How do you make a bicycle frame lighter, while also making sure it'll get noticed? Well, if you're the designers at Italy's Camard Milano, you eliminate the down tube and seat stays. The resulting LZR frame is said to be just as strong and stiff as a conventional frame, and is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.
Made by Davide Camerini and Alessandro D'Adda, the LZR features fin-like frame elements that extend above and below the existing tubes, creating what is described as a series of arcs.
"Each arc has a size and geometry perfectly balanced with the previous or following arc along the whole tubular structure," the designers tell us. "This whole structure creates a virtual line that passes through the frame from the rear hub to the headstock. The generated support force is equal to the force produced by classical oblique tube structure."
The frame (not including the fork) weighs just 2.7 kg (6 lb) and can support a payload of up to 110 kg (243 lb). It can be made in steel or titanium, in a wide variety of paint colors.
Pledges start at €700 (about US$757) for a frame and fork only, or €1,300 ($1,406) for a complete singlespeed bike. The latter can be seen in action, in the video below. Delivery is estimated to take place in July, if the LZR reaches production.
Source: Kickstarter