Calfee’s always been one to integrate as much as possible, and now they’ve taken electronic wiring mods to the next level.
Called SuperClean, it’s a patent pending design that funnels the wires coming from the shifter directly into the stem through small ports. From there, the Junction A box for either Di2 or EPS is mounted to the bottom of the expansion plug, and all wires then run through the steerer tube and into the frame.
Where it gets really tricky is with the indicator light and internal wiring…
Small ports are molded into the stem’s overwrap of the bar, leaving just enough room to wiggle the wire’s connector end through.
The wires plug into the Junction A box, which is positioned so its indicator light beams up under the top cap’s bolt.
The light’s transmitted via fiber optics placed in the core of the bolt.
The junction box is attached to the expansion wedge, so it all pulls out as a unit for charging. A notch in the top of the steerer tube makes room for a small tab on the cap so it won’t twist during installation. From there, the wire goes into the downtube and on to the battery.
There’s an extra loop of slack in the cable to prevent pulling or pinching, and they’ve done all the strength testing to ensure the holes don’t adversely affect the fork.
Price is $275, which includes labor and components (Junction A, wires, expansion plug). You could drill your own fork out to make it work, but they really don’t recommend that. So, you’d also need their bar/stem combo and their fork.
They’ve also updated their integrated cycling computer mount, extending it a bit to accommodate the Garmin 1000’s larger size. So it’ll fit virtually any cycling computer now.
Earlier iterations used a bolt-on unit, but this is the first completely integrated production version that bonds the mount’s “torpedo” beam onto the stem.
The computer’s mounting base is now modular, letting you bolt in any computer mount you want (or can) drill a hole in. The K-Edge one shown here is a stock unit from that brand.
Calfee’s Michael Moore says it’s likely they’ll make the system a bit more functional soon that adds a second mount to the bottom for things like action cameras, etc. As is, the bar/stem/mount combo is $450 with customer-provided handlebar and stem. Without the mount, it’s $300. If you want paint, that’s another $150. They can laminate any carbon stem to any carbon bar.
At the Philly Bike Expo, we learned of Calfee’s plans to 3D print molds, which would let them offer more angles and sizes then their already huge library of metal molds allows. Check out our factory tour for a look at how their frames come together.
Those particular molds were created for this bike, which features a very, very tall head tube. They didn’t have standard molds for this size, so their new methods open up possibilities. And while we’re looking at the bikes, let’s check out the amazing paint Calfee offers:
They finally wrapped up production of their branded Lizardskins suspension dust boot for the Manta’s elastomer-based micro suspension.
Another bike was on hand with some very sparkly paint!
On the red and blue one, they contracted with Leh Seats to custom embroider color-matched handlebar tape and saddle. Calfee sent a couple of the tubes to Carson Leh to get the stitch’s colors correct, and the finished product makes the entire bike an incredible one of a kind.
