2005 Klein q-pro xv w/ campy centaur

On 26 Nov 2004 10:35:15 -0800,
(dianne_1234) wrote:

wrote in message . ..
On 24 Nov 2004 17:08:26 -0800, (Evan
Evans) wrote:

I have checked in with all my local Klein dealers in the Atlanta area.
I was hoping to test ride the xv. All say this bike will be a special
order item only. Has anyone seen one of these in the showroom?
http://www.kleinbikes.com/us/road_bi..._xv/index.html

Dear Evan,

Any idea what the "power triangle" is that Klein mentions?

Carl Fogel

Sounds like the frame's front triangle (and chainstays) may use Klein
Power Tubing or Klein Gradient Tubing. I seem to recall Power Tubing
has to do with the stiffer oversized aluminum tubing Klein uses.
Gradient may refer to the shaped tubes.
See
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ower+tubing%22

Dear Dianne,

Aha! Aluminum alloy tubes whose walls taper in thickness!
Apparently nothing to do with power--just weight and
strength, according to the description below.

Thanks,

Carl Fogel


"Klein Gradient™ Aluminum tubing In the twenty years since
he built the first bike using oversized aluminum tubing at
MIT, Gary Klein has learned that what goes into shaping the
tubing is more important than the raw material itself.
That's why Klein designs its own aluminum frame tubing. All
Klein bikes are built using either Gradient or Power Tubing.
Both are Klein exclusives which result in lighter, stronger,
better riding bikes. Gradient tubing is the end result of a
proprietary process that takes raw aerospace grade aluminum
and works it over, using a variety of custom designed and
handmade machines, to create a premium material that exists
nowhere else. Gradient tubing is made from a proprietary
aluminum alloy, because off-the-shelf alloys do not lend
themselves to the extreme metal manipulation of the
processes used to create Gradient tubing. Gradient displays
our most advanced metal shaping techniques, tapered both
internally and externally, maximizing the strength of the
structure while minimizing the amount of material needed to
achieve that strength. Cut open a Gradient tube and you'd
see that the walls have gradual tapers, with wall thickness
that vary as much as 260% between sections of high stress
and low stress. Other companies use butted tubes that have a
short transition areas from one wall thickness to another,
essentially just to reinforce the weld zone. Gradient tubes
vary in thickness over the entire length and diameter of the
tube. This gradual variation avoids stress risers, points of
high force concentration caused by the sharp transition of
butts. Because we accomplish this from outside sources,
Klein has pioneered this with their own vertical integrated
process at the Klein Facility in Chehalis. The result of
Klein's Gradient Tubing? The lightest and strongest
production frames available--2.9 lb. ATBs and 2.7 lb. road
frames."

http://www.treknology3.com/categories/matworld.htm