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6 May 2016 - 12:02am
Azub Ti-FLY titanium suspension recumbent trike flight-ready summer 2016
On the heels of winning the "Trike of the Year" award for their outstanding-handling Tri-Con rear-suspension recumbent trike model, Azub has just announced the availability later this summer of their first full-suspension recumbent trike platform.
Dubbed the Ti-FLY, the new model leverages the natural lightness and springing characteristics of titanium as a 40mm travel spring. Upper and lower titanium cruciform pieces form a parallelogram structure which is a natural spring. Dampers tune the spring for desired suspension characteristics.
The engineers at Azub have mated this new front suspension technology to the proven supple rear suspension of the TRIcon model for a recumbent trike with characteristics unequaled in the recumbent tricycle industry.
Reservations for the Ti-FLY are being accepted right now at AlphaBENT. At a competitive sub-$5k base price, the Ti-FLY is to be available in a gamut of gearing configurations including:
- Shimano derailleur-based 24-speed, 27-speed, and 30-speed drivetrains
- SRAM Dual-Drive 24 and 27-speed systems
- Shimano Alfine and Rohloff Speedhub internally-geared rear hub systems
- and the amazing new Pinion 18-speed front gearbox
Azub estimates that they will be able to produce one Ti-FLY per day, so a first-come first-serve reservation system has been put in place for prospective owners to get their names into the limited production slots for this machine.
Like the Azub TriCON and Azub T-Tris models, the Ti-FLY will be available with either a small (20") drivewheel or a large 26" drive wheel. The larger drive-wheel will have higher gearing and a steadier ride with all other factors kept equal.
- Ti-FLY 20 has 20" wheels all around
- Ti-FLY 26 has 20" wheels in front and a 26" drive wheel for ideal handling and gearing
The Ti-FLY is aimed squarely at the burgeoning full-suspension recumbent trike market. Until 2016, only two companies, Inspired Cycle Engineering (ICE) and HP Velotechnik, offered full-suspension trikes.
In 2016, the field will double with the arrival of the Catrike Dumont and the Azub Ti-FLY 20 and 26.
Azub's designer has written an interesting piece comparing the relative qualities of the Ti-FLY front suspension system as compared to other recumbent trike front suspension systems by HP Velotechnik, ICE, Catrike, and Stein. In a nutshell, he identifies the main advantages of this design as being lightweight through choice of titanium material integrated into the frame. He points out that torsion bars as used in the HP Velotechnik design is important for balancing load between the front wheels for cornering stability, and argues that in the Ti-FLY design, a balancing transfer of load between the front wheels happens through the middle section of the titanium plates since it is shared by both sides' suspension elements. It is an interesting read for anyone researching full suspension recumbent tricycles.
There are two videos on the web. One is in Spanish and the trike is shown while stationary. The rider narrates his experience and that it is quite agreeable. The other is a slick promotional video by Azub.
Initial pricing for the Ti-FLY in its various build-up configurations is available here.
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Azub Open-House at AlphaBENT on the morning of 18 Oct 2016. Open invitation to try the new Azub Ti-FLY full-suspension trike, 2015 Trike of the Year TriCon, Azub Six full-suspension trike, and Azub T-Tris upgraded with 250W Neodrive electric-assist system.