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Tue 30 Sep, 10:10 am UTC

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World’s first IsoTruss road frame launched

By Matthew Cole

The world’s first road bike frame constructed from carbon fibre and Kevlar crafted into the patented IsoTruss open lattice tube design has just been launched by Delta 7 Sports.

The Ascend frame weighs a reported 1.8 pounds and is, according to Delta 7, the strongest road bike in its weight class.

So, what is IsoTruss and how is it made? Well, single carbon fibre strands are mechanically weaved around metal rods to create the open lattice structure, which is then wrapped in Kevlar and baked at 225°F for four hours. To finish, the ends are machined and joined with moulded carbon fibre lugs.

In response to uncertainties raised about the frame’s wind resistance capacity, the company took it to the wind tunnel: "What we verified was that in a head-on direction, the Ascend frame has slightly less drag than a typical cylindrical-tube road frame with tubes slightly smaller around than the IsoTruss-based Ascend tube structures,” said Tyler Evans, Delta 7 Sports general manager.

“Specifically, the Ascend frame generated 597 grams of drag at 30 miles per hour while the slightly smaller cylindrical-tube road frame generated 620gms of drag at 30mph. In other words, we won; not by much, but we won nonetheless."

Full builds using the Ascend frame start at $10,995US and the frame-only price is $5,995US.

For more information on IsoTruss technology, head to the IsoTruss site.  

What do you think? Is lattice shaped frame design the shape of things to come? Let us know by leaving your thoughts below.

User Comments

There are 26 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 26 of 26 comments

  • i'd hate to be the one to clean it. much more so their mtb version.

  • one word...UGLY

  • It'll look nice when I take it out the back of my Hummer

  • Maybe the touring version would be handy for grating cheese etc

  • No bottle bosses

  • Two words - the second of which is UGLY

  • Hmmmm. It costs 6000 bucks. What's more, it's ugly. And during a time when the world is confronting an economic crisis, I wonder who would actually consider buying this after reading the review?

    Many of the readers (at least as indicated on the bikeradar forums) are recreational cyclists + beginners... so how about putting more basic and/or commuter-oriented stuff in the news features?

  • "how about putting more basic and/or commuter-oriented stuff in the news features"

    - we've got a dedicated Beginners section for that:

    http://www.bikeradar.com/beginners

  • "how about putting more basic and/or commuter-oriented stuff in the news features?"

    yes, could we have more features and discussion about hi-viz vests and ankle clips please?

    i find images of bikes like the one in this article distressing.

  • I think it looks really cool! It's great to see some different and innovative design coming through.

  • The world’s first chicken wire bike :)

  • Buckminster Fuller would be so proud :)

  • You all do realize that the exposed truss is for display purposes right? To illustrate the technology. When it is fully covered in kevlar it'll look just like any carbon frame. What is so ugly about that? The price tag is the ugly part of the bike.

  • Erm.... No!

    Why would they go to the trouble of drag testing the open lattice if the finished product were to be enclosed??????

  • An excellent example of form over function...

  • It costs and weighs more than a Scott Addict frame as well as the dirt collection disadvantages... I think I know what I'd go for if I was in the market for a stupidly light frame. I'm not though, so they probably don;t care what I think.

  • Errrr,

    Where do the water bottles go - they cant connect to the hollow frame ?????

  • You wouldn't want to land on the top tube after a chain slip!!

  • If the lattice is intentionally exposed then that is just plain stupid design. Just for looks. Pass.

  • For all those who say it has no function - its function is brilliant

    the effect of cross winds is dramatically reduced since there is very little surface for the wind to act upon

  • F A I L

  • U G L Y you ain't got no alibi you ugly, you ugly!!

  • Personally I occasionally use cross-winds to my advantage. After all, 1/2 the time, a cross wind is almost a tail wind, and during the other half you can sometimes tack to and fro.

  • Erm... If it is only slightly better head on it will only be slightly better in crosswind too. It may even be worse as you are removing the masking turbulence caused by the rotating wheels and the solid head tube.

    Will this thing pass U.C.I. regulations as it is made up of multiple tubes which according to my understanding means you can't ride road races with it. As it only has a slight aero advantage you wouldn't bother using it for time trials so what is it good for?

    Does it whistle at speed?

  • Hey! Magic beans!

  • Well done for applying new technology. We need to encourage this kind of thinking. From a purely aesthetic point of view it is not pretty. However, as a road tour guide and mountain bike instructor I would be happy to test one of these bikes on a long term basis up here in the Alps. What is it like for climbing and how much noise does it make on a descent? How stiff is the frame? What is ride comfort like?

  • 1

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