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IB13: Kovit Revives Isotruss Carbon Tubed Frame Design

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Kovit carbon composite isotruss bicycle frame

Way back in 2008, Delta 7 brought their Ascend and Arantix road and mountain bikes to Interbike and dropped jaws with their carbon-and-kevlar woven isotruss design. Then they demo’d them at Sea Otter in ’09, and that was really the last we heard of them.

Fast forward to Interbike 2013 and Kovit has purchased the design and reworked it to bring prices down from almost $6k to $3,500. They also managed to drop another 150-ish grams from the road frame while updating the standards. What remains is the helically wound composite strands that are woven around straight strands to create isosceles triangles to form three dimensional “pyramids”. The result are tubes they say are incredibly resistant to bending, twisting and compression forces in all directions. The other benefit, besides being very lightweight, is that damage to one strand won’t compromise the integrity of the entire tube, as can happen with traditional carbon tubes.

More pics and details below…

Kovit carbon composite isotruss bicycle frame

Kovit gave it a tapered headtube and PFBB30 to add strength and compliment the tubes’ stiffness.

The white Ultralight is just 700g. Compare that to the Ascend’s claimed 817g frame weight…which was very, very light for 2008.

Kovit carbon composite isotruss bicycle frame

Internal cable routing should be a bit easier, and they’re running full length brake housing. Shift cables run externally alongside the downtube.

Kovit carbon composite isotruss bicycle frame

In addition to carbon headtube, seat collar section and BB shell, it runs standard carbon frame sections for the stays. The original Arantix had trussed seat- and chainstays and looked really wild.

Kovit carbon composite isotruss bicycle frame

We’ve reached out to them about availability since there’s no pricing or ordering info on their website. We’ll update if/when we hear back from them.

KovitCycles.com

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Alex
Alex
10 years ago

The saddle.

LULZ
LULZ
10 years ago

That is clearly a Hong-Fu.

Hah! I kid, I kid, of course. This is incredible!

Steve @ G4G
10 years ago

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is an awesome looking bike, but wouldn’t it be horribly un-aerodynamic? Not that aero is everything, but it seems like it would be a detriment. And yeah, the saddle.

earlybird
10 years ago

Shifter/handlebar position looks somewhat strange also.

Anyway, I’d so not trusst that frame. Must feel very awkward to look at the frame while riding it.

cspike
cspike
10 years ago

How do you mount bottle cages? This just seems completely unnecessary just to make a change to help differentiate your product from others.
The saddle – I thought the selle SMP saddle was supposed to be a little more nose down.
The handlebars/shifters – looks like the old school setup of aligning the end of the brake lever with the flat part at the bottom of the drop.

Gravity
Gravity
10 years ago

I rode one of these – wasn’t bad.

Topmounter
Topmounter
10 years ago

balls… meet cheese grater

vectorbug
vectorbug
10 years ago

Steve: probably as aero as a wheel with spokes (which is also spinning much faster than the frame) and way more aero than the least aero part of a bike – you.

Eirik
Eirik
10 years ago

This bike needs the Tioga Spyder saddle. http://www.tiogausa.com/spyder-twintail.html

Padrote
Padrote
10 years ago

I always thought those looked great…hanging from the ceiling in bike shops around the country

satisFACTORYrider
satisFACTORYrider
10 years ago

is there a fatbike 36er version?

Wow
Wow
10 years ago

GOOD LORD you people are picky and negative. And Topmounter… Do you regularly sit your sack on the top tube and rub it back and forth?

RUSTYDOGG
RUSTYDOGG
10 years ago

I think its an amazing structure. Who is really going to use this? I personally would want to hang it on my shop wall more for a art/conversation piece.
All those little nooks and crannies are going to be collection points for road grime maybe forcing someone to wash with water more than wipe off the rig. Yeah I’m in the s-west (dry) where I can say that and not be called lazy.

Jacob
Jacob
10 years ago

I think this looks very cool and a real disconnect. I would be tempted to buy one as a talking point on group rides but it’s far too expensive for that. I wonder how this handles. Is it stiff enough? Does it have a weight limit? What is the warrenty? Very cool.

Dave
Dave
10 years ago

Saddle angle and lever placement show that they know nothing about bikes. This is a science experiment, not a bike brand.

David
David
10 years ago

Careful for what you wish for with a isotruss design saddle.
Just imagine the rooster tail coming off your front wheel onto your face and bottles.

mateo
mateo
10 years ago

you guys are so busy going crazy over the saddle and levers that you haven’t even noticed THE SPACERS! That’s like 35mm of spacers. Ridiculous.

earlybird
10 years ago

Just for fun, take a look at the pics at their website. There actually is a photo with a dropped chain.

fraser
fraser
10 years ago

I definitely don’t want to clean this frame after a dirty autumn ride.

Steve M
Steve M
10 years ago

I dont covet it at all.

Ventruck
Ventruck
10 years ago

I’ve heard the bike is silent when riding actually. The real flaw I recall with the Delta branded models was the glue being weak at the lug interfaces – so the tapered HT and BB30 could mean nothing if this wasn’t totally fixed. I would’ve also given the isotruss tubes a clear solid cover. Who knows wtf would nest in there.

Mike
Mike
10 years ago

Either the guy in the photos has huge hands or that bike is for kids . . . . other than that I like the idea, just wouldn’t ride it myself. What weight limit for rider + bike you think the frame has? 70kgs?

Tom
Tom
10 years ago

Maybe OK as a conversation starter but…

Monumentally stupid design – exact opposite way you design using low density materials (such as Carbon fiber), or one where point loads are harder to manage (again, carbon fiber) in a space constrained package (a bike between your legs with certain set points for wheelbase, saddle position etc).

thesteve4761
thesteve4761
10 years ago

Anybody else remember the original bike failing spectacularly at Dirt Demo 2008? The poor dude walking back to the booth with the bike in 2 pieces and his face all bloody?

Dr. Monkeypants
Dr. Monkeypants
10 years ago

Great commenting so far, guys!

Also, I like that they just gave up on the rear end… Great design project. Horrible reality as others here have pointed out. This bike would be perfect for your typical fixie riding jackass: No bottle cages, terrible aero, unique enough to say “you wouldn’t understand” when questioned about it, and expensive enough to dent the trust fund for the month. I say win.

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

Why?

bk
bk
10 years ago

Ring Ring
Kovit: “Hello, Kovit here.”
Crummy Idea: “Hi Kovit, I have a bridge for sale in San Francisco – interested”
Kovit: “Where do I send my money?”

bk
bk
10 years ago

Oh, that dropped chain on their website – Holee Shiot! I just shot lime electrolyte out my nose!

wheelguy
wheelguy
10 years ago

Regarding the dropped chain… I thought you guys were being picky, but that’s unbelievable that they have a picture like that on their front page! And, yes, the funky saddle and lever setup makes me question how much they know about bikes. Cool looking frame all the same.

jonesy
jonesy
10 years ago

I must agree. The saddle angle, lever position and spacer tower is a real shame for an “innovative” idea. I agree it must be a science experiment but some people who do not know much about bike setup. Interesting idea, poor execution.

fisho
fisho
10 years ago

I wonder how light it is when it fills with water in a wet race?

Reid
Reid
10 years ago

+1, Dave @3:15

I run my levers low, but that’s absurd.

ghammer
ghammer
10 years ago

very interesting design and i’d love to swing a leg over it. however i pedal with my knees in and would be paranoid to slice the inside of my legs over the cheese-grating carbon.

CXCZAR
CXCZAR
10 years ago

I rode one at interbike several years ago (MTB version). The construction technique was impressive and didn’t show any signs of weakness, but the bike lacked a certain rideability that was hard to quantify and didn’t perform as well as a lot of bikes that were priced thousands of dollars less.

phil
phil
10 years ago

Exactly, silly design, silly ergonomics, and for the love of god slam that stem..

yesPlease
yesPlease
10 years ago

I rode one of the delta 7 road bikes years ago. It was fine but nothing to write home about. Seeing the ground through your frame was trippy but cool at the same time. Now that the price is somewhat more reasonable it will be interesting to see what becomes of them. Obviously not true bike guys who bought them out because of the awful seat, the spacers and the dropped chain. That really takes away credibility of the company. If you are not picky about your presentation then are you picky with your quality and performance?

gabbia
gabbia
10 years ago

U.G.L.Y. you ain’t got no alibi, you UGLY…

votre mere
votre mere
10 years ago

when your bike is more drilled out speed holes than material, can you truthfully say that you lost anything at all if it gets stolen?

Matt
10 years ago

This is weird because I had the thought just the other day “I wonder what ever happened to those crazy open woven frame bikes that were around a few years ago?” Well, I guess I have the answer now. Still crazy!

kurti_sc
kurti_sc
10 years ago

made my lunch! Thanks.

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