The new Time Alpe D’Huez road bike may look familiar, but hiding inside is a new blend of Vectran, hi-mod carbon, and now Dyneema fibers to make it smoother riding and stronger.
Quick background, Time weaves individual dry fibers into tube “sleeves”, slides those over rigid molds, then injects the resin under high pressure during the curing process. This gives them complete control over the mix of fibers used and the resins themselves, far more so than buying off-the-shelf pre-preg sheets. Watch the full process here.
The 2023 AdH Disc gets a higher percentage of high modulus fibers to Vectran, and introduces Dyneema fibers (white in photo above) for the first time. They say this increases impact resistance dramatically, helping the frame stay intact under impact forces several times higher than their prior frame, which they say was already higher than standard pre-preg sheet-made frames.
Time also says that the temperatures used to cure typical pre-preg carbon is higher than recommended for Dyneema, hinting that their lower resin temperature process is a better use case for the material.
The next big change comes at the front with integrated stealth cable routing. A Deda S DCR headset system allows for full and partial internal routing with any cockpit.
If the bar and stem can run things internally, you won’t see any hoses or cables. If not, everything will funnel into the upper headset cap and be routed through the frame.
Next up are new Chroma paint finishes, available in red…
…Blue…
…and Pink. All three were developed by a custom painter in Italy to have a deep, lustrous shine and accentuate the
Lastly, the geometry was updated, offering a more linear scaling of stack and reach figures between sizes. They say the prior model’s three smallest sizes were only very slightly different, so now there’s more differentiation between sizes, allowign them to ditch the XXS size.
As the model name suggests (and a comparatively short reach seems to confirm), it remains a climbing and racing bike, not really an all-day endurance bike.
Tube shapes and construction are very similar to the prior generation, with the rear triangle bonded into the front triangle…and left unpainted to show their braided carbon construction. If you want more of that, go for the gloss clear-coated carbon finish without the Chroma paint.
Other details include forged solid carbon rear dropouts, a front deraileur mount cover plate for 1x builds, and PF BB 386 bottom bracket.
Complete bikes from $5,999 with SRAM Rival, Force and Red AXS drivetrain options, multiple wheel options, and your choice of stem and crank lengths and bar widths. Framesets also available.
