Recently at Interbike I had the opportunity to see a rather striking carbon fiber and Kevlar frame. It was the Delta 7 Sports “Arantix”, a new mountain bike design using a new technique called “IsoTruss”. Even more shocking, I saw grown men stomping on the downtube on the show floor! Normally this would result in a not so nice situation involving authorities and a crumpled frame. Not so with the Arantix. In fact, the company representatives were actually inviting guys to do this.

You may have seen this design before from a story about some Brigham Young students. IsoTruss was developed at Brigham Young University under the direction of Civil Engineering Professor David W. Jensen (Director of the Center for Advanced Structural Composites). Advanced Composite Solutions, LLC (parent company of Delta 7 Sports), has been granted an exclusive, worldwide license by BYU to develop, produce and market products utilizing the IsoTruss technology and design.

The frames, which on average weigh in at about 2.7lbs, are extremely strong due to the IsoTruss concept which is basically a lattice work of triangles made in carbon fiber strands and helically wrapped in Kevlar string. The resulting structure is said to be less apt to bend, twist, or flex than a tubular metal structure of the same weight. The lattice work of the IsoTruss design is connected by molded carbon fiber lugs to make the frame you see above.

The design is currently in production and Delta 7 expects to produce only about 200 frames in the coming year. It takes about 300 man hours to produce each IsoTruss frame. Delta 7 hopes to boost production to around 1000 units per year by the year 2010. A road frame is in the works, but currently this 26 inch wheeled hard tail is the only offering.

Complete builds are available foe $11,995.00 (USD) or you can build your own up with an Arantix frame for $6995.00. Orders are being taken now. Visit www.delta7sports.com for more information.