# Graphene-The strongest and lightest material known to man



## ljsmith (Oct 26, 2007)

I just saw that two Russian scientists have won a nobel prize for experiments with Graphene. It is a type of carbon filament that is the strongest and thinnest material known to man. I wonder if it will eventually make its way into a bike frame or components?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101005/ap_on_hi_te/eu_nobel_physics


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## reformed roadie (Mar 30, 2008)

I am still waiting for my beryllium frame and components...


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## indian fire trail (Nov 22, 2007)

Remember Univega´s proprietary Boralin?


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## IM31408 (Dec 24, 2008)

reformed roadie said:


> I am still waiting for my beryllium frame and components...


Kind of hard considering beryllium is toxic and all....
And magnesium and carbon fiber are lighter anyways.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Beryllium bike frames, so 90's

https://www.mombat.org/1992AmericanBe1.jpg
https://www.mombat.org/1992AmericanBe2.jpg


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## reformed roadie (Mar 30, 2008)

IM31408 said:


> Kind of hard considering beryllium is toxic and all....
> And magnesium and carbon fiber are lighter anyways.


Supposedly, so was the dust from when I cut my Easton nanotube bars down 

If the article I f was thinking of - which RockyUphill produced! - is correct, an alloy of beryllium and aluminum could yield a 1 pound frame. 1 pound = 454 grams. IIRC the ridiculously light Cervelo Project California was at 648gm...
Not sure if the alloying addresses the toxicity.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

Beryllium Aluminium alloys are a bit less toxic, the real handicap is the price tag which on the American market for vacuum-cast beryllium ingots was about $338 per pound ($745 per kilogram) in 2001. That's was about 20 times the price of titanium ingots at the time. Processed into tubing, it would be signifcantly more expensive.

Aluminium Lithium alloys are a better venture to look into (aka 8000 series alloys), being about 10% lower density and 15% greater stiffness. Its been extensively used in aviation and space vehicles for a couple decades now. The current shuttle external tank is primarily Al-Li alloy construction.


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## nuffink (Feb 21, 2010)

You've got to love that they first isolated it with a pencil and a bit of sticky tape, and that Andre Geim is the first scientist to win both a Nobel and IgNobel prize (the latter for his pioneering work in levitating frogs in a magnetic field).
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/10/amazing-graphene-awarded-physi.html


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

nuffink said:


> You've got to love that they first isolated it with a pencil and a bit of sticky tape, and that Andre Geim is the first scientist to win both a Nobel and IgNobel prize (the latter for his pioneering work in levitating frogs in a magnetic field).


Most folks from Dolgoprudny and Chernogolovka are a bit nuts. Here I said it.  Congrats to Phystech folks.


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## indian fire trail (Nov 22, 2007)

Berillium bike:


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## turbogrover (Dec 4, 2005)

Nevermind the beryllium frame, check out that mullet! Its roadie in the front and mtb'er in the back!


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

Oh I forgot to cover Univega's Boralyn tubeset... it was a boron-carbide enhanced aluminium alloy class known as an MMC. The original Specialized M2 Stumpjumpers were also using an MMC, except silicon-carbide based as memory serves. Generally MMC's are stiffer and stronger than a comparable density of Aluminium alloy, but the surface hardness is also a lot higher. Butting the tubesets and milling the ends to make a frame is absolutely murder on the tooling. That's why except for the final year or two of M2 frames were all straight gauge tubing (and in the end only the seattube got any butting) and they never extended the material to any other model.

American Bicycle Manufacturing made a total of FOUR of those frames, and one was stolen out of their wharehouse. The other three sold to people at tradeshows (I believe Taipei, Interbike-Annaheim, and Eurobike-Frankfurt). The frame was bonded together, and weight 2.5 pounds for an 18" size. The Be tubes were pure beryllium, and totaled a pound of tubing. The Al lugs and the epoxy were another 1.5 pounds. They cost about 20k each in 1992 dollars. 

In the mid-90s after the breakup of the USSR and the decommisioning of a large number of their nuclear submarine fleet, a company called Be-Yond Fabrications offered Be/Al alloy frames with complete bike prices (with XT parts) around $7000. They used scrap tubing from the subs.


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## jbsteven (Aug 12, 2009)

turbogrover said:


> Nevermind the beryllium frame, check out that mullet! Its roadie in the front and mtb'er in the back!


that's what my hair looks like right now.

Been sportin' the mullet since the early 90's. License plates on my cars:

Ford GT MULLET
S65 Mercedes JODIRT
Bentley GTC convertible DIRTJO (this plate was on my Gallardo that I sold 3 days ago)


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## erkan (Jan 18, 2004)

They ran out of tubes, thats why they disapeard? (Be-Yond)


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## indian fire trail (Nov 22, 2007)

Univega´s Boralyn:


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I like the english half of the ad describes the elements, and the other half talks about what the material is used for.


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## Lelandjt (Feb 22, 2008)

Rockshox needs to make a WC Boxxer, Sid, and Revelation with shinny gold lowers.


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## direneed (Feb 3, 2008)

I have a Griffen road bike made of Boron Carbide. Absolutely love the frame. Sorry to see them fold.


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## TallChris (Oct 16, 2008)

Thread resurrection!

Please, frame builders, take heed!

Amazing Aerogel: Eight Looks at the Ghostly Supermaterial in Action


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## zerodish (Jun 17, 2006)

Carbon is even nastier than beryllium. You can eat glass but not diamond "bort" the body does not recognize it as a foreign substance and it cuts your guts open. Nanotubes are small enough to puncture cells. Carbon nanotubes is just rolled up graphene. Automobile antennas are berrlyium copper if you want to do some brazing. Just a thought.


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## phlegm (Jul 13, 2006)

I wasn't going to share this, but I've just finished a styrofoam frame. Has taken me about 200 hours of cutting and shaping. Weighs 72g.

I race it tomorrow - wish me luck.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I'm waiting for the bamboo frame builders to grow the bamboo in frame molds.


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