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Crisp Transparent Bike Design, Aircraft-Grade Plastic Used For Frame Build

Written by Colin McCaleb
26 Comments
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Clarity Bike Plastic Transparent Wall Shot Belt DriveWe’ve seen some great concepts floating around the internet this past year, like the all-cardboard bike that’ll perhaps hit the market this year. Based in Germany, DesignAffairs has primed a brand new concept titled Clarity Bike.

Clarity Bike is constructed of Trivex, a transparent polymer commonly used in helicopter and fighter jet windscreens. With Trivex a lightweight material that can hold up against huge impacts and withstand extreme temperatures, it seems a worthy experiment for a bike frame. Granted, there’s still a few kinks to be worked out in the frame, like the strange geometry and lack of a headset (or brake for that matter?), but DesignAffairs is definitely on to something fresh. The frame’s injection-molded and can be produced at a relatively low price point if taken to production.

Images after the break…

Clarity Bike Transparent Side View Drive Chain

Clarity Bike Plastic Transparent Bars ForkVia Gizmodo
Colin McCaleb
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26 Comments
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Gary
Gary
11 years ago

Might work. Looks like they are trying to reinvent the bicycle with that odd geometry. Should have just copied another manufacturer’s geometry specs.

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PDXFixed
PDXFixed
11 years ago

NOPE!

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Ripnshread
Ripnshread
11 years ago

Heavy?

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bin judgin
bin judgin
11 years ago

die belt drive

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Zap?
Zap?
11 years ago

Now I’m going to have to get a clear helmet, socks, shoes, jersey etc. to match my bike like a proper roadie. 🙂

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Chuck Sheane
Chuck Sheane
11 years ago

So, you’re saying there’s potential, seeing that this is relatively made out of glass, to fill the tubes/frame with a beverage? The possibilities could be endless for cruising about town, glug.

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NotAMachinist
NotAMachinist
11 years ago

@Zap

It’s the matching clear shorts that have everyone worried.

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Androo
Androo
11 years ago

I have absolutely zero problem with people trying new things and using new materials, but I just wish they took a few minutes to do the basic calculations required.

I can tell just by looking at it that those tube diameters are completely wrong. I can’t find published information about Trivex’s modulus, but if we’re generous and assume that it’s 1.5x greater than polycarbonate’s (as its tensile strength is), then you end up with a material that is 50x less stiff than steel, but uses the same tube diameters?

If they instead used tubes that were 2.5″ x 0.125″ wall thickness, you’d end up with a frame with similar properties to a 1″ x 0.035″ wall 4130 frame, that only weighed 25% more…

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mzungu
mzungu
11 years ago

Give them green kids a break, Andro, 🙂 They just want to turn in something for the school design project. Hooke’s law be damned. You just need to market this differently like they do in the bicycle industry….call it designed for comfort, don’t call it a flexy frame,

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Gillis
Gillis
11 years ago

I’m all for exploring new materials. I look forward to seeing how this goes.

But seriously, how hard is it to render up a concept with proper geometry? It’s not secret or anything, just pick a brand and take it off their website.

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a
a
11 years ago

I too searched in vain for mechanical properties for Trivex thinking that the modulus would be useless… Couldn’t find anything on that but I did learn that it is a Thermoset (so not injection mould-able)…

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Joshua Murdock
Joshua Murdock
11 years ago

Sweet, now I can see how dirty my BB is.

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Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

Where are the brakes?

Are their brains just as transparent as this POS?

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JW
JW
11 years ago

Re: Grammar Police… “there’S still a few kinks” ?

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Your Face
Your Face
11 years ago

Yeah, probably flexy, but this is the first hipster type bike I have ever thought was really cool looking.

Now, if only Campy would make a seatpost out of the stuff.

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Jon D
Jon D
11 years ago

(You can injection mold thermosetting plastics. It’s not super common but it’s not really rare, either.)

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Speedy
Speedy
11 years ago

Props for trying new things. I kind of dig the look of the material. But wow – how in the heck did they come up with that geometry? ZERO podiums will be obtained with that bike!

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Androo
Androo
11 years ago

@Your Face
Not so much flexy, as “dangerously breaky.” That said, those are just 3d renderings – when it comes time to actually build the thing, I’m sure they’ll arrive at a similar conclusion and significantly increase the tube diameters.

@ a
That’s crazy that it can’t even be injection-moulded. Though very large parts like a bicycle with all the hollow cavities wouldn’t be easy or cheap to injection-mould anyway

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Heffe
Heffe
11 years ago

They need to put LED lights inside the frame. great for night riding.

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DaleC
DaleC
11 years ago

To all the questions about modulus, geometry, weight, brakes, stiffness….

It’s called a “concept” for a reason. Think of the concept cars that manufacturers build with gigantic wheels, no interior or drive train. It’s an idea for a materials application, not a finished bike, so none of those criticism apply right now. Once an actual bike is built, sure.

The article states that it is injection moldable, but why read the actual article… just start commenting away hahahaha

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bc
bc
11 years ago

In fifteen-twenty years, most bicycles, from high to low end, will be made of injection molded plastics, and the companies you buy bikes from will be Taiwanese and Chinese plastics conglomerates.

Not saying this because I want it to be true, because I don’t. I’m a retrogrouch who loves his steel bikes and Suntour barcons. It’s just a statement of fact.

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g
g
11 years ago

@bc- “It’s just a statement of fact.”??? Really? Because, it seems that the next 15-20 years haven’t happened yet, so when you predict the future, you really aren’t stating facts.

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Androo
Androo
11 years ago

@DaleC – the article states that it’s injection-molded, but given the attention to detail on the rest of the concept and the nature of the material, it’s equally as likely that they just didn’t do their research and it is not, in fact, injection-moldable…

(I say this as an industrial designer working in the aerospace industry)

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Tyler Benedict
Admin
Tyler Benedict
11 years ago

@Zap – the best “clear” shorts I’ve seen is a dude wearing nude-colored pantyhose as his bike shorts (and nothing else) during some night laps at the BURN 24 Hour. It was almost impossible to tell he wasn’t naked as he rode by.

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DaleC
DaleC
11 years ago

Androo – yep, seems that you are correct.. of course, you are, you do stuff like that for a living 🙂 seems you can cast-mold Trivex, but probably not injection mold it…

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m
m
11 years ago

ummm. weird geometry? Its called a track bike… probably not to track specs… but it looks like a pretty standard track bike to me… Or did you all think this was a mountain bike?

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