NAHBS 2016 -
Low Bicycles is relatively new on our radar, but from the minute they came across our computers we've been intrigued. With more history on the track than on the road it's not surprising we lagged behind on their development, but with a growing road and CX presence their growth is coming into our wheelhouse.
It should come as no surprise we're fans of aluminum, and Andrew Low and his crew come draw from a similar inspiration based around Cannondale and Klein. Fat aluminum tubes have this preconceived notion that aluminum will be too stiff to be any good, but aluminum is coming back into fashion now that we know how to use it. Correct tube selection and appropriate butting, all of a sudden riders are realizing how great aluminum can be.
Andrew Low is doing some interesting things with his bike that we've yet to come across in a MUSA aluminum frame. His top tube wraps partially around the seat tube, the chains and seat stays have some really interesting bends and tapers. Moving onto the track bike, that massive aero down tube and seat tube grab your attention from a mile away and provide some serious logo real estate.
Beyond tubing the welds looks great. Without trying to rewrite their process, we grabbed this from their site:
“We have perfected a multi-pass smooth weld technique that is significantly more labor intensive than the welding process used by our competitors. The larger smoothed out fillets not only look good, but they increase joint stiffness, and reduce stress risers that lead to cracks and frame failure. Stress risers are commonly associated with sharp angle breaks at the tube junctions of aluminum frames.”
Low is taking a serious stance on aluminum. From their mki road, mki cross, track std., pursuit, mkii aero, and ss crit bikes, so long as you're not looking for a mountain bike they have a design for you. All handmade in San Francisco, made to order, they are quoting current turnaround time of roughly 6 months.
Now, how do we get one in to test?