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I remember that some company made a beryllium MTB (or maybe it was road?) frame some years ago. Does anyone know who made it or if there are pics?
beryllium bike???
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no no, they frames were more like 4-5-6,000. Beryllium is notoriusly hard to machine and extrude tubes from. The metal would just destroy tooling. Thats why the American frames were rolled tubes, not extruded.
If I remember correctly, they did make a crazy light show bike from extruded tubes. THAT was what cost 20-30000 to make. But their consumer frames were much less
If I remember correctly, they did make a crazy light show bike from extruded tubes. THAT was what cost 20-30000 to make. But their consumer frames were much less
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Here's some info
www.firstflightbikes.com/new_page_3.htmbhsavery said:
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Not to mention it is extremely toxic. Plus is it tightly monitored because it is used in some sort of nuclear process, either containment or enrichment, can't remember.bhsavery said:
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I think it was a mixture of aluminum and Be known as AlBeMet. Something similar to this was used for engine blocks and heads in F1 by Mclaren. Be is strong but also really good at transferring heat. I had heard American made one frame and it was stolen. It doesn't get anymore exotic then Be. There is something about around 50% of the population is susceptible to Beryliosis (or something like that) which is this horrible cold like disease that sticks with you until it kills you. Is Be more expensive then gold? Ebay had a brushwellman Be or maybe it was AlBeMet test sample for sale once. It would have been pretty cool to have. For space vessels Be is often trumpeted for ultimately being cost effective because it decreases the weight of the craft, which makes it easier/cheaper to get the particle into OUTERSPACE. Be would be great for spindles, axles, springs, oh yeah, I guess it would be great for everything. (I apologize for any miss-information I have written unknowingly)
Sorry to hear about the passing of the founder of American. Those were really dope bikes when they were around.
http://www.berylliumproducts.com/Attributes.aspx?id=AlBeMet162
Sorry to hear about the passing of the founder of American. Those were really dope bikes when they were around.
http://www.berylliumproducts.com/Attributes.aspx?id=AlBeMet162
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Yup, that's why it's illegal to use in the U.S., from what i've heard. In the industry I work in (plastic injection molding) U.S. companies lost business because of this. Too bad Canadian gov't isn't as smart (cough cough).bhsavery said:
Anyways, nothing more to add than that. Neat stuff, really. Just dangerous to machine.
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That was '95 man. Doc's have learned a few things since then - like people continuously working on the stuff died at "early ages" with the same lung problem's. Think in terms of NOT making it to retirement age.CdaleTony said:
The guys that work on the stuff "up here" are supposed to be mandated by their employer for an annual check up with their regular physician. That stuff is no joke.
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Didn't know it was illegal to use in the us?
I thought they just had tons of osha rules for ventilation etc. Brushwellman is an American firm and I think they are the main producers/miners of the material out of Utah. Be is used in electronics quite often in small quantities.
I thought they just had tons of osha rules for ventilation etc. Brushwellman is an American firm and I think they are the main producers/miners of the material out of Utah. Be is used in electronics quite often in small quantities.
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No wonder Toledo is all crazy like, thats where all the beryllium isSlobberdoggy said:
Yeah, I didn't think it was illegal either just extremely constricted.
If you really wanted to go crazy super light, you'd make a bike out of lithium, cept it would explode as soon as it touched the air
What ever happened to ABM anyway, did they just vanish into nothingness or did they get taken over?
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FYI, from Brush Wellman's site.Slobberdoggy said:Didn't know it was illegal to use in the us?
I thought they just had tons of osha rules for ventilation etc. Brushwellman is an American firm and I think they are the main producers/miners of the material out of Utah. Be is used in electronics quite often in small quantities.
Is the use of beryllium or materials containing beryllium banned or restricted?
No. The use of beryllium and beryllium-containing materials is not banned, restricted or otherwise limited by any current or proposed international, federal, state or local regulations. Equipment manufacturers, designers and users can remain confident that the performance-enhancing properties of beryllium and beryllium-containing materials will be available now, and in the future.
Can I get chronic beryllium disease (CBD) from skin contact with beryllium or beryllium-containing materials?
No. Handling beryllium and beryllium-containing materials in solid form cannot cause CBD and poses no special health risk. CBD requires an inhalation exposure to particulate containing beryllium.
http://www.brushwellman.com/EHS/BHS/06-04 sock.pdf
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ABM Made FOUR frames, bonded and lugged construction. Only the main tubes and stays were Be, the rest of it was 7075 Al lugs, BB shell, dropouts. The price varied with the magazine report, they all claimed a different price, and I doubt anyone got it right. At the time, pure Be was worth about about $200US an ounce, and there was only about 1.5 pounds of it in the frame (the other pound, of its 2.5 pound weight was the Al). One frame sold to some taiwanese parts maker at the Taipai trade show, and the fourth frame made WAS stolen out of ABM's wharehouse. Where the other two frames ended up I do not presently remember.
Beyond Beryllium was a company making welded frames out of recycled Beryllium alloy tubing taken from scrapped russian nuclear submarines. They also made use of recycled titanium from the same srapped sub hulls. You could buy a Beyond Be frame for about $6,000US, which is a lot cheaper than the ABM ones.
Be usage never caught on in the bike industry otherwise because its just worth too much. They talked about things like 60 gram handlebars and 30 gram bar ends and so forth, but even a 60 gram bar represents over $400 (in 1992 dollars) of raw material cost...and that was before you factored in the machining/tooling time and expenses.
Beyond Beryllium was a company making welded frames out of recycled Beryllium alloy tubing taken from scrapped russian nuclear submarines. They also made use of recycled titanium from the same srapped sub hulls. You could buy a Beyond Be frame for about $6,000US, which is a lot cheaper than the ABM ones.
Be usage never caught on in the bike industry otherwise because its just worth too much. They talked about things like 60 gram handlebars and 30 gram bar ends and so forth, but even a 60 gram bar represents over $400 (in 1992 dollars) of raw material cost...and that was before you factored in the machining/tooling time and expenses.
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Focal makes some uber acoustic systems where Be also is used
http://www.focal.tm.fr/home/en/utopiabe/index.htm
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I remember comin across those when i used to be into the whole audio thing. whew, talk about a money drain! Now i'd rather drop the benjamins on some bike stuff instead of speakerswheelie_lv said:
Focal makes some uber acoustic systems where Be also is used
http://www.focal.tm.fr/home/en/utopiabe/index.htm
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