With each new bicycle design, Slovakian mechanical engineer Braňo Mereš has looked to utilize a new material. He’s created various on-off bicycle frames in recent years, and has included bikes made of carbon fiber (the cycling industry’s go to material), but also branched out with some innovative materials along the way. He’s riveted strips of titanium together and even used a woven bamboo fiber with an epoxy resin as very interesting take on composites.
But as he takes flight with the X-9 Nighthawk, which he showed at the Berlin Fahrradschau (Berlin Bicycle Show) last month, Mereš has taken traditional carbon fiber and sandwiched it over an aramid core, a material that is a heat-resistant synthetic fiber that has been used in body armor. The aramid used in this project was produced in an open honeycomb pattern, which provided both structural integrity and low weight.
The finished bike will reportedly include off-the-rack wheels, disc brakes and a belt-driven drivetrain but the saddle along with the frame is all Mereš.