First introduced at the 2013 Taipei Bike Show, the Culprit Legend introduced their eye-catching seat-stay-free design and multi-brake compatibility to the triathlon market. Since then, they’ve been busy running newer, sleeker frame designs through CFD to create that’s better looking and more aero.
Perhaps just as important, the new design takes a very unique look at integration that shields messy things like brake calipers from the wind while also making the bike easier to disassemble, pack and reassemble. For any triathlete that travels, that combo has been elusive, but thanks to magnets and a little ingenuity, the new Culprit Legend gives you plenty of options for the bike leg.
They were on site at Kona for the Ironman World Championships with this functioning (but not ridable) 3D printed model of the bike…
“The new Legend was designed to be a super bike, but one that is easy to travel with and not relying on fully integrated products,” says founder and designer Josh Colp. “It was designed using CFD testing for the best tube shapes we could optimize (while maintaining practical features).”
Those features include:
- Easy removal of aero bars for bike bag travel use. Cables run into the custom top cap to hide in the front cover on the fork which is held on magnetically.
- Two bottles in the front triangle, important for long training rides, while maintaining oversize aero tubes.
- The bike is designed for rim brakes or disc brakes, using flat mount disc brakes, or a direct mount rear rim brake caliper with an all-new TRP front brake.
- A hidden compartment with magnetic cover on the top tube for a multi tool to be kept at all times
- The frame can work with any aerobar/stem design. It’s optimized for their own bar/stem combo, but in the event of damage in transit, a racer can buy parts from any shop rather than not race at all.
- The fork uses 1-1/8″ upper and 1-1/4″ lower integrated bearings, so there’s a normal steerer tube that’ll work with any stem.
- A BB386 EVO bottom bracket shell make the massive chain stays for the design to work structurally and lets them more easily spec Rotor’s cranks (Josh is a fan of Rotor’s crank arms and ovalized rings).
Whether you choose disc or rim brakes, the frame is ready for both, but the fork is either/or. The rear disc brake caliper uses the flat mount standard for a perfectly flush appearance when left unused. The rim brakes can accommodate Shimano direct mount under the BB.
The Legend will spec an as-yet-unreleased wedge brake from TRP. Wedge brakes pull upward from the center, a design used on the old Campagnolo Deltas, but TRP isn’t yet releasing details on how these will work. A carbon fairing snaps into place, held securely with magnets, to hide the brake and cable from the wind.
The disc brake fork, as shown on the complete bike, will also use a fairing to hide the cable before it ducks into the crown and provide an overall more aerodynamic leading edge.
The frame will use alloy adaptors to switch between 130 mm OLD rim brake hubs to 142 x 12 shimano e-thru for disc brakes. While the chainstays are massive, the thru axle should help boost rear end stiffness since there are no seatstays.
Culprit will launch the bike on Kickstarter in November, offering three sizes -S(51) , M (54), L (56)- plus reach goals to open two additional sizes – XS(48) and XL (58). A stretch goal will add a 650c wheel size for smaller riders.
