Last week it was the Falco V, this week it’s the 2014 Dimond triathlon bike to bring the boom-style frame back in vogue.
Dimond Bikes started in 2008 with the idea to make a better hydration system for triathletes. Over the years, founders TJ Tollakson and Dave Morse tossed around the idea of a “super bike”, and things slowly came together. The frame design was inspired by the Zipp 2001, a bike long out of production but still very fast. Morse, who had since been working as an engineer at Zipp, gave Tollakson a 2001 frame as a wedding gift in 2010, and they started to modify and modernize it. From there, they decided to make a go of it and Morse and fellow Zipp engineer Karl Hall designed, engineered and made the first prototypes.
Time passed, credit cards were used, and ultimately it took Hall Morse moving to Ruster Sports, which makes tri bike cases & accessories, to bring the project back to life. In May 2013, they finalized this design in a new 11,000 square foot facility in Des Moines, IA, and just released their first bike…
Full wind tunnel test data will be shared on their website soon. For now, they’re claiming aerodynamic improvements of 4% to 28% reduced drag compared to the leading tri bikes thanks to the absence of superfluous things like seat tubes and stays. And truncated air foil tube shapes.
Frames are designed, engineered and made of US-sourced unidirectional carbon fiber, all in house in Iowa.
The headtube is reasonably short, providing plenty of stack and reach adjustment while letting the pros get super low. It’s built around standard stems, bars and forks, too, so those with existing equipment don’t need to worry about proprietary designs. The saddle clamp area allows for enough fore/aft adjustment to simulate 77º to 82º seat angles. The seat boom (aka top tube) is removable for easy packing.
The frames will retail for $5,950 and be available in small, medium and large.
