Thought I would share some photos of my latest creation. It is a tube to tube custom carbon frame. The tubes and stays are supplied to me from Enve Composites (formerly Edge Composites). While working on this carbon project bike I was dumbfounded with the amount of time it takes to get it just right. Each joint is hand wrapped with some intricately cut pieces of carbon fiber pre-impregnated with resin. There are approximately 40-50 different hand cut pieces per joint, this forms the stratification layer. The strata layers are the backbone of the joint giving it all it's strength and qualities, these layers are oriented at various angles. The next layer is the "money layer" it is primarily a aesthetic layer that will also provide some strength and fine tune the stiffness of the frame at the joint. It is all put under compression and cured in a enormous oven specifically designed for curing composites. The oven controls the ramp up speed of the temperature and how long it is held at a specific temperature (the first time I used the oven it was set for Celsius not Fahrenheit, to say the least I cooked the living shiz out of that bottom bracket, leaving all the resin in the bottom of the oven). 
The bottom bracket is a bladder molded piece that I designed and manufacture in house. The process was fun to learn and I really enjoyed working with a new material. It took hours developing and testing, to finally arrive with a good prototype. I am glad I took my time because I am happy with the end results.
I built it up with the current parts on a Ti frame I have been riding. I was familiar with the ride of the Ti bike and I wanted to compare apples to apples. The result was a similar ride. I did notice that it was a bit more responsive and it would accelerate a bit quicker. The frame weighs in at 1140 grams, not a supper light weight but it is a little overbuilt.
The problem I am having with carbon fiber frame construction are all the ideas that come to mind while developing a bike. It would take a ridiculous amount of capital to produce all the molds and concepts that have come to mind while taking on this project. None-the-less I will continue to refine my process and testing of the product until I am confident in offering it to customers.
I am looking forward to building the next carbon frame and sharing my development of the carbon fiber frame construction process. I will be offering the carbon project frames for sale in a limited quantities spring 2011.
