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Factor 001 has been designed from the ground up as an integrated, cohesive device.
Absent from the brief was a need to comply with the restrictive design regulations set out by the UCI – the governing body for world cycle sport – to avoid jeopardising the engineering-led design and training tool function.
Factor 001 had to match other top end road bikes in terms of overall weight, while carrying additional equipment for its data recording system, and providing the lateral stiffness that deems [sic] many competition bicycles impractical for everyday training on the road.
To truly showcase BERU f1systems’ motorsport prowess, the bike had to comprise as many original parts as possible; component technologies never before seen on a road bike. Only the front and rear mechs, and tyres, are off-the-shelf items.
The bike is a lightweight (under 7 kg) carbon fibre monocoque structure. Representing a considerable feat in composites design and manufacture resulting from BERU f1systems’ in-house expertise in variable geometry tooling, the bike’s dimensions can be adjusted to the exact physical requirements of the rider. Customers will undergo a Formula One driver-style seat fit experience prior to their Factor 001 being built. The single piece frame avoids the use of structural joins which can typically reduce rigidity by approximately 15 percent; its M55J carbon fibre being the stiffest uni-directional material on the market.
While the machine retains the classic and structurally efficient diamond form, the major frame members split into two as they approach the extra-wide reinforced bottom bracket area. This places the maximum amount of material right at the edges of the frame’s structure, allowing it to better resist the sideways frame flex caused by pedalling effort, and managing to avoid unnecessary reinforcement in the vertical direction.
Eliminating the heavy, structurally inefficient fork crown and carrying the fork blades all the way up to the top of the head tube has produced a design that is stiffer and more efficient than conventional designs. The twin-spar approach also reduces the peak loads on the steering bearings, for substantially longer maintenance free life. They are tuned to work perfectly with our carbon disc brake system, delivering maximum deceleration without chatter, even at high speeds on difficult road surfaces.
The frame performs an important aesthetic role in enabling the load sensors, batteries, wiring, control cables and lines for the hydraulic braking system to be fully integrated into the composite using BERU f1systems’ Wire-In-Composites technology. This gives unparalleled efficiency and durability with a clean, uncluttered appearance.
The Factor 001 wheelset uses a unique composite construction to produce a light, strong and stiff 8-spoke wheel, capable of delivering a long service life in tough conditions. Unlike existing composite designs, which are fragile and limited only to track or smooth-road applications, the Factor 001 wheels are designed to cope with real world, everyday training.
Factor 001’s brakes were one of the project’s most critical challenges, given the road cyclist’s braking requirements over repeated rapid decelerations with highly unpredictable performance. In seeking to eliminate every possible variable, engineers chose a hydraulic disc design using a carbon-ceramic composite. The motorsport-grade material offers total consistency at any temperature and a braking surface that will deliver the same performance wet or dry, at the beginning of mountain pass or in the final hairpin of a 20km descent.
As the rider’s control of a braking system depends on the feedback received at the lever, and the efficiency of power transfer from there to the braking surface, every point along that transmission path was analysed to eliminate sources of loss. Rather than soft, braided hydraulic hose, lightweight but rigid stainless steel pipes were built right into the structure of the Factor 001 chassis. Protected from damage by layers of carbon composite, these lines give the rider unprecedented braking power, with all the feedback needed to use that power wisely.
More at www.factor001.com
