BallisTec is Cannondale's proprietary
method of high-strength, high-stiffness carbon construction. It is the ideal
blend of the most advanced materials in the world combined with the most
advanced carbon engineering and design. The results speak for themselves. In
mountain bikes, it lets us build exceptionally strong, light bikes like the F-series,
OverMountain
and Scalpel
lines. On the road, it enables us to push the boundaries of light weight while
tightly controlling the frame's overall stiffness and rider feel on the bikes
like the SuperSix EVO,
SuperX
and Synapse.
It starts with a base structure composed of
ultra-strong fibers originally created by the military for ballistic armoring,
and high-strength, high-impact resins similar to what is used in the
construction of carbon baseball bats; light, stiff and designed to endure
thousands of cycles. We combine these fibers and this resin in a lay-up
designed to maximize the anisotropic (direction-specific) qualities of the
fibers in a carbon structure that is extremely light, extremely stiff and
capable of withstanding high loads without damage or loss of structural
integrity. This enables the frame to pass all of our extremely tough
destructive and fatigue testing. To tune the overall stiffness and ride-feel of
the frame, we strategically add the stiffer, but more brittle higher modulus
fibers throughout the frame. This allows us to precisely tune in different amounts
of stiffness and deflection at different points throughout the frame, creating
an unbelievably balanced and nuanced ride.
There are three different levels of BallisTec Carbon Construction:
BALLISTEC NANO
There are three different levels of BallisTec Carbon Construction:
BALLISTEC NANO
·
The ultimate in
carbon technology. This construction pairs our BallisTec Hi-MOD structure with
a nano-particle-infused resin which creates a supporting matrix within the
carbon structure. This nano particle matrix adds significant strength and
stiffness. which means we need less material to achieve the frame's desired
characteristics. Extremely costly and difficult to work with, BallisTec Nano is
found only on the top of the line SuperSix EVO model.
BALLISTEC HI-MOD
·
On the Hi-Mod
frames, we use the same base structure, but a sophisticated mix of high and
ultra-high modulus fibers are used to create the stiffening network. Due to
their extreme rigidity, we can gain tremendous stiffness with less material,
which keeps the overall structure weight to a minimum.
BALLISTEC CARBON
The same structure, lay-up and
shapes as the Hi-MOD versions but the stiffness and ride feel are dialed in
with a higher percentage of intermediate-modulus fibers. This additional
material adds a slight amount of weight but enables us to offer BallisTec
technology to more riders.