Domahidy Designs’ latest bike is a road bike. More than just a road bike, the model is the first time Steve’s namesake brand in venturing into the world of carbon fiber. It’s not that Steve doesn’t have any experience with the material; in fact it’s quite the opposite with over 15 years of carbon experience. After designing the carbon bikes for Niner during his stint as co-founder, and then moving on to designing the radical Factor Vis Vires, Steve wanted to start his own brand and steel and titanium mountain bikes were an easy choice to kick things off.
Now that the mountain bikes are rolling off the production line, a road bike seemed like a logical addition to the line up. Simply named the ‘Carbon Road Bike,’ the new model comes as a result of Domahidy Consulting. Thanks to the relationship he has with a certain European brand, after working on the Carbon Road Bike project for them, Steve was able to negotiate the use of the carbon molds to produce the first Domahidy carbon model.
Calling it the “culmination of all he’s learned to date about designing carbon bikes,” the Domahidy Carbon Road Bike looks like a solid addition to the line…
At first glance the Domahidy Road Bike looks a world apart from the futuristic Vis Vires, but that’s apparently on purpose. Wanting to take design cues from the Factor but wrap them up in a UCI legal package, the Domahidy Road Bike certainly has a more standard appearance. Under the attractive paint, there is a 950g frame (56cm) with a 370g fork (uncut) which “err on the side of safety rather than achieve the ultimate weight.”
Still fairly light in the grand scheme of things, the frame is designed to maximize stiffness and ride quality (like most bikes), but does so with an asymmetric design and a massive downtube and bottom bracket junction. Flowing straight out from the tapered head tube, the squared downtube meets up with a BB386 shell which allows for a substantially beefed up non drive chainstay. Since the driveside still has to fit the crankset, front derailleur, and tire clearance, Domahidy points out that you can increase rear end stiffness through a stronger non driveside chainstay due to the triangulation of the rear of the frame. The seat tube is also asymmetric, favoring the left side of the BB shell and tapering to the top where you’ll find a 27.2 seatpost for improved comfort.
Able to run mechanical or electronic drivetrains internally, the frame even includes “full covers and plugs for wireless shifting.” So it looks like that SRAM drivetrain will make it out there eventually (unless Shimano beats them to it). Built with a braze-on front derailleur, the frame and fork use standard road quick release dimensions.
Like the mountain bikes before this, the road bikes are currently available through preorder with the first run being delivered in June. Selling for $1699 for the frame, fork, seat collar, headset, and expansion plug, the frames are available in Gloss Carbon/Sky Blue, or Matt Carbon/Grey. Check out the Domahidy Designs website below for more information, complete geometry numbers, or to place an order.
Along with the launch of the road bike, Domahidy Designs is also announcing their sponsorship of the local Denver race team, Groove Subaru. The move is a big step for such a small operation like Domahidy Designs, but Steve is excited about the partnership calling it “an amazing opportunity.” Custom Domahidy Carbon Road Bikes will be delivered with the Groove Subaru livery, and you can expect to see them on the road for the 2015 race season!
