The three bikes even stand up to a second and even third glance and are absolutely identical from the outside. It is impossible to tell the difference and yet they are fundamentally different. The triplets are the brand new 301 Carbolite, Liteville's new trail flagship.
Carbon hides its inner values
But why in triplicate? In order to find out how high the frame stiffness really needs to be and how this affects the handling, Liteville built three carbon frames with identical shapes, but with a completely different fibre layup on the main frame. The influence of just a few grams of carbon fibre in the right places is enormous. Just 50 grams of carbon, correctly placed, already accounts for 25 per cent of the stiffness. That's how big the difference is between the softest and the stiffest main frame of the prototypes. The middle counterpart is in between, with ten per cent higher stiffness but closer to the softest frame. But how does a designer know where the frame needs to be reinforced most effectively? Liteville uses a 3D scanner to check where the frame twists under load. After scanning, a 3D model is created using numerous measuring points glued to the frame. If the frame is now loaded on the test stand and scanned again, the actual deformation and deflection of the frame can be precisely recognised (see image). For greater rigidity, it can then be specifically reinforced at the relevant points.
However, as the measured values are only part of the story, Liteville built three versions to feel the differences in stiffness while riding. The approach is exactly the same as our blind test on frame stiffness, which is why we integrated the three 301 CLs into our test procedure. To get straight to the point: Even experienced testers find it difficult to feel deviations of a maximum of 25 per cent in the main frame. The choice of route and the riding situation are crucial to recognising the differences. The contrasts only become clearer in direct comparison and by frequently switching bikes. With the rear triangle, on the other hand, 25 per cent is more noticeable.
The deformation of the frame in millimetres is shown in colour in the scan. The visualisation is only visually similar to an FEM simulation. The real path, i.e. the deformation when the frame is loaded on the test bench, is shown. For this purpose, the frame is scanned unloaded and then again with the load of 10 kilos on the one metre long rod through the head tube.
Today, it is no longer enough to develop and build a bike, you have to combine the best materials with technical expertise and passionate enthusiasm to create dream bikes that can be ridden. - Mike Hiendlmayer, Managing Director Syntace
