prettytoney

20 years down the line? you be the judge.

https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2284349.ece

mayukawa

Maye they can use that material to coat the outside of carbon fiber to protect it from impacts?

CrimsonKarter21

But can it get hit by a car and not lose all BF reputation points?

asmallsol

areo gel is pretty cool stuff. read up on the stuff. Although I really don't see it being used for anything structural. From the reading that I have read about it, it kinda feels like the styrofoam used by florists. Wouldn't be bad to use the stuff inside tubes of the bike to reduce vibrations to nothing.

SugarPILL

Sounds a little too perfect to me.. anyone read that article on the fabric that hardens under instant impact, some prototype ski suits were used in the olympics or something along those lines... pretty neat stuff.

instantly turns into a shell under impact, but soft and flexible the rest of the time, the artical and the website mentioned something about cycling helmets and suits that would prevent impact injuries..and such.

I lost the link.. so I thought if anyone had it it would be interesting to see if any further progress has been made.

CrimsonKarter21

Why the Hell would you want that? What's next? Carbon fiber hybrid Treks?

asmallsol

Easy. You could make a frame out of stiffer material and still have it ride good. Put that in a ultra high strength diffusion formed aluminum or ultra high strength steal frame and have a bike that is extremely stong, but still rides like/better then carbon fiber. Aerogel is so light, its like your not even adding weight. A chunk the size of a car could be effortless lifted by a person.

They already do a similar process with higher end cars by injecting a styrofoam like material into frame rails to increase rigidity and reduce road vibration without really increasing weight.

thelazywon

truly amazing

gurana

You see that stuff pop up in the news from time to time. I remember reading about it posted on /. like a year or two ago (I think it was in reference to the material being used to gather comet dust samples). I never really thought about it being used for bike materials... I was more excited about its insulating properties. The thought of having a jacket stuffed with the stuff and being warm without having to carry an extra 20lbs sounded like a neat idea. I wonder what it is like to sit on? I bet if that stuff ever sees mass prodcution, there will be some newage trendy ergo office chair that everyone will want to have (I have an aeron in my office by the way, and it IS great)

DieselDan

Been there, done that. Trek 7.9 FX

Old Dirt Hill

Hmm...off topic, but I always thought that Trek's FX line were more flat-bar roadbike than hybrid while the 7000 series is more the hybrid/comfort than anything else.

asmallsol

Isn't a flattop road bike kinda a mix between the comfort and position of a mt bike, with more of the speed of a road bike? Sounds like a hybrid to me.

skanking biker

FXs are marketted as "fitness recreational" bikes. I looked at them a few years ago. They are targetted at the "I'm going to get in shape but don't need a carbon fork" crowd. "Hybrids" seem to be marketted to the fat baby boomer "I want to cruise around the neighborhood" crowd.