http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: The world's first carbon fibre monocoque bicycle... en Thu, 21 May 2026 22:56:21 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=16603#post-224719 Thu, 07 Jul 2016 00:01:56 +0000 kaputnik 224719@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I see there's a 1989 Edinburgh Contour behind the fancy Giant. Still hunners of those going around town. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=16603#post-224708 Wed, 06 Jul 2016 16:15:57 +0000 Arellcat 224708@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>As it was in the museum storeroom:</p> <p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/JqUTJs"><img src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7720/27848900010_fb550df43c.jpg"></a><br /> <a href="https://flic.kr/p/JqUTJs">The original monocoque</a> (note the direct pull front brake, not a million miles away from the V-brake of ten years hence)</p> <p>and the later roadgoing version that Mike Burrows developed for Giant:</p> <p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/JJPVj4"><img src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7630/28051626691_019234e473.jpg"></a><br /> <a href="https://flic.kr/p/JJPVj4">A giant among bike designers</a></p> <p>The way the bike industry bandies about the word 'monocoque' does grate a little with me, when we have monocoque saddles and cranks and pedal bodies now. Modern TT bikes might feature one continuum of carbon fibre, from head tube to rear dropout, but they're still built as frames. A true monocoque is a fully stressed skin, while faux-monocoques are one-piece frames. A frame by its very nature has a number of structural members, whose skins are stressed. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=16603#post-224696 Wed, 06 Jul 2016 13:00:53 +0000 chdot 224696@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Think it was on display when museum extension opened(?) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=16603#post-224691 Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:45:34 +0000 kaputnik 224691@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The first production, one-piece (i.e. not lugged) carbon fibre road bikes followed in 1986. Built by Kestrel, a start-up of former Trek employees. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=16603#post-224686 Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:16:13 +0000 cb 224686@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>...on display at NMS from Friday.</p> <p>"The world's first carbon fibre monocoque bicycle must have looked almost space age to cyclists in the mid 1980s. </p> <p>It was designed and built in 1985 by Mike Burrows. </p> <p>He went on to use the same technology to build a machine that Chris Boardman rode to success in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. </p> <p>The innovation was in the use of a new material, carbon fibre that could be impregnated with resin and moulded into a strong aerodynamic shape, ideal for track racing."</p> <p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-36689295">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-36689295</a> </p>