Some time ago, Sailor and I had a talk over sushi about the newer manufacturing trends in the bicycle industry. One of the items brought up was hydroforming. He was super excited at the thought of someday being able to pen flowing swooping cruiser designs, and have them hydroformed so that he could weld them together, making for aesthetically striking tube shapes. ...and I think that time is almost upon us. Well, maybe not for the average garage builder, but soon. The MTB world has been on this technology for a while, making for much lighter, structurally sound full suspension aluminum frames. Road bikes are in on it too, as a lot of today's frames use a hydroformed front triangle, with a bonded carbon rear triangle.
I was recently linked to this great video from Dedacciai which basically looks like some industry promo reel demonstrating why their hydroforming kicks ass. Morgan, could you translate to verify please?
Being the compulsive Youtube link follower that I am, I stumbled upon this Great DIY hydroforming demonstration (after a couple of mice vs. giant centipede type nature vids of course):
Incredible! This guy has the right idea! Not sure if that tuned pipe is going to actually produce any power on whatever small displacement engine he plans on butting it up to, but who cares! That was rad. Sailor, the next revision of your pedal powered tank is going to be great if you do it this way!
For an actually useful demonstration of how hydroforming works, watch this video.
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Kinesis factory tour and interview, : http://www.nsmb.com/shore_news/fergstaipei2.php
Superplastic forming is apparently superior.
The Dedacciai video is, as you said Lyle, a corporate promotion explaining why they're the best tubing manufacturer around. They describe how their processes are at the front line of today's technology, and that's why you should buy it.
I watched a very similar video in a boardroom of the Bialetti factory in Omegna, after touring the factory. Afterwards, they gave us all a 1 cup Bialetti... I wonder if you get a mini bike frame from Dedacciai after a factory tour?
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