The Ascend from Delta 7 Sports is taking road bike technology to new levels. Unveiled at Interbike in Las Vegas, Delta 7’s Ascend follows the company’s distinctive Arantix Mountain Bike. The Ascend is Delta 7’s first foray into road bike production and is the world’s first road frame to use IsoTruss technology, a frame constructed from carbon fibre and Kevlar that is crafted into a patented open lattice tube design.
Ascend is positioned by Delta 7 as being ‘extremely stiff and light, truly stunning visually with ride qualities and features unmatched by any other tube structures.’ The Ascend frame boasts an extremely stiff bottom bracket and is claimed to be stronger than any other in its class. Purchased as a frame alone, as a selected build package as seen at trade shows or as a custom build – limited production frames are available worldwide. US$1,000 deposits are being taken to reserve positions.
At 1.8 pounds (817g) and US$5,995 (€4,345) for the Ascend frame, Delta 7 Sports bills the new launch as a ‘superior race machine that’s solid under sprint forces, tight during cornering and yet less harsh than aluminium frames.’ According to the company, wind tunnel testing also shows the Ascend’s IsoTruss based frame generates slightly less drag than similarly sized cylindrical-tube frames. The Ascend is immediately available for dealer orders in five sizes: 50-, 54-, 56-, 58- and 60-cm. Delta 7 Sports is recruiting independent bike dealers and sales representatives across North America to carry the Ascend, as well as sales representatives and bike distributors outside of the United States.
"We recognized that we would have a lot of sceptics when we introduced our first IsoTruss-based bike," said Lester Muranaka, Marketing Director of Delta 7 Sports. "In spite of the fact that our carbon fibre/Kevlar frames are among the strongest and lightest in the world, let’s be honest, the tubes look flimsy – we get that – but they’re not. That’s why we decided to come out with the Arantix mountain bike first, a hard-tail at that and the response from riders around the world has been unbelievable. Now it’s time to launch an IsoTruss-based road bike, and we know that this is an arena where strength-to-weight ratio is even more critical.”
With its new manufacturing processes in place, Delta 7 mechanically weaves single carbon fibre strands around metal mandrel rods to create the open lattice IsoTruss structure of each Ascend frame tube. Each bundle of carbon fibre strands is wrapped with Kevlar and then baked at 255°F for four hours. The ends of the baked tubes are then machined before being joined with moulded carbon fibre lugs to make a complete Ascend frame. The new manufacturing process allows Delta 7 to create IsoTruss based tube structures that are straighter, tighter and have more uniform fibre alignment.
A completely built-out Ascend road bike from Delta 7 Sports includes:
• Ascend IsoTruss-based carbon fibre/Kevlar composite frame
• Alpha-Q GS-40 carbon fork
• SRAM RED drivetrain (i.e. shifters, brakes, crankset, bottom bracket, cassette, chain, etc.)
• Reynolds Attack composite wheels with Continental Attack/Force tire set
• Speedplay Zero Titanium pedals
• Ritchey WCS Evolution SL carbon drop bar with LizardSkins bar tape
• Ritchey WCS 4-Axis carbon stem
• Ritchey WCS Carbon One-bolt seatpost
• FSA Orbit-Z headset
• Selle San Marco Aspide Carbon FX saddle with Carbon rails.
Suggested retail prices for a complete Ascend road bike, built with the components listed above, start at US$10,995 (€7,965).
IsoTruss technology was developed at Brigham Young University under the direction of Civil Engineering Professor David Jensen (Director of the Center for Advanced Structural Composites). IsoTruss open lattice structures are made up of three-dimensional (3-D) pyramid-shaped trusses formed by combining two-dimensional (2-D) trusses, such as the kind commonly used in architectural design. The pyramid-like structure of an IsoTruss lattice uses the geometry of a triangle with two equal sides (an isosceles triangle) to create a shape with a superior strength to weight ratio. Hence, the name IsoTruss comes from the ‘iso’ in isosceles, while ‘truss’ comes from the architectural design known as trusses. The fusion of 2-D trusses into the 3-D pyramid-shaped forms found within an IsoTruss structure enables Delta 7 Sports to claim its bicycle frames bend less, twist less (torsion) and flex less (axial stiffness) than metal bike frames of comparable weight.
