compliant while delivering a very responsive ride. - RSCYCLE

The curvaceous "Onda" (meaning "wave") fork on the Dogma is not only visibly distinct and appealing, it is claimed to be as laterally rigid as current Pinarello carbon forks while being more vertically compliant for greater comfort. - VeloNews

The ONDA fork provides absolute stability even on the most twisting descents and high comfort on the bumpiest roads; with the introduction of lower headset bearings less than 1" in diameter, this provides a key increase in fork stiffness. - Pinarello


Bike Is Not "Nervous"



The 43mm offset of the Pinarello's Onda fork, combined with a 73 degree head angle (for a 55cm frame), makes for very agile steering. Yet the bike doesn't feel too nervous at all. It's as if it reacts with zero hesitation to your slightest nudge, yet doesn't get carried away and steer you off your course or prompt an anxious urge to correct any wobbles. - Cycling News


Practical and Theoretical Guesses

Practical or theoretical?

The practical is product differentiation. The theoretical is the
disruption of road shock path of travel. now, you go ahead and weigh up
which you think prevails... - Jim Beam, Rec.Bicycles.Tech


Vibration Dampening

It has the unique ONDA CRA rear end and the ONDA fork, this design dampens any vibration and gives exceptional handling and weighs in at just less than 1 kilo. - Bike Cycling Reviews

The Prince Carbon is built with an Onda FPX fork. Unlike the standard Onda fork, Pinarello built a second "wave" into the "S" shape of the FPX. This redesigned shaping serves to further reduce vibrations and increase comfort on any road surface. In addition, the FPX is also completely built from 50HM1K carbon to reduce weight. The Prince Carbon also comes with a Pinarello integrated headset and a Pinarello carbon fiber seatpost . - Competitive Cyclist

Wavy OndaFPX seatstays, mimicking the unique Pinarello Onda fork, should soak up vibration to prevent the stiff material from making the ride feel too harsh. - Cycling Weekly


Steering Control


Wave shaped "Onda" carbon forks and seatstays add 5% more efficiency and 10% more comfort than traditional bends. An oversized 1 1/4" lower headset stack provides a key increase in steering control while still fitting all industry standard 1 1/8" stems - Bikyle


Finite Element Analysis


The Onda fork was first conceived in 2003, going through an extensive two-year testing period. Using Finite Element Analysis to find the desired perfect balance between lateral stiffness and vertical compliance is how Pinarello ended up with this shape. Using a double S shape resulted in an overall 5% increase in stiffness, while at the same time reducing road shock. This may not sound a lot, but as they say when you add up all the 1% it will make a big difference overall. Many bike companies have used the same principal of curving the stays to increase comfort, while at the same time not reducing the stiffness of the bike. Pinarello were the first to incorporate this into the front fork and the rear stays. - Road Cycling UK

Petacchi's 56.8cm x 58.5 cm Dogma frame weighs in at 990grams, and features the Pinarello "ONDA" or Wave fork, made in a reversed S shape and weighing 385 grams Pinarello used Finite Element Analyse in the design of the fork to address three key axes: longitudinal, transverse & vertical, providing more stability in steering and braking. - CyclingNews

ONDA has a special reversed double S carbon fibre fork & chainstays, a shape Pinarello developed from two years of intensive Finite Element Analysis computer research that is the best solution for longitudinal & lateral stiffness and vertical shock damping. ONDA was created exclusively for the new DOGMA FP integrated headset. - Pinarello

ONDA FP's reversed double S offers a more stable ride in the turns and under breaking, and good damping from road shock without affecting steering; this offers 5% more overall stiffness and 10% more over our BETA fork. - Pinarello


Virtual Bike Machinery (An inhouse simulation software used by Pinarello)

The first simulations of frame behavior on the computer go back to 1994, at the time of the Espada project, the bicycle used by Miguel Indurain for the Hour Record.

Later, this type of study was applied to the Onda fork and the magnesium Dogma frame.

The application of design methods based on three-dimensional modeling of the entire frame was introduced with the project for the Montello time race frame in 2002 and the new M.O.st. central movement
Recently, we developed what we call "Virtual Bike Machinery" which is a simulation of the test machine in which theoretical calculations can actually anticipate the experimental tests before the prototype is even built.

- Pinarello


Well, what do you think? Users of Pinarellos, engineers and bike technicians most welcome to post comments.

5 Design of the Strida by Mark Sanders

Design of Strida Folding Bike :


Mark Sanders, an industrial engineer from England, strikes me as the epitome for all engineers in this day and age. His design philosophy is very practical. Hardwork, innovation and simplicity are keywords in his process oriented design scheme.




Thanks to MAS Design for the video.

Notice in the video, how his design is a step by step procedure, sticking to the traditions of engineering. Some things I thought were interesting :

1. The conceptualization phase of design is very important. I've had to think about this in school last year a LOT when in my senior design project. You have to first think about what you want, and what the problem is! Observe the rough specifications of the bicycle in the early part of the video.

This is the time you're literally grappling with images and alternative solutions. There is no ONE ultimate solution to a real world problem. Pictures and words and ideas (obtained from unbiased brainstorming) are solid ways to emphasize that thought process. And another reason why its important is that this is when you have a lot of levy to make things simple, look at alternative solutions and really affect the costs of production in a big way. Once something is out on the manufacturing floor to be made, you can't waste time and money to go back to the drawing board.

2. Notice how multidisciplinary the process has been, even though he did this sometime in the mid eighties. Put in a simple way, there is observation and art involved (modeling if you want to call it), scientific principles (math, physics and other sciences), critical and creative thinking, engineering design procedures (the steps), design for manufacturability, and simple facts of economics (is this viable compared to that one, or can we do this cheaper by looking elsewhere, things of that nature.)

This is a great video and I wish it were to be shown in engineering design classes.

If you're interested in Strida, look here for more information.

0 Technology Helps Bike Builder Pick Up Speed

Technology Helps Bike Builder Pick Up Speed

The following was gleaned from the archives of Manufacturing Center.


If it weren't for his bad knees, Dave Lynskey would have never developed and built one of the world's premier titanium bicycles.

The Mazak VTC-30C vertical machining center is used to cut the axle drop-out and many other parts from solid plate or bar stock. It features a fixed table and traveling column.

Mr Lynskey, president of Litespeed Titanium Bicycles, was a competitive runner in the 1980s. But after seven knee operations over 21/2 years, his doctor said, "Enough." No more competitive running. Mr Lynskey still had that competitive urge, though, and as an alternative, he took up bicycling and became a competitive racer. He enjoyed the sport, but he was not satisfied with the bike frames available at the time. Then lightning struck. He had a better idea, and he acted on it.

Born was a titanium bicycle with a frame weighing about 21/2 lb, and a 1998 production level approaching 10,000 bikes.


Family Business

In 1962, Mr Lynskey's father and uncle started a metal fabricating business called Tennessee Machine in a Chattanooga, TN, suburb. One of their clients, a large chemical company, required large quantities of titanium parts, an unusual metal which Mr Lynskey and his three brothers, Mark, Chris, and Tim, learned to machine and fabricate. After their father retired in the 1980s, the four brothers took charge of the company.

This familiar-looking bicycle chain hub contains parts cut and finished on the Mazak VTC-30C.

In 1985, in his spare time, Mr Lynskey acted on his idea and built his first titanium bike frame. Then came a bit of serendipity: pioneering triathlete John Disterdick was visiting a friend near the company. When they visited Mr Lynskey's shop on an errand, Mr Lynskey's bike piqued Mr Disterdick's interest, and he asked for one. Impressed with the new frame, Mr Disterdick said other triathletes would probably want to buy them. He talked the Lynskeys into exhibiting at the 1986 Long Beach bike show, then the industry's largest.

The show generated orders and interest, but Mr Lynskey still looked at bike frame manufacturing as an enjoyable sideline. But word spread and orders increased, so the company decided to make the switch to bike manufacturing. The rest is history.


Working With Titanium

Mr Lynskey says that titanium is a tricky metal to machine. The right feeds and speeds and lubricants are important. Litespeed uses a combination of HSS, carbide, and coated carbide cutting tools. The carbides allow faster feeds and speeds than HSS.

"Titanium doesn't absorb cutting heat well," says Mr Lynskey, "so feeds and speeds must be carefully monitored. If they aren't right, the titanium will weld itself to the carbide. Titanium is also spongy. When you're taking a cut and it's too slow, the metal pushes back against the tool, building up heat and shortening tool life. High positive rake angles on the tools get underneath the metal to cut it properly. Feed pressures are also greater for cutting titanium, putting more load on the machines. This means that my machine tools must have excellent rigidity for this work."

A Litespeed frameset begins as a combination of US-made titanium tube, plate, and bar. The raw stock goes to the machine shop where more than 20 employees work with the latest CNC machine tools and fabrication equipment from Mazak Corp, Florence, KY.

Don Roberts from Pinnacle Machine Tools Inc, a Mazak distributor, sold Mr Lynskey on Mazak machines. The first machine Mr Lynskey purchased was a Quick Turn-8N, which Mr Lynskey says he has never had to service. He bought the machine in 1990.

"It's also important to have training, parts, and service quickly available, since we don't have any backup machines," says Mr Lynskey. "With Mazak, that's never been a problem."

Although some of the parts look like they should be made as castings, saving valuable machining time, Mr Lynskey says that the cost to cast them was more expensive than to machine them from a solid plate or bar. Also by keeping manufacturing in-house, the company can control the quality and have the parts available when needed.

For machining parts like a bullet-shaped connector that connects the rear frame tubes and axle drop out, a part that holds the rear axle and derailleur, Mr Lynskey uses a Mazak CNC Quick Turn-8N turning center and an AJV-18 horizontal machining center. For the axle drop out and other parts cut from solid plate or bar stock, the company recently purchased a Mazak VTC-30C vertical machining center.

The VTC-30C has a large table--78.7´´x29.9´´, with axis travels of X=65.4´´, Y=29.9´´, Z=26´´--for multiple parts production. Four or five jobs can be set up on the table for fast machining and increased production. The machine has a 15 hp spindle motor with a maximum speed of 8000 rpm.

Because it uses a fixed table and traveling column, it reduces operator fatigue and allows convenient accessibility for easy and safe part loading and unloading. The VTC-30C is large enough to make all the tooling, jigs, and fixtures the company needs.

On one job, the axle drop-out, four pieces of 1/4´´ titanium plate are mounted to the bed and multiple parts are machined from each plate. Doing it this way increases production, reduces setup time, and maximizes tool use. Redundant tools are also used with tool management for greater spindle uptime. If a tool goes beyond its wear limits, the controller automatically selects another redundant tool.

The company uses Mazak's Mazatrol Mplus CNC controller, programming both on- and off-line. The company uses CAMWARE for off-line, PC-based programming. In most cases, Mr Lynskey can give a print or part to the operator, and the operator will program the machine so when the raw stock is available it can be machined immediately.

"There's no book to tell you how to work titanium," says Mr Lynskey. "If there's a better way to make a bike frame, we make the machinery, jigs, and fixtures to do it. We don't compromise anywhere."

* * *

2 A Word to Readers

Ciao! Tutto bene?!!

I want to extend a word of gratefulness to all my cycling and non-cycling readers. I believe I spend more time reading other's blogs than attending to my own. I love to hear in on what others are doing in different parts of the world. The common thread (no pun intended) between us bloggers is the almost consuming passion to ride our bikes and talk about it, all the time. Yeah, all the time. No kidding. How many times have your wifes or husbands poked you in the nose with your mini frame pump telling you that you are crazy!!

I've been mentioned a few times around by some bloggers out there. One lately that comes to mind is John's Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog. I have been a reader for some months now. John picks up some interesting stuff, everything from science, engineering to management focus.

While I don't focus too much on my personal life, or advocacy, humor or snobs, I feel my technology and business prone interests have led me to create a blog thats growing by leaps and bounds, and I hope it can carve out a unique niche in the blogosphere. Too much marketing and colorful pictures and weighing scale records in bicycling websites and magazines leaves something to be desired. What is exactly going on behind the curtains?

One thing I'd like to mention is that I don't necessarily feel everyone should read my blog. People must be crazy or have a mindset like me when they pop in here, I wonder. What is my mindset? It is one geared towards having fun in college while learning something new everyday.

My dirty little secret is that cycling, while definitely opening up my mind and clearing my thoughts and breathing channels, has also exposed me to the incredible multidisciplinary nature of the fields of science and engineering itself. I don't know how many of you can relate with me on that note. Probably the one fact may be that most of you are not in college anymore! (I'm entering the turbo machinery industry myself in June) but hey, its never too late to discover!

Discovery, learning and adventure = Youth! Cycling should cover it all.

Anyhow, I'll keep posting from time to time and the people who want to read my posts will eventually find me. This is what I believe in.

2 Competition on Wheels

Here are three pages from an old book called Sports in the Western World by Willian J. Baker.
The cycling boom was really a systematic process that came with money, leisure and wealth as much as from significant industrial innovations such as the pneumatic tire. The new race on "mechanical" horses with wheels was seen as an avenue to explore. It was fun, exciting and with the fervor of a few, it was preserved for later generations.

4 New Wind Tunnel Model Tested...

Few folks in the industry have jumped to rapidly prototyped wax models with help from Hollywood special effects people (example, Gentle Giant with Cervelo). Companies are now rethinking humans. Full sized human riders are a disadvantage in wind tunnel tests. They are fat in the offseason, lazy, bored, cold, suffer tunnel vision, grumble/scratch when asked to sit still in the aero position, complain of stiff joints, sore muscles, and often ask unnecessary questions over the prospects of surviving while meeting the turbo fan eye to eye.

With all the downtime from the above considered, the costs ofblowing precious air at these undeserving folks (wax models included) are overwhelming.

Irritant testers have ordered an assessment study for a new rider design, fully manipulating the fluid dynamics principle of Geometric Similarity. One proposed design was :

1. Cute, motivated, exploring, fresh and full of life.
2. Has the highest observed power to weight and drag ratio (unvalidated, duh its the bicycle industry...)
3. Extremely flexible, with lowest rider-bicycle combined center of gravity achieved for an aerodynamic application.

4 IsoTruss Open Lattice Structure for Bicycle Frames

I believe I have jumped late on this topic but its not that I haven't been following the news. For those clueless about what I'm talking about, I was referring to the Arantix Delta 7 mountain bike shown at Interbike last year, that sent out some sticker shocks.

Many bloggers have already commented on the XC bicycle, what it is, how its made and models available. I'll make your search less troublesome. Read this and this for quality material. James at Bicycle Design again has a good report on the development stages of the bicycle.

The Isotruss Open Lattice Structure (courtesy Triple Crankset)

Spiderwebs?

The "Arantix" Company name (supposedly) partly derives from the scientific name for Orb weaver spiders, called Araneidae. Or it might be the Argiope aurantia, commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider or Writing Spider.

But whichever spider it is, I wonder if this was just a ploy by the company to identify with consumers or just something creative to name their bike. If its the latter, it might not be very accurate and I'm sure they might already know this (or they're ignorant of nature)

I feel this way because the fundamental isotruss structure for the frame (although it looks similar to a web from a distance) really has quite a different geometry to the natural engineer's web (the spider, ofcourse he's a cunning engineer!).

An Isotruss structure is a 3-dimensional tubular circumferentially and longitudinally periodic grid structure. There are longitudinal members running along the length of the structure, and helical members spiraling around the longitudinal members. The former carry the axial and bending loads while the latter members has several interesting benefits including resisting torsional loads and improving the compressive strength of the overall structure by reducing the buckling length of the longitudinal members. [See "Local and Global Buckling of Lightweight Isotruss Structures", Jensen et.al, Department of Civil and Environmental, Engineering Brigham Young University, UT]

Isotruss Structures Inc based in Utah holds exclusive license to this technology. Tyler Evans, a student researcher applied the technology to a bicycle project at school and some Composites builders were deeply interested in taking that to the market.

A spider web is so much different if you look from a structural standpoint. To me, it looks very two dimensional. Moreover, the web starts out with a bridge thread, and then anchor threads formed from a typical Y structure made of a loose thread and the initial bridge. Then it forms nonsticky radius threads for it to walk on, and then starting at the center, it forms auxiliary reference spiral threads outwards. Finally, sticky spiral threads are spun inwards towards the center using the reference spiral spun earlier.


The point I'm trying to make here is, Isotruss and spider webs are fundamentally different. There's no point in calling the Arantix bike a "spider bike" from a technical standpoint.

I may be wrong but if any of you are experts, please correct my observation.

How Good?

I like the structural technology and innovation. It has a very good market in the infrastructure business, like buildings and electric poles where strength to weight ratio and construction setups matter. The general fact is that this technology involves lesser material, offering material savings and good strength characteristics [Composites World].

But lets avoid all the hype and talk and get to the point. We're talking about a bicycle. Ride stability and quality are very subjective so dumping all that out of the equation, how much stiffer and lighter can a frame made with isotruss be, compared to a top of the line monocoque or two piece composite bicycle frame?? Just for kicks, please compare a Cervelo SLC-sl or a Colnago Extreme Power to to an Isotruss bicycle frame. I'd like to see that margin. Some specific finite element analysis and real world test results would be great to see.

Other things to note are fairly easy to see. Many folks see the obvious incompatibility of an opentruss design in offroad racing, particularly of the chance for the tubes to collect dirt and grime, tree branches and what not. A famous cycling blogger calls the design "Cheese Grater" while a comment on the same from someone named Graeme reports the following :

The down tube is perfect for collecting small rocks. As such, it will make a great sampling device for the geologist on the move. “Can’t be bothered stopping to collect samples? No problem: let the Delta 7 sample collection/transport system handle it for you.” The rattle of trapped gravel will also keep stray deer aware of your passage through the woods.

Apart from those issues, in the world of tear drop shaped cross sections and other low profile designs, how will the bike live up to aerodynamics? All those little trusses, I imagine, will churn up the air. What about a water bottle cage mount? Etc etc etc....

Costs, and A Road Bike in 2009?

Word is out that a lightweight road bike involving the same technology will pop up around 2009. When the XC mountain bike was shown at Interbike last year, and shortly released thereafter, the price on it was a staggering 7000 dollars for the frame, and upto 11,000 dollars for the entire setup.

It sends funny pains in my trousers, especially around the wallet area.

The fact is that a viable manufacturing technique was not devised. The frames were handwoven and a total of 300 man hours was taken per frame. By todays industry standards, thats a lot. So the price reflects the cost of licensing the technology, cost of production, and other margins for profit. Even today, the company only has the resources to make 200 units per year as reflected on its website. Its costly for them and for consumers!

A way to bring down the price is to go for technological solutions to manufacture the frame. Automation quickly comes to mind. While the capital costs can be huge, the resulting reduction in manpower, wastage, mass production and fast time to market will all provide a handsome return on investment in the long run. I heard that recently, Professor Jensen, who was originally responsible for the Isotruss design and research, brought out a plan for automated production of the grid structures. What is encouraging is that his idea was chosen as one of the 25 semi finalists in Modern Marvels 2007 Invent Now Challenge (a part of History channel programming)

How this automated process is done, and how that will be put to use to mass produce the Arantix bicycle frames have yet to be seen.

The other critical factor is demand for these bikes. My guess is that maybe not a lot of people will be interested in something like this. Costs aside, they won't really understand how the design aids the bike, not a lot will want to see an open structure for a frame and personally, it looks something out of a set for the showcase display. We are told the company put some sort of transparent sheath on the structure at Interbike last year, but is that what we really want? Performance is no more just everything today. Looks and design matter a lot. Its like buying a car, or a computer. Some years back, we saw something similar from Calfee, called Spider Bike but it is no isotruss. The bike may have been structurally a sound idea, but by golly, the thing looks like a horror! Its easy to bring something new out in the market, but its the success of marketing the idea and producing a positive change in the industry that will spell fortitude for anyone in the area of cycling.

And ofcourse, unless pros start riding isotrusses in the Tour de france or the Paris Roubaix or even at the domestic circuit, I doubt the bike will get a lot of money making attention. How else in todays competitive industry can you stand at par with competitors?

Its simple in concept. Bring the costs down, design a sweet looking frame, test its deflection, fatigue properties, take it to a wind tunnel and ramp up the air to 30 mph and see what comes out, kick in some quality for the production and distribution processes, and get lots of air time at the races. ;)

How the Arantix manages the above will depend a lot on the smartness and strategies of the company. Meanwhile I just want to be somewhat optimistic about the design, if not snobbish. The fact is that some folks have plenty of money and will buy anything that meets their eye.

UPDATE (July 2008) - I'd like to correct one factual error in this post, as pointed out by a reader. The license for IsoTruss products is now held by Advanced Composite Solutions (ACS) since one year ago, a Payson, Utah company unrelated to IsoTruss Structures Inc. (ISI). See http://acs-companies.com/index.htm.

IsoTruss Structures Inc. no longer has license to build any IsoTruss product or use the trademark/tradename. The same people have changed their name or created a new business entity known as Composite Tower Solutions, producing meteorological towers only that look much like an IsoTruss. (It is unknown at this time whether there is patent infringement)

3 The Bio Composite Race Bicycle : Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

So hows the bike made?

This is what Bicyclingreviews have to say about the frame design. An excerpt :

"The tubes on the MF-1 either 40% to 50% Flax or 100% 3K Carbon HM and are connected with the use of lugs this isn't the smoothest way, but it gives a very strong bond between the tubes and give great stiffness to the frame. The top tube slopes slightly from head to seat, not too much, but enough to help handling and stiffness. The head tube is bulky which keeps the frame stiff and cuts down on torsion stress, the seat stays are of a wishbone design and the seat tube has an aero profile. The MF-1 is strong and light, everything you need from a bike frame, it's not cheap, but a frame of this quality is never going to be a give away."

A Luxurious lugged design

Another review from Cycling weekly can be found here, and it talks about the bike, components, wheels and ride quality.

So the frame is a bunch of tubes combining both carbon with fiber, produced by a patented high temperature and pressure process, and these tubes are bonded to form a frame using a special purpose glue. The same patented process seems to be used in cigarette papers for improved ash characteristics!

Flax-Carbon Forks

While the promised properties of the bicycle have to be really quantified and compared to existing designs to get a feel for its advantages, I look at the bike and say, 'That's one badass!' The colors are great and Museeuw is really looking to do things a little different. Thats great for the industry. If this is a viable solution, we'll see others jump into the equation and start using fibers for frames.

Whether he'll be successful in making people believe in it is another question. Currently, these frames (MF-1) are about 5600 dollars (2900 pounds or do) a piece (just the frame!). This itself discourages the widespread use of something "green".




My opinions :

1. Marketing babble or not ? I think its not a bad idea but more quantifiable, third party reviews are left to be desired at this stage. Its a great innovation though. Something that bothers me as I write this is the justification for replacing some carbon fiber for flax fiber. We haven't seen any drastic reductions to cost, and while the idea of a bio hybrid bicycle is nice, I still don't see why carbon fiber, having probably the highest strength to weight ratio is to be tweaked further through flax incorporation. If it is to make a better, more comfortable bicycle, were we really fooled to the fact that carbon bikes aren't comfortabe enough? I don't have a carbon bike, so maybe a few of you can tell me what is on your mind. According to the Lion himself :

“A 100 per cent carbon bike doesn’t absorb the shock and vibration inherent in top level bikes. The less vibration you can deliver – thanks to the combination of carbon with flax – means greater comfort for the rider."

This opinion differs among so many people. For years, carbon has known to give plush rides and vibration absorbing properties. Hmmm...


2. IF Design Awards ? Many websites claim that the design sweeped the top prize in the IF Product Design Award for 2008 in the Product Design/Leisure Category, beating 3000 entries from 35 countries, I have not noticed any such awards for the bicycle in the IF website. I may be wrong but if one of you want to check and correct me by clicking on the previous link, go ahead.

ADDITIONAL READING :

The Bio-Composite Bicycle : Part 1
Marketing The Flax Bike In The U.S

* * *

2 The Bio Composite Race Bicycle : Part 1

So guess who else has jumped on the bandwagon of producing top notch racing bicycles? If someone whispered Museeuw, you're right on the dot. The "Lion of Flanders" and two time world champion decided to put his experience to business and kicked up an idea to start his own bicycle company. I'm not exactly sure when it was started but we saw the first fruits of his production early last year through his website.

The more interesting fact has been that Museeuw has started a small revolution in bicycle frame materials. In this day and age where the industry is continuing to push all barriers like a rebellious bulldozer on a rampage, and where innovate or die is the chant, Museeuw is no exception to the idea.

Enlisting the help of Belgian firm IPA (which also makes carbon tubes for Colnago) and historically renowned Italian frame maker Billato, Museeuw's top of the line bicycle, the MF-1, comes out to be an interesting design.

The frame uses a medley of carbon fiber and flax fiber, the strands of which are somehow sandwiched between the weave of the ultra high modulus CF fibers by a special manufacturing procedure.

The new hybrid race bike

Check out this video on the manufacturing behind it.

Museeuw Bikes

Flax is one of the oldest crops known to man. It is of two types : Oilseed (Flaxseed) and Fiber (a type of bast fiber). Examples of such crops include Lignum usitatissimum (common flax), L. usitatissimum album (white-flowered flax), and L. usitatissimum vulare (blue-flowered flax).

The high quality fibers of flax are from the stem of the plant and are in the phloem or bast, hence the reference to flax as a “bast fiber” crop. For a microscopic material discussion of the fiber, click here.

Flax Fiber

Both (seed and fiber) have various uses, from food for livestock, making linseed oil (used in paints and coatings in industries), flaxseed oil (you must have seen those gel tablets in pharmacies, high in omega 3 and 6 content), food items (flax fiber containing cereals have omega 3 content believed to be a laxative), paper industry, to surprisingly, even as reinforcing in plastics, composite products and lightweight concrete. Previously, wood flour was being used as reinforcement in plastics for interiors in vehicles. But the better properties and cost effectiveness of plant based fibers have replaced short wood fibers.

Reasons for bast fiber popularity in automotive industry (for interior panels, visors, floorings and other parts):

1. Its organic, hygeinic and eco friendly.
2. Low cost, 1
3. Sound dampening at lower cost and density than glass or mineral fillings.
4. Durable and moisture resistant.
5. Natural fibers have specific gravities of 1.25-1.50 g/cc, versus 2.6 g/cc for glass. This gives them a better strength to weight ratio for reinforcing plastics.
6. Excellent impact strength from better bonding procedures.

Companies blend fibers with synthetic fibers for better properties and added with composite material (made in mats by processes like needle punching, thermoforming or compression moulding). Saab, led by GM did this to its door panels in the early part of this century. Others sandwich the fibers between composites like carbon fiber or polyurethane foam by the same processes. So interestingly, these fibers have extensive industrial applications. (I didn't know that, until now! Learning is fun, boy!)

Following the ideas from the automotive sector, the bicycle industry has been quick to adopt this idea. By using the twill composite hybrid sandwich technique, Museeuw frames can be made with a combination of fiber and carbon composite that supposedly gives it a plush ride, without losing any stiffness.

Move on to part 2 to see how the bicycle is made.

* * *

5 A Cervellum Digital Bike Computer

When you just thought you were missing hindsight riding your bike...

An interesting concept and probably nearing a possible prototype stage : How about a heart rate monitor, a fitness data recorder, a GPS and a rear view monitor, all on a 3.5 inch screen all for about 300 dollars?

From the very first Avocet C10 decades ago, to the Quarq, and now this. It seems folks in the bicycle industry really want to borrow some control and safety aspects from the auto industry (think Lexus) and throw that into a bicycle. Handsome idea, but is it worth it? Think about it :

1. A simple sideways glance is free.
2. A helmet or sunglass mirror is approx. 10 or 12 dollars excluding shipping.
3. 300 dollars for a rear view monitoring system.

While I appreciate technology in all forms, 300 moolah is still a lot for a helmet mirror replacement. And this doesn't take into account the price of all the number of addons you're looking at. Considering that some of the cheapest camcorders today are sub 200, I'd imagine that this technology will see a lowering in price at some point. I'm also assuming that this bike computer will have no recording element or functionality. At some point, this toy is going to be the next best thing to adorn your 10K bike with.

Price aside, what I do like are two things (from the info we have) :

1. The idea for a camera on the seatpost. How big it is , we do not know yet, but anything in the slipstream of the bicycle is a good thought. Personally, I don't want anything electronic sitting ugly on my bar end plug.

2. I like the company's modular approach to developing applications for the computer. It seems they'll let third parties develop hrm and gps functions for the computer. It'll be great to have a power wattage display as well. This will probably increase the usability of this hardware, since it'll function more or less like a plug and play device. This is a good step in integration as no one really wants 10,000 computers on his handlebar serving a specific function. Personally, I want the front end of my bike looking clean. No messy dashboards here..

What I'm concerned about are :

1. With a camera on the seatpost as said, you'd need some adjusting if you were changing seat post heights constantly. Some other considerations are, will the camera be exposed to the elements, and how it'll perform during a jump or a sprint when you're literally shoving your bike sideways. (But who really cares about rear view in a sprint anyway right?)

2. How about the video quality? Real images, as displayed on helmet mirrors, are so much superior to a 2 or 3 megapixel video camera. Any poor viewing quality/noise/jitteriness on the digital monitor is just going to distract and possibly put the cyclist at some amount of risk. What type of sensor the camera uses, CCD or CMOS, will possibly dictate the price and/or quality of image as well. This is the area where the camera should clearly justify its advantage over conventional mirrors.

3. Battery life : It seems to be about 4 hours, which isn't so bad but it may prick you if you're a long distancer

4. Wired, or wireless? Surely in this day and age, they should opt for the former. For instance, there are wireless security cameras in the market running different frequencies. Unfortunately, there are limited frequencies available today.

5. Reception : With a wireless system, will there be reception problems between the transmitter and receiver when the camera is on the behind the seatpost. Metal has been known to block signals.

6. With a seat post mounted camera, there goes another potential spot to mount your third water bottle.

7. Crash testing? I'll hate to watch my camera ripped and lying on the asphalt. (Aaargh, ok I'll stop complaining and learn some bike handling..)

Its a novel idea but lets wait for some more news on this item. James at Bicycle Design has also written a post on this so check it out.

Just an afterthought : With all these novel, yet expensive solutions that develop the bicycle's cross functionality more and more, its becoming increasingly scary a thought to leave your bicycle outside.

3 Specialized 2D Helmets Recalled

The news is a few weeks old, but news is never old especially if it concerns your helmet. Word was out from the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission late last year that these stylish looking 200 dollar helmets failed the testing standards laid out by them. ( Hush hush : Its made in China...)

No, but seriously, I'm curious to know how the product failed the tests. Specialized is recalling about 3000 units for complete money back or a better replacement. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported but it may be an accident waiting to happen.

0 How Its Made : Giordana Clothing

Its so simple to go out and buy one of these premier cycling apparel, isn't it? To see how its made will make you gape in wonder.

Watch this video to appreciate every step in how modern cycling apparel is made. The video features the Giordana production processes in the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility just outside Montova, Italy. See how the pattern design is made, how they're printed and eventually stitched to produce something of value to the cyclist.

By the way, is it just me or do I not notice a single man in the video? I guess thats another appeal for Italian clothing - You're getting true Euro race wear and some gorgeous woman might have had the ideas on it. :)

P.S : No sound to the video.

4 Cervelo's Compete on Quality Strategy

The above is an interesting picture. Look at it for a brief moment. What grips you most? Is it the fact that the its a sweet Tour ridden SLC-SL that you just dreamt of possessing.

Or is it the "Made in China" label?

I think most of us love to see a bike we ride made in the country it originates from, be it Italy, or Germany or the United States. Why? Not too sure, but maybe ask yourself. There does seem to be some preconceived ideas in our heads about Chinese quality. Granted that there have been a host of products originating in China that just, lets say, simply scared all of us. 2007's records are here.

But when you see Cervelo, one of the best bicycle companies in the world (whose exact products we use have been ridden by CSC in the Tour and other races) and you look at the "Made in China" label, is it not easy for us to make a compromise there? So where's our notions about cheap chinese goods gone?

Lets be clear. China hasn't been exaclty doing good with product safety and compliance. Another factor to blame is weak supervision from developed nations like the U.S. But on the other hand, I've read that the negative publicity Chinese goods have received over the past few months has proved to be an impetus to reforms and changes within the country. I read this in some newspaper but I forget which one. Old factories with no licenses are being shut down, people responsible for bad products have been dismissed, sometimes even executed by the government and companies are looking at changing their whole business ideas. I can understand that negative publicity can affect a country like China, responsible for maybe what, half the world's imports (?), everything from fish, toys, watches,books etc... to even bicycles. Chinese government officials are supposedly doing everything they can to protect the "Made in China" brand.

But the fact remains: The cheap labor costs in China is just simply too much to resist for companies who want to make good profits. Otherwise, it'd be so hard to compete and someone with good business sense can really understand this.

Here's an old article from Canadian Business about how Cervelo manages to keep tabs on their quality, even though they outsource all their manufacturing to China. This way, they can have the edge over cheaper bicycles made in China that are showing up in Canada.

Some important points have been made bold by me. Even Cervelo couldn't resist China, and really, people with good business sense like them advocate no to tariffs. And I think none of the quality issues (stemming from the "Made In" label) matter when manufacturers and suppliers comply with quality standards set by Cervelo. Needless to say I'm also pretty impressed by the engineering and R&D going on here.

Carlos Sastre with a Cervelo

Beat China On Quality: Cervélo cycles bets on premium design to win

Zena Olijnyk
From the November 7-20, 2005 issue of Canadian Business magazine

As far as Gerard Vroomen is concerned, the bicycles you find at your typical Canadian Tire store and the two-wheeled marvels of high-tech engineering that come out of the Cervélo factory in west-end Toronto are alike "in name only." Not that there's anything wrong with the inexpensive bikes sold at the large retail chains—indeed, Vroomen says, some of them are "pretty decent" for the price. But Vroomen, who founded Cervélo Cycles Inc. with his business partner, Phil White, in 1995, says there's no comparison with these traditional examples of cycle locomotion and the Tour de France-worthy racers his company produces, which cost anywhere from $2,000 to $11,000 each. In fact, when the European-based Team CSC rode Cervélo bicycles in the 2003 Tour de France, it was the first time a Canadian-manufactured bike competed in the legendary French cycling event. And that commitment to performance through design, he says, is the key to Cervélo's ability to survive the China manufacturing juggernaut. "Manufacturing in Canada will always be more expensive than manufacturing in China," he says, especially when it comes to something as basic as an ordinary bicycle. "So you have to figure out the best way to compete. In our case, it's pushing the envelope [of] bicycle design."

The decision to pursue quality means Cervélo isn't dealing with the same competitive forces now facing Canadian manufacturers of the inexpensive bicycles found at mass-merchant retailers like Canadian Tire, Zellers and Wal-Mart. Two manufacturers at the low end of the market—Raleigh Canada Ltd. and Groupe Procycle Inc., both with factories in Quebec—have been at the forefront of a campaign to urge the federal government to impose duties against cheaper bicycles imported from China and other low-cost countries, arguing their market share is shrinking and about 600 jobs are at stake. They even managed to convince a Canadian International Trade Tribunal panel to recommend in September that the federal government impose an emergency 30% surtax against bicycles from these countries. Such bikes have a freight-on-board cost of less than $225 and would typically end up costing about $400 retail.

No decision on the tribunal's recommendation has been made, and the federal government is now being lobbied by retailers and distributors not to impose the surtax, arguing merchants and consumers will be harmed the most by the increased expense of entry-level bikes. Vroomen says he opposes, on principle, measures that would only serve to protect a few hundred jobs at two manufacturers who are losing the battle with China. He adds there's not much point in trying to fight off developing nations' inevitable cost advantages through trade sanctions.

Indeed, given the country's vehement protests against the U.S. tariffs on our softwood lumber exports, Vroomen says it's hypocritical for us to then turn around and impose trade tariffs to protect our own industries when they are being outgunned by cheaper rivals. "You have to find an overall solution," he argues. "The Chinese are pretty good at making a decent low-end bike at a cheaper cost than those made or assembled in Canada. The next time it will be cars, and what are we going to do then?" Rather than running to the government for tariff protection, he says, Canadian manufacturers should be looking toward competitive advantages in areas such as technology and design, looking for that value-added niche market that has so far proved elusive to Chinese manufacturers. "You have to put a bit more ingenuity into what you do. Just being ordinary won't do when it can be done so much cheaper in China."

This is where Cervélo's compete-on-quality strategy comes in. As it happens, the company takes its name from a combination of the Italian word for brain, cervello, and the French word for bicycle, vélo. Literally, that translates into "brainbike," Vroomen says, emphasizing his and White's desire to build a bicycle with extra thought put into it. Vroomen, 34, and White, 43, both trained in mechanical engineering, started the company after a top Italian professional cyclist asked them to develop a bicycle with leading edge aerodynamics.

The company has grown from four employees just four years ago to 29 today, nine of them engineers who focus on design and product development. "You'd be hard pressed to find a bike company—big or small—that spends as much as we do on research and design," says Vroomen.(He won't give exact figures but says Cervélo's research budget is in the "seven figures.")The commitment to design has paid off in building Cervélo's business. Sales are growing at a rate of almost double each year, with revenue for 2004 at $11 million, compared with about $800,000 in 1999. Even at the current production capacity of about 100 cycles a day, Vroomen says the company is finding it difficult to keep up with growing demand—not only from professional cyclists, but from a growing contingent of baby boomers taking to two wheels for relaxation and exercise, and willing to spend thousands of dollars to cycle in style. In fact, one of the downsides of growing so quickly has been the company has had to move its Canadian operations four times in the past five years. Manufacturing of specific parts is farmed out to factories in Canada, the United States, Taiwan and, yes, China, but the design, engineering, quality control and assembly is done in Toronto.

Born in the Netherlands—a country known for its cycling tradition—Vroomen, an avid cyclist, studied mechanical engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology in Eindhoven, Netherlands, specializing in composite materials. After five years of study there, he went to McGill University in Montreal for what was to have been a nine-month project to design an aerodynamic "time trial" bike. Vroomen admits that originally he was more interested in Human Powered Vehicles(specifically, an enclosed recumbent bicycle that can achieve speeds of up to 135 kilometres per hour)than in regular bikes, but that changed after he met Chet Kyle, one of the founders of the international Human Powered Vehicle Association but also the lead designer for the 1984 and 1996 U.S. Olympic team bikes. "He got me really excited about pushing the boundaries of cycling rules," Vroomen says. When he didn't get the support from the composite lab at McGill to build a prototype of his bicycle design, he decided to build it himself in his basement. That's when he joined forces with White, a fellow McGill graduate student with an entrepreneurial bent who had previously worked in project management for Lockheed and SPAR Aerospace. White, also a cycling enthusiast, joined Vroomen in putting up money(that should have gone to tuition)to finance the fledgling company. Their prototype, an aerodynamic time-trial bike called the Baracchi, is now on display in the entrance to the company's headquarters in Toronto. While the Baracchi tested well for aerodynamics, handling and comfort, Vroomen and White couldn't interest a bike manufacturer in commercializing their design, so they did it themselves.

Today, Cervélo manufactures five families of bike models, each with their own characteristics, for road-racing or time trial and triathlons. Road-racing bikes are used in mass-start events. For this purpose, the bike must have specific handling characteristics, says Vroomen, since the courses can involve tight corners and steep climbs, and race participants often ride in packs. Bikes used for triathlons and time trials don't allow for riders to ride in a pack, so wind is the biggest challenge for the cyclist.(In mass-start races, riding in packs greatly reduces the aerodynamic drag, so less effort is required.)This means the shape of the bicycle and the position of the rider must be tailored toward cutting through the wind for greater speed. At this year's Tour de France, Cervélo showcased its newest model, the Soloist Carbon. Weighing just under seven kilos—the frame itself only weighs slightly more than a kilo—Vroomen says a cyclist using the Soloist Carbon "doesn't have to choose between weight and aerodynamics." It was the lightest bicycle at this year's Tour, which has a minimum weight restriction of 6.8 kg. And the bike was more than up to the job. This year, members of Team CSC, which is sponsored by Cervélo, won one stage and came second overall on Cervélo bicycles; that gave the company a huge marketing boost and what Vroomen describes as "a lot of air time" in coverage of the tour.

But achieving this level of performance takes lots of highly specialized engineering skills backed up with serious budgets for research and design. Vroomen figures it costs about $25,000 each time they go into a wind tunnel for testing, while a prototype mould can cost on the order of $50,000—and sometimes as many as six moulds will be used before finding the perfect design. At the start of every project, the design team at Cervélo establishes performance goals for each bicycle they want to create. The Cervélo engineers then design bicycles with optimum characteristics, using wind tunnel testing, carbon mould design and research into the aerodynamics of tube shapes. At the final design review, the lead engineer presents the final design to the entire design team, with the hope that fresh input might lead to improvements before the design is put into preproduction. Prototypes are tested not only in the lab but on the road by professional cyclists, and adjustments are made based on their feedback. After the final review, the product undergoes fatigue tests by Engineering for Bikes, a German-based global testing facility for lightweight frames. Manufacturing of the frames is then outsourced to factories that can both achieve the necessary standards of quality and respect Cervélo's intellectual property. "This is where we are unique, so ensuring our designs aren't copied is very important to us," he says.

While many manufacturers of high-end bicycles will design special models for professional racers, Vroomen is proud that the bicycles sold in speciality stores(there are about 40 outlets in Canada that carry Cervélo bikes)are exactly the same as those used in races. "We don't make special bikes for professional races—every bike you see in a race is identical to what you can get at a store," he says. This dedication to creating accessible bicycles that meet professional standards is wildly applauded by recreational cyclists, judging from the lengthy list of customer reviews on Cervélo's website. Here's just one example from a recent purchaser of a Soloist Carbon: "After riding this bike, it's hard to imagine how any other bike could compete. It does everything fast. It climbs fast, it sprints fast, it descends fast, and it's an absolute rocket on the flats." Benjamin Sadavoy, editor and publisher of Toronto-based Pedal Magazine, says this kind of hard-core cyclist is "motivated by products that can enhance their performance." Having the same cycle as a pro is "like being able to buy the same race car as Mario Andretti."

Kudos from weekend warriors helps, but Vroomen admits getting the company noticed through the international cycling circuits is just as important to the company's business strategy. So Cervélo has been showcasing its bicycles through an exclusive contract with Team CSC, which includes Ivan Basso, the Italian racer who finished third in the 2004 Tour de France, second this year, and is considered a top contender for 2006 now that six-time winner Lance Armstrong has retired. When Cervélo started sponsoring Team CSC, in 2003, the team was ranked 14th on the International Cycling Union race circuit that includes the tour. Today, it ranks first in overall standings on that circuit. The team recently extended its agreement with Cervélo until the end of 2008. "As a story from Canada, getting to that level in the biking world is significant," says Sadavoy. "They just didn't get to the Tour de France. Their bikes did very well."

With both sales and brand profile on a serious upward trajectory, Cervélo's flying high right now, says Vroomen, and the future looks bright. Goes to show that even when you're faced with as formidable a rival as China, true winners don't need tariffs.

2 The Ticket to the Races : Biological Passports, How Good?

Before I start, I'd like to mention that the results of some wheel tests done on a bunch of new hoops are over at Roues Artisanales for 2008. As always, I'm excited to see new tests done on racing products. This test in particular addresses aerodynamics, inertia, lateral stiffness and bearing resistance of wheels in a 5 part series (of which only part 1 is available today as I type this). Interestingly, some of the latest models of Mavic seem to be on the higher end of aerodynamic inefficiencies.


While NASA is testing the LRO for the upcoming moon mission and President Bush remarks there should be world peace at whatever the oil price, UCI is on a race to implement biological passports for riders. We are told that its introduction has been successful beginning this year.In my understanding, they brought this idea up last year after doping controversies were just flooding the reputation of international cycling and all that called for a solution to tackle the problem lest the whole sport gets corrupted.

What the passport is its a data collection method (probably electronic) by which testing agencies (WADA certified, contracted by the UCI, how else on earth are they going to test 7000+ riders for a total of 8000 tests?) collect blood hematological and urine samples of a rider (which should stay constant over time) and really see how these values evolve over the year. Test samples will be taken on and off the season, during some critical points, such as a few weeks before an international stage race.

Paid analysts looking at all this will then judge whether the profiles tell a true story or if someone is throwing mud in their eyes by faking all that oxygen carrying capacity.

I think cycling is the first to do this in the sporting scene. It isn't very innovative, I mean the concept seems like a no brainier. But the process logistics are the difficult part and its the UCI, oh well, so keep your fingers crossed. They better do a good job of it since its likely other sporting bodies are looking at the same and seeing if it'll work for cycling so they can implement it in some fashion.

Along with urine and blood samples will also come a steroid profile (for instance, what does that unbranded 'asthma relief inhaler' really contain, when did XYZ rider take it and so on) . Whats more, riders will also have to be transparent about their whereabouts during testing. All this information is going to be stored in their 'passport'. No clean passport, no racing.

I feel everything should be done to keep the sport clean. Otherwise, millions of us paying to watch races and cheering for our riders are just wasting time and money, and a genuine passion for bicycling as an avenue for sport and fitness will be shrouded by implications that it is corrupt because there's the smell of drugs everywhere in it.

However, the passport system seems just a little too privy to me. The tough training, myriad wind tunnel and lab tests, media following, controversies and now the biological profile testing system must be really putting a lot of pressure on riders. Will this be a factor in distracting them off what they should be really doing in office? The fact that many of the riders are being invaded like this due some other reckless folks in their own team and peleton must be pretty stressful to them and their families.

Also, with the above mentioned pressures, and the fact that drugs will be cleansed off the scene, I'm wondering whether they'll ever ride the same again? Will races post 2008 be a stark contrast to the ones of yesteryears, where every second brought with it excitement and the classic battles and struggles on the mountains of France and Italy are deeply embedded in our memories, even today?

On the other hand, I think UCI has struck a right note with this one if they do a good job of it.
I hope that the information in the passports remain secure and is not hacked or leaked out. The proper handling of confidential information is important and only authorized people should handle it provided they have some sort of licensed agreement.

I don't really know how these passports work. But my suggestion would be to round up a group of suspect riders and keep them under 'probation', if you will. At the same time, passports have to be renewed every year. So after a threshold amount of time, if there's a rider (say John) who has a clean record and continues to do so, the excessive amount of tests and other burdens should be stopped as a way of rewarding John for his honest efforts towards the sport. Isn't that motivating?

Now if John starts using drugs after this period, I would question the kind of moral character he really has... this guy is really the scum of the earth isn't he? And I don't think any rider in the peleton is immature enough to be on this extreme. I think I keep riders in high regard that way.