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Fourteen Cycles reinvents the Gramlight with new 740g road frame

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2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

After two years in development, Fourteen Cycles has unveiled the revamped Gramlight road bike that brings a 740g frame to all manner of riders.

It’s designed to be race efficient without being so rigid that it’s resigned to number pinning days. That’s even with using high modulus fibers all the way through, letting the form create the damping needed to make the ride comfortable.

“It gives you a really comfortable ride,” said Puck Ananta, Operations Director for Fourteen Cycles and a registered California licensed mechanical engineer “It absorbs vibrations and there is no flexing in any way. We designed it for pros, but wanted something everyone could ride in multiple situations. It’s got good stiffness for competitions yet the bike is still very responsive.”

“The monobox was actually the first thing to be designed, with aerodynamics in mind. This specific shape and structure captures the vibrations and distributes it away from the seatpost, making for a really stable ride.”

So, what’s the Monobox?

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

It’s the triangular section at the seat tube, top tube and seatstay junction. The carbon layup and curvature of this junction is “the foundation to the frame’s stability” and ability to reduce vibrations. Throughout the entire frame, it’s 100% Torayca T1200 hi-mod fibers, with tube shapes designed using FEA to help keep the weight down without creating a noodle.

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

The seatstays are a bit flattened to enhance the effect.

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

From there, the chainstays are oversized and box shaped to be ultra stiff.

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

The BB junction has a one-piece carbon shell that leads to a slightly hexagonal downtube.

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

The downtube maintains a fairly consistent width all the way to the headtube, and the top tube flares at the front to take full advantage of the head tube’s width.

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

The frame was designed specifically for use with the ENVE carbon fork, so the lines and width of the frame match up nicely. The fork is included with the frameset and uses integrated bearings to complete the flush appearance.

2015 Fourteen Cycles Gramlight ultra-lightweight road bike

The frame uses internal routing for mechanical and Di2, minimizing drag and maintenance. The claimed weight of 740 grams is for a small, unpainted frame without hardware. Custom paint is available, which changes price and finished weight, but things start out at $2,200 USD for the frameset (frame, ENVE fork, carbon seatpost clamp and headset). It’ll be available starting April.

FourteenCycles.com

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28 Comments
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trailmiser24
9 years ago

Very nice machine guys! Looks interesting. I really like the story of the development; I’d love to see how this translates to ride feel.

SNIPE-HUNTER
9 years ago

Hey guys. Where are these frames manufactured?

Damaged
Damaged
9 years ago

I believe these are made on earth. At least that is what the decal over the BB says.

MikeC
MikeC
9 years ago

Thank goodness — for a minute there, I thought it was one of those cheap-o Made on Mars knockoffs.

PROEDGEBIKER.COM
9 years ago

Nice, do they make it in Murduh’d out colors? ADHD wont allow me to read article…

Derek
Derek
9 years ago

How much does a frame weigh with paint? Even the lightest paint option. It’s so deceitful when they quote a weight of a frame that you can’t even buy.

carbonfodder
carbonfodder
9 years ago

paint typically adds ~100g FWIW. Depending on what “without hardware” means, that could be another 100g (seatpost binder, rear derailleur mount / dropout, f. der mount, HS bearing cup mounts (if needed)…)

Fred
Fred
9 years ago

It’s somewhat industry standard to weigh frames out of the mold before finished layers and even botte cage and brake bosses are fitted to the frame. So your 690 gram frame actually weighs 800 or so. I know of some new companies that are weighing their frames post paint for a more transparent claim.

Roz
Roz
9 years ago

I support their “made on earth”. Its basically a slap in the face to the customer to just shut up. So many people want everything to be made in the USA but not pay the USA Made price tag and people here do not want to work in the factories, they want other jobs instead. So why not have stuff made over seas?

Sardinien
Sardinien
9 years ago

(deleted)

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
9 years ago

So, it looks like this bike is just “sorta” light for a modern bike and probably not light at all for a bike trying to be light. I’m wondering what the hangers weight. I’m guessing this bike is around 1000g for a medium sized frame when you add in all the bits and paint.

I still think it looks cool/simple and the price seems great if they aren’t going to be selling tens of thousands of these frames

Tom Law
Tom Law
9 years ago

I never understood those bumps on the head tube. Looks ugly.

If they are so good at designing and building in carbon why not make their own fork?

“No flexing in anyway”. Only a marketing person could say that. Good luck in the over crowded bike frame market.

Anthony
Anthony
9 years ago

Is there a through axle disc ready frame coming ?

pmurf
pmurf
9 years ago

@Tom Law I believe I heard once that carbon forks are harder to develop than you’d think, and manuf.’s have a certain level of liability insurance in place before going to market. Something like that…

jimbo rawson
jimbo rawson
9 years ago

This is a few years old but some of these frames are still the same. It shows real production frame weights with paint, hangers, w/b rivet bosses, etc. A lot of brands lie by weighing an XS size with no paint clearcoat or any hardware.

The local Giant rep bought a Cannondale from our shop several years ago. He said it went to Giant for testing.

alistair
alistair
9 years ago

because enve is great quality

Xris
Xris
9 years ago

Hnnnnngggg…

Ilya
Ilya
9 years ago

The frame looks kinda similar to Hongfu FM069 and Kanyon CF CLX.

Mick
Mick
9 years ago

@Ilya…+1…It looks really similar…
Looks like you found their contractor…
I suspect they are taking a common tact. Ultilize an existing mold from a contractor, create their own layup schedule (claimed or otherwise…Often done by the contractor, price dictating weight), They request some specific changes (cable ports/placement, dropout style, bb style) TaDa! Proprietary design…
Not saying playing it this way is good or bad…just an interesting study in end marketing

shreddie
shreddie
9 years ago

Trek’s Emonda SLR frame weighs 690g with paint. Also comes with a lifetime warranty from a company that arguably has the best warranty in the industry.

Norm
Norm
9 years ago

It seems there is a misunderstanding regarding the phrase “made on Earth”. This is not an attempt to pull a fast one on those consumers who care about who manufactures the products they by and use. Rather, it is a simple and honest statement of the nature of the place of manufacture being an earthen oven.

Also, we should clear up that the amazingly low frame weight is that of the painted frame, to the contrary to the implied (but cleared up above) source of the frame origin being Earth, that the paint job was sourced from Titan when Hydrogen impregnated prismatics yield beautiful paints that are lighter than air and so make this frame’ light weight possible.

Note that these same HIP paints are only available in pink and have long been an unpublished ingredient in that popular OTC belly soothing salve Pepto.

May you have pink and prosper.

greg
greg
9 years ago

interesting choice in derailleur hangers (cannondale). would not be my first choice without some modification. its stiffness and toughness in reality are nowhere near what they seem to be on paper.
i am also a bit wary of any frame made completely out of one type of fiber as well.

mudrock
mudrock
9 years ago

Bike frames are required by law to show country of origin. Somewhere is a “made in taiwan” or “made in china” sticker.

Aaron
Aaron
9 years ago

Carbon… blah blah stiffness… blah blah ride quality.. blah blah responsive.. Blah blah lightweight…

I’m not compelled.

I feel like road bike marketing in general needs to take a different direction… focus on stuff that’s actually interesting… probably the most interesting part of this frame is that it’s pink.

I’d say go with that and just focus on how cool customers will look riding a sweet PINK bike, that will be at least 12.6% MORE COOL than their previous road bike. Approach it with a wry eye instead of obsessing over “grams” and “stiffness”. Way more fun than going into specific pseudo-scientific details on how the bike was designed to be better than everything else (hint: they’re all built in the same dozen or so factories and designed by people from taiwan or china)

Make your customer smile. Don’t make them look at frame stiffness data. snore.

Zac
Zac
9 years ago

Fourteen:

Is it just a coincidence that your geometry matches Parlee’s Z5SLi EXACTLY? Though they go Medium, then Medium/Large, it’s astounding that EVERY SINGLE element is the same.

This isn’t flaming you, it’s just a sincere question: is this a coincidence?

anonymous
anonymous
9 years ago

“It absorbs vibrations and there is no flexing in any way.”
What?

“It’s got good stiffness for competitions yet the bike is still very responsive.”
Since when are those things are odds with each other?

“The monobox was actually the first thing to be designed, with aerodynamics in mind.”
It’s not a new design, and how could you blatantly lie so much when every other part of the bike is unaero as possible with giant flat surfaces on the leader and trailing edge of the tubes?

“This specific shape and structure captures the vibrations and distributes it away from the seatpost, making for a really stable ride.”
Does the marketing PR person that claims to be an engineer actually even ride bicycles?

Archer
Archer
9 years ago

Things are not what they seem!

logic
logic
9 years ago

What ‘anonymous’ said. What a load of BS

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