Home > Event Coverage > Interbike

Interbike 2012: Mad Fiber Sees Red w/ Kevlar, Could See Blue, Yellow…

19 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

mad fiber prototype carbon fiber wheels with colored Kevlar fibers

Mad Fiber’s prototype wheel with Kevlar fibers alongside the carbon fibers could let them potentially produce a sub kilogram tubular wheelset. The standard all carbon model is about 1,050g.

The red color comes from a dye in the Kevlar, and they could do other colors.

Performance benefits? They’re not sure yet, other than less rotational mass of course. It’s still in testing, but they’re looking for equivalent performance to their regular wheels, just lighter. Cost would go up, but numbers aren’t in place. Kevlar requires more finishing work because the edges don’t want to stay as clean when it’s cut, as on the spokes here.

More pics below…

mad fiber prototype carbon fiber wheels with colored Kevlar fibers

mad fiber prototype carbon fiber wheels with colored Kevlar fibers

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

19 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Menga
Menga
11 years ago

Yeah, the edges don’t look really good. And i don’t like the color, but it’s cool that are lighter than the carbon ones.

Ventruck
Ventruck
11 years ago

Eh, the luminescence of Kevlar doesn’t justify the presence of color and slightly less weight imo. Of course price hike sucks, but in an engineering sense props to MadFiber.

Felix
11 years ago

The MadFiber wheels are sick!!!!!

Meta
Meta
11 years ago

Less depth please, a 32mm depth would be awesome.

Yeahaaa!!!_
Yeahaaa!!!_
11 years ago

I think they look kinda unfinished. They frame is cool as hell.

carl
11 years ago

The last photo of the rear hub kinda looks like some kids paper mache project…. really unfinished…. especially where the non-drive side “spokes” meet the hub. Neat that they push the envelope as they do though.

Mr. P
11 years ago

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at something… the ugly stick shows up and beats the &%*# out it.

P

Shawn
11 years ago

Kevlar/aramids are super cool but a major pain to work with. Instead of sanding nicely they fray out like a PITA. They also wick moisture (used as flame retardant wicks) and this can often lead to delamination problems. We often will add a kevlar layer to our carbon repair jobs but sandwich it near the center of the layup so we don’t have to do any finishing work in it.

Gillis
Gillis
11 years ago

It seems many missed this line:

“Kevlar requires more finishing work because the edges don’t want to stay as clean when it’s cut, as on the spokes here.”

iwouldratherbemakingporn
iwouldratherbemakingporn
11 years ago

@Gillis. I most certainly did miss that line, I was too busy looking at the pretty pictures (:

Bubbrubb
Bubbrubb
11 years ago

Too bad Mad Fiber is a horrible company to work with.

Tom
Tom
11 years ago

Looks like the first Mad Fibre stuff that was shown on here. It looked like it was made in someones garage as a side project. Since I thought they had improved on the finishing…I guess not? The red looks terrible and I can’t believe they would leave something looking like that at Interbike.

Max
Max
11 years ago

lol

Kevlar is sensitive against light (loss nearly 80% of the strength in one year if not protected). Great to have it under a 0.1mm layer of epoxy and and freely at the edges. Full fail at the design not to mention the bad finish at all 🙁

TheRhys
TheRhys
11 years ago

Mad Fibre has been an excellent company to work with and as shown here they are about making break throughs in wheel technology. I am sure that many of the people commenting here have neither ridden MF wheels, or spoken with the gentlemen behind the design. In both these instances you will be rewarded with top-of-the-game performance. If you ever have the chance to ride these wheels you will see that perhaps for some, those whose bikes spend more time moving, the looks can be pardoned. -TR

Joey B
Joey B
11 years ago

A camera does not do Mad Fiber justice. You really need to see them in person to appreciate them. I was fortunate to be at Interbike and see them first hand. I was so impressed with them that I ordered myself a carbon wheel set. The carbon wheel sets are now available in a clincher as well. No weight limit and can be ridden everyday. You can opt for Enduro steel bearings or go with CeramicSpeed bearings for an additional charge.

Geof
Geof
11 years ago

Props to Mad Fiber for pushing the envelope with these Kevlar wheels. Other wheels at Interbike, Zipp, Enve, fill in the blank, all look the same – model t technology with fancy graphics. MF wheels represents the future – carbon utilized as designed for great all purpose wheels with fabulous strength to weight ratio. As TheRhys mentions – for bikes that spend more time moving there is no better performing wheel.

mark ifi
11 years ago

i love these. the finish is not everything, guys. i think we can trust this company to make the technically best decision, and i hear from experienced boat builders that it sometimes is just better not to sand down the top layer. it might be stronger, might not be.
shouldn’t price actually decrease with carbon-kevlar? surely, it’s cheaper than carbon?

cameron
cameron
11 years ago

this is a prototype right?!.. im sure the finish work would be significantly improved upon if it goes into production. MF is extremely careful about visual defects however these composite materials are notorious for visual blemishes.. there is only so much finish work you can do on a bare carbon surface. would you prefer a painted wheel?!.. think about what your frame would look like if it were unpainted (it aint pretty). to those of you who are actuallyMF riders and understand that the important part is ride quality, right on!

Kurt
Kurt
11 years ago

Have to say ‘TheRhys’ brings up some good points. I too doubt many of these negative posts come from people that actually have any first hand experience at using these wheels, dealing with Madfibre or designing such things. I own a set of the clinchers with ceramic bearings. Did they have a perfect production line manufactured finish to them? Not really. Do they perform as well or possibly better then wheels costing twice the price? YES! So do I give a crap about the smoothness of the rear carbon hub? Not really. I have had fast responses from every question or concern with Mardfibre as a company both before and after I dropped the cash. They are yet to do anything but give me 100% positive customer service. As a small run company the product is more personal and there will be imperfections but not at the cost of performance if you want that buy a Shimano rim. Not unlike a Ferarri vs a Honda.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.