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NAHBS 2016 – Tsubasa pares down carbon construction to the minimum

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Originally from Lithuania but now working in London, Tsubasa cycles has taken things to their logical minimalist limits. The goal? Pure performance without regard to aesthetics. That said, we find them absolutely stunning and, in the case of the Crow road bike, downright lustworthy.

Above, the T.Kuricin track bike was designed by the same guy that used to design for the Soviet cycling teams. The original name of the frame, which was designed by R.Vorontsov in late 70s, was Takhion. The headset and overall design won world and Olympic championships before being banned, but was never made in carbon fiber. Until now. Tsubasa made two of them – one was auctioned to benefit orphanages, the other sits before you.

Race through for some of the most unique bikes at the show…

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The handlebar design is such that it engages more of the lats, which allows you more pulling power when really cranking out the watts. The seat, if you can cal it that, was covered with a piece of leather.

The fork is a modified Pinarello track fork since they don’t make their own forks.

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The downtube and chainstays have internal bridges to make them stiffer, important since the tubes are so thin.

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What you’d never guess about this bike is that it’s a true one-piece design. There are continuous fibers running throughout the entire frame, front to rear and all around. Design exercises like this are fun, but they can also be practical…

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The real world product of this design practice is their Tsubasa Bee road bike.

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It, too, uses a single piece carbon construction with a Kevlar honeycomb over it to protect it, make it stiffer, and, thanks to the dimples, a bit more aerodynamic.

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The design is purpose built in a way that’s maybe not the prettiest, but this next one is something we’d like to see in our garage:

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The Crow is named after the bird and is a pared down race bike that eschews the final clear coat and paint, leaving its raw, textured finish intact straight out of the mold.

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Frame weight is claimed just under 700g for a large size (roughly a 58, but it’s full custom).

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TsubasaBicycles.com

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Bikerun41
Bikerun41
8 years ago

Beautiful works!

I enjoy seeing all these different bike, but what about NORTH AMERICAN HBS that isn’t correct anymore? Why not WORLD HBS? Some builders in the USA aren’t allowed to be present because they have outsourced work overseas, but Euro builders are allowed? Or builders that outsource their entire process of production minus clean-up and paint, like Argonaut. Odd and probably political.

Tomi
Tomi
8 years ago
Reply to  Bikerun41

Thanks to people more open minded than you are the Geneva motor show do not host cars only made in Geneva like the Detroit motor show do not only showcase GM, Ford and Mopar cars.

kbark
kbark
8 years ago

Taking the seat to an extreme.

Dinger
Dinger
8 years ago
Reply to  kbark

Just use a little extra chamois butter…

David
David
8 years ago
Reply to  Dinger

… and become one with your horse as you ride in to battle

Ryan S
Ryan S
8 years ago

But that sag!

Allan
Allan
8 years ago

Reminds me of the “IT” bike from South Park…

Also, what’s up with the limp chain? From a lot of these NAHBS articles, it seems like many details were not dealt with on some of these bikes!

Cmcrawfo
Cmcrawfo
8 years ago
Reply to  Allan

A slack chain is a fast chain… That’s how they run it. “Track slack”

Pete
Pete
8 years ago

Limp chain = less friction, boss!
But yah, here too much.

anonymous
anonymous
8 years ago

“Pure performance without regard to aesthetics.”

“thanks to the dimples, a bit more aerodynamic.”

Uhh

dhbomber
dhbomber
8 years ago

That “crow” bike is pure sex. Love the raw carbon finish.

TMoney
TMoney
8 years ago

I am still shivering from those pictures!! Easily my favorite bikes I have ever laid my eyes on

Lumpa Lumpa
Lumpa Lumpa
8 years ago

Do you know how many ” show stoppers – dream track bikes” have a pending chain like that…. The minimum attention is to correctly tension the chain, before to speak about high-level fabrication…..

Jack on the track
Jack on the track
8 years ago

Correct chain tension for track according to pretty much every person to ever actually ride on one is as loose as possible without coming off…
there’s a reason all track bikes are shown with the proper track slack. they’re not supposed to be under tension when sitting still…

B
B
8 years ago

Just because every lughead trackie does it doesn’t make it right. If you can set up the chain so there’s no binding at any point, you’re fine. You gain absolutely nothing from going slacker than that, you just risk throwing your chain.

John S. Brown
John S. Brown
8 years ago

Hello everyone,
I never write in forums or comments because I think it is pointless. Maybe also because I’m too old for this.
I’ve spent all my life cycling as a semi-professional. Now, I have my own bicycle shop and part of my business is cycling related seminars. What I’ve realized during all these years is lack of attention in bicycle craft overall – everyone is trying to be like somebody else, while talking how different they are… unfortunately, only talking.
The reason I’ve decided to spare a moment of my life leaving a comment here, because I believe these guys deserved it. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen somebody approaching bicycle from a different perspective. I’ve been in the show and had a long chat with the owner of Tsubasa Bicycles and I can say that it was the most interesting approach to bicycle frame building I’ve heard of in the past years. These guys came up with a completely new frame building technique and aesthetics, which is unique in today’s industry. You might be a fan of nostalgic Italian design, or a fan of “made in xxx” design. And it’s all fine as it is your choice, but I believe that Tsubasa’s bikes are among the most interesting and most promising creations. It is a form of art in technology and design.
I wish them good luck in patenting their single-piece technology and looking forward seeing them grow.

Lumpa Lumpa
Lumpa Lumpa
8 years ago

@ jackonthetrack – If you show a bicycle, he must be ready to ride. If not, you can put the stem backward or why not remove the wheels and tell ” Uh, when the bike is not ready to go, we don’t put the wheels on”…..

cambio_corsa
7 years ago

Amazing! Hat tip the past X contemporary reimagining.
Does anybody know the name or publisher of the book in the first few photos?!

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