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The Weight is in the Name with Olympia’s New 949 Carbon 29er

Written by Zach Overholt
6 Comments
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http://www.olympiacicli.it/eng/dettaglio.php?id=212

As one of the newest mountain bikes out of Italy, Olympia’s 949 is designed to be a lightweight XC race bike. The frame gets its name from the target weight – 949 grams, with a complete build target weight of 8 kg, or just over 17 and a half pounds (with a rigid fork). Olympia’s racer is 100% made in Italy through a Monocoque process that uses vacuum bags and an autoclave to ensure that any excess resin or air bubbles are forced to the surface during curing. The heat and pressure result in a frame that should be every bit as strong as it is light. Built with 3 types of carbon fiber, UD M30 provides longitudinal strength, T700 multi-axial improves torsional strength, and a Kevlar/Carbon twill fabric helps to absorb vibrations.

The Olympia 949 will be available in the US with various build options, in S, M, and L sizes.
Zach Overholt
5,729 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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Stage-Race Distribution
Stage-Race Distribution
11 years ago

For everyone’s information, the 949 will be available as of April in the USA through Stage-Race Distribution. You can email info@stage-race.com for more details.
The 949 will be available as a frame or complete bike with various build combinations using SRAM and Shimano groupsets and wheels from Fulcrum, Mavic and DT Swiss.
Expect to see a live version of the 949 at our Sea Otter booth as well!

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ascar larkinyar
ascar larkinyar
11 years ago

yawn…..add carbon frame to the millions of already made on the market place.

mixing carbon types is a bad substitute for not knowing how to design a proper carbon frame. and the use of vacuum is the standard for most manufactures in making carbon parts.

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Devin
Devin
11 years ago

Yes, because a “proper carbon frame” only uses one type of carbon.

Also, using keyboards is the standard for typing, but if you do it slightly differently it’s worth pointing out. Jesus this place has a snide readership.

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MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
11 years ago

Things of interest from looking at the photo…
– Dropouts + bridge (alloy?)
– Taper chainstays
– Cable loop to RD
– Gap between rear and seat tube
– Flex point? on seat stay
– Hidden (e-type?) FD mount
– PFBB30
– Massive seatube
– Massive downtube
– Straight (44mm?) head tube
– Steep head angle
– Cable routing
– Finish that shows parts of the carbon weave

Some good points, some bad, but overall not really something that seems worth picking over the competition, considering some of their frames are selling for $800-1200 on sale.

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MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
11 years ago

BTW, thank you BikeRumor for removing that annoying captcha. Normally my longer thought-out comments would be a hassle to submit due to it.

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Stage-Race Distribution
Stage-Race Distribution
11 years ago

Thanks for the interest everyone, good and bad.
I can tell you that Olympia has spent extensive R&D time on this design, making it far from the usual market offerings, particularly at the entry-level prices mentioned above.

In particular, three key features make this frameset unique that are worth stating:
First, this is an Italian designed and produced frameset – very few facilities anywhere in Europe are capable of producing monocoque frames, and even fewer to this high a standard.
Second, this monocoque is actually a single-piece design, for amazing strength and solidity, whereas most MTB monocoques are usually 2-3 separate pieces glued or bonded together.
Third, I do not believe that many other 29″ MTB frames can approach the weight of the 949, especially given its prodigious stiffness and comfort ratings.

Look for the 949 in person at Sea Otter, and in reviews soon afterwards!

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