Bicycles have lots of round parts. There are obviously the wheels, but there are the chain rings, cassette, hubs and in many cases, even the tubes are round. But Lou Tortola, an avid cyclist who put in more than 3000 miles on his road bike last year, has another idea. The inventor and entrepreneur from Windsor, Canada has created a revolutionary bicycle frame design that he says will increase comfort, while retaining lateral stiffness and pedaling efficiency of the standard diamond frame bicycles.
The result is the Roundtail, which he says should provide more shock absorbing than traditional straight seat stays.
Tortola uses his computer to draft up a prototype of the twin ring design, and with his years of experience in metals and fabrication produced tooling to test his concept. Custom bike builder Paul Taylor helped bring the Roundtail to life.
The bike made its debut at the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show this past weekend. Titanium and carbon fiber versions, with mountain bike and hybrid models will be available later this year at Interbike.