TECHNICAL

Tubing

Not content with using standard off the shelf tubing, at Enigma we have designed our own range of tubes and profiles, using EST, Enigma Shape Technology. By subtly ovalizing and tapering tubes in crucial areas we are able to reduce weight, increase power transfer whilst bringing better levels of comfort, no easy accomplishment.

We have many different shapes, diameters and weights of titanium tubes; these are selected for any given purpose. For instance smaller frames are given a more flexible and lighter tube set, a larger frame is given stiffer tubes to build out too much flex.

We use both plain gauge and double butted tubes, depending on a frames price point and intended purpose, butting is very costly but does reduce a frames weight whilst increasing comfort slightly.

Plain gauge means the wall thickness of the tube is constant, typically only .89mm thick.

Double butted tubes have variable wall thicknesses, usually thicker at both ends for strength and ease of welding and thinner in the middle of the tube to save weight in a less stressed area. Another benefit of double butted tubes is the fact they can bring increases in comfort levels too, they are more costly to produce however.

Titanium

6AL-4V, also known as grade 5 titanium is notoriously hard to form into seamless tubes, a feat very few companies have mastered, most opting for technically inferior welded/seamed tubes. We have worked long and hard to master the procedure and we have! We are now proud to offer our Excel frame with seamless 6AL-4V seamless double butted tubes!

The main gains over 3AL-2.5V are:

Increased stiffness; 6AL-4V is 5% stiffer than 3Al-2.5V.

Increased strength; 6AL-4V is 20% Stronger than 3AL-2.5V which means we can comfortably bring down frame weight.

Lighter; 6AL-4V may only be 1% lighter than 3AL-2.5V but add into the equation the extra strength and stiffness and the bonus is we can bring frame weight down by up to 10%!

All of our dropouts, cable stops and head tubes are CNC machined from 6AL-4V titanium billet as the alloy is very easily machined and is extremely strong.

3AL-2.5V An alloy consisting of 3% aluminium, 2.5% vanadium, and 94.5% pure titanium. Also known as grade 9, is easily formable, excellent corrosion resistance and superb fatigue life make 3AL-2.5V the most used titanium when making an Enigma frame. All of our frame tubes are 3AL 2.5V which are seamless and cold drawn and in some cases double butted. Double butted tubes have variable wall thicknesses, usually thicker at both ends for strength and ease of welding and thinner in the middle of the tube to save weight in a less stressed area.

The only downside of butted tubes is their higher price as they are harder to produce than plain gauge.

3AL-2.5V typically has an ultimate tensile strength of 900 MPA

Steel

Columbus Spirit is a special steel with manganese, chrome, nickel, molybdenum and niobium. Spirit undergoes a special heat treatment that gives the steel its final characteristics. It is a steel designed to provide superior mechanical characteristics and higher resistance to environmental effects than conventional carbon steels. Specially shaped tubes for the ultimate in stiffness and comfort, ultra-butted main tubes with wall thicknesses done to a staggering .38mm! Ultimate tensile strength 1250MPa.

Columbus Life is another tube-set that uses that all important alloy of manganese, chrome, nickel, molybdenum and niobium. Life makes it possible to make a frame with an excellent strength to weight ratio, great power transfer and sublime ride. Triple butted main tubes with wall thicknesses down to.45mm. Ultimate tensile strength 1150MPa.

Stainless Steel

XCR is the new Columbus stainless steel tube set designed for bicycle frames and the only seamless stainless tubes ever made in the world. A biphasic martensitic stainless with a high content of Chromium, Molibdenum and Nickel that enhance the strength and toughness. Great weldability, high fatigue resistance and geometrical stability at high temperatures. The extremely high resistance to corrosion and the high stiffness / weight ratio give the possibility to make light and indestructible frames, as from our laboratories. XCR has a tensile strength of 1350MPA and wall thicknesses are as thin as .4mm!