In accordance with Firms Home information, Reap Design Ltd was based in 2014, however solely over the previous three or 4 years has the Reap Bikes model started to determine itself within the street bike area.
Owned by seasoned Ironman triathlete Martin Meir and run alongside his sons, the model boasts the monetary backing of British Olympians Ed Clancy and Jason Kenny, and has garnered itself a fame for its risk-taking, boundary-pushing innovation.
Its current v-shaped monocoque Vulcan triathlon bike was already proof of that, however within the halls of the Truman Brewery this weekend at Rouleur Dwell present, the model had a prototype new bike on present. It was conceived lower than two months in the past, and the model describes it because the “way forward for gravel”.
Labelled the Reap Sort 300 Okay 5054, it has a reputation extra befitting to a newly found asteroid than a bicycle.
At its core, it’s an aero gravel bike with broad tyre clearance and attention-grabbing shock-absorbing tube shapes. In accordance with one of many Meir sons, Ben, it’s laid up utilizing a brand new type of organic fibre that works alongside the carbon – extra on that in a second.
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Gravel bikes with broad tyre clearance are nothing new, however they’ve usually been aimed toward journey or bikepacking, with relaxed geometries, myriad mounting factors, and infrequently some type of suspension. However extra not too long ago, there’s been a rising pattern in the direction of gravel race bikes with their aero tubes and aggressive geometries getting broad tyres too. The brand new Ridley ASTR RS, launched simply final month, is one such instance, and tech-savvy gravel racers akin to Dylan Johnson are squeezing mountain bike tyres into their gravel frames.
Right here on the Reap prototype, there may be clearance for 50mm tyres. Notably, that is paired with a normal road-width backside bracket to make sure ergonomics and aerodynamics aren’t compromised by rising the Q-factor and in flip, the rider’s pedalling stance.
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To attain that, the seat stays are little greater than three millimetres thick as they encompass the tyre, however their form then widens, earlier than flattening within the reverse airplane in the direction of the rear.
Ben Meir defined to Cyclingnews that these extra rearward flat sections, mixed with seat stays which prolong horizontally from the seat tube for 10cm earlier than angling downwards to the axle, work collectively so as to add a small quantity of vertical flex within the rear triangle of the bike, in flip rising the vibration absorption and theoretically energy switch to the gravel street beneath.
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The trick up the prototype bike’s sleeve, nonetheless, is invisible to the bare eye. The carbon fibre appears completely regular beneath the lacquer, however as Ben Meir explains, it has been blended with a biocomposite materials from American firm Scale Superior Biocomposites.
The Scale web site states that its “pure fibres can be utilized with carbon fibre to boost efficiency, cut back prices and slash greenhouse emissions.”
The corporate’s co-founder, Lance Johnson, instructed Cyclingnews that the advantages of his materials are multifaceted, together with considerably decreasing the carbon footprint of a motorbike’s manufacturing, bettering a motorbike’s consolation and trip high quality, and even bolstering its skill to face up to impacts.
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Up entrance, the top tube profile has been given an equal quantity of consideration to element, and the crown of the fork integrates neatly with the down tube. Brake hoses are totally built-in via a one-piece cockpit and into the top tube of the body.
On this prototype bike, the seatpost of the body is fastened to a set peak, slightly than having an adjustable seat mast as you’d discover on the model’s Vekta street bike. This was one of many shortcuts the model was compelled to make as a way to get the bike prepared in time for the present, however considerably conveniently, the seatpost peak chosen was set to the precise saddle peak utilized by Ben Meir himself.
“I’ve put plenty of hours into this bike, I deserve it,” was Meir’s half-joking reply, referring to the toil that he has been via over the previous few weeks to get the bike prepared in time for the present. Forward of an trade present like Rouleur Dwell, it is presumably fairly pure for the manufacturers exhibiting to have a late rush to get issues prepared in time, however for the Meir household, ‘late rush’ does not even start to inform the story.
The concept to make this bike was conceived lower than two months in the past, and the model’s Instagram account over the previous few weeks has been a video diary of Ben’s progress amid autoclave failures and late-night finishes to get it over the road. Only a week in the past, there was little greater than a fork to indicate for his or her efforts.
The bike on show was completed and constructed up by 11pm the evening earlier than the present, and Ben boasted that he really managed an evening’s sleep, one thing he did not have the luxurious of two years earlier forward of this identical present.
In accordance with the model, the bike is about for launch in 2025, and Cyclingnews might be first in line to overview it when out there.
On the time of writing, tickets are nonetheless out there for Rouleur Dwell on Saturday and will be bought right here.
