IsoTruss
I wonder how heavy a chassis would be made from this stuff?
It'd be a b*stard to clean.
^^^^ yep - an in UK it will fill up with mud thus losing any weight advantage.
interesting engineering and good idea though.
Or maybe how expensive!!
a bike frame made of it weighs about a kilo. Note that they don't seem to be able to join the frame elements together with more lattice, they
seem to be using Ali extensions (though this may be because it's for fitting the shocks, etc., rather than being impossible to join the
lattices).
the only problem then is you'd have nowhere to rivet panels!! 
Been done before by a gentleman called Barnes Wallis, only he used larger scale construction and built the Wellington Bomber with it. Very VERY sturdy
machine.
I think it was called Geodetic construction then.
If you follow the links on the page and go to the iso-truss web page theres some info on how they make it.
A nice complex fillament weaving machine.
Id hate to have a crash on one as the rough surface could abrade your legs, or if your me when you crash, it'd dig in.
It looks like chicken wire to me.
Spaceframe bikes aren't new, though that is an interesting idea.
Alex Moulton (designer of the original mini suspension) has been selling them for years.
http://www.alexmoulton.co.uk
Given the amount of mud and crap I bring back on my normal mountain bike every weekend, that would as mentioned be a nightmare to hose down. More to the point getting the leaves, bits of grass, twigs etc out afterwards isn't worth thinking about.
quote:
Originally posted by jono_misfit
Id hate to have a crash on one as the rough surface could abrade your legs, or if your me when you crash, it'd dig in.
In one of the pictures of the bike it looks as though there is some form of plastic wrap around the structure. This would stop the mud getting into it + protect the rider from ay abrasions.
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Spaceframe bikes aren't new, though that is an interesting idea.
Alex Moulton (designer of the original mini suspension) has been selling them for years.
http://www.alexmoulton.co.uk
I used to build wooden r/c planes like this, took absolutely ages but they were so incredibly light. I often wondered just how far you could push it, like making the trusses out of further smaller trusses and so on, till the smallest ones were made of fibres of carbon thread. In essence it would contain almost no material yet be super light.
Somebody once said if they built cars with bloody big spikes sticking out of the steering whel we would probably have less crashes. Is this bike frame along those lines then??