Last August, Charge Bikes started testing 3D printed titanium sections for their frames. Now, they’ve moved the process into full production mode, and it looks killer! Here’s the quick blurb from the PR:
Charge Bikes have collaborated with EADS (The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) Innovation Works, the corporate research centre for the EADS group, to produce the world’s first 3D printed Titanium frame manufacturing components using a process developed for the aerospace industry.
Expect it to show up on frames in the very near future, starting with the Freezer Ti cyclocross bike, shown further down, but first, this update from Chris at Charge:
“This is a first prototype, the dropouts are now deeper and the bolt heads now sit snugly into their countersunk recesses. Chain clearance is tight but no tighter than most bikes out on the market nowadays. The clearance certainly isn’t affected by the dropout design. There is a better picture of the dropout side-view which shows the depth on the Charge Facebook page.”
The 3D printed dropouts aren’t this bike’s only trick. The frame uses custom 3/2.5 Tange Ultimate double butted tubing with biovalized shaping to maximize stiffness in the important places. Straight seat- and chainstays keep the rear end tight for better power transfer and, while the wishbone design was originally created for their cantilever bikes to reduce chatter, this one’s all about disc brakes. It’s spec’d with 160mm front/140mm rear Avid BB7s…but the full length rear brake housing means you can easily sub in hydraulics.
Check out the full specs on their website.
RELATED: Raceware Direct has also experimented with 3D printed titanium stems.
