Calfee Di2 Internal Battery and Wiring System

Calfee Design is now offering an elegant solution for the impressive Shimano Di2 electronic shifting system.  This proprietary internal battery and wiring system is available on all Calfee models and also as a retrofit on most carbon frames.

This product has already generated tremendous excitement in the cycling public, the cycling press and even among framebuilders; please consider the very recent evaluations by cyclingnews.com and VeloNews (including a video).

The innovation starts with a custom battery system housed inside the seatpost.  This solution is lighter and longer lasting, and eliminates the need for cable ties, adhesives and external mounts. To achieve fully internal routing for the electronic shift cables, Calfee makes the necessary modifications to the wiring harness, battery, seat post and frame.

Installed in your seatpost, the battery, charger and the modified internal wiring harness retails for $270; installed in a Calfee, the complete system retails for $500; installed in your carbon frame (non-Calfee), the complete system starts at $500 (more information below).

To charge, simply remove the seat post and plug in the provided charger to the base of the seat post. This eliminates the bulkier, externally mounted battery. Cables from the battery run down the seat tube where they split at the bottom bracket shell to the shifters and derailleurs.

Calfee Design has extensive experience repairing carbon fiber frames. This is critical in building/retrofitting carbon frames not necessarily designed for internal routing. Calfee amends the frame as needed, including the creation of access holes, at no detriment to the structural integrity of the frame. Proper repair and reinforcement is imperative to preserve ride quality and guarantee strength of the frame after the required changes have been made to the original structure.

Frames retrofitted to work with an internal Shimano Di2 system cannot readily be swapped between traditional shifting and electronic. However, modifications can be made in the future to remove the retrofit features and allow for traditional cables.

Currently, any make or model of carbon fiber frame is eligible for Calfee’s Di2 retrofit. Internal routing for SRM power meters is also available. There may be a few frames that are not compatible with an internal Di2 system, though none have been identified at this time. The retrofit package is priced to start at $500. Pricing includes the custom battery pack, an installed wiring harness and basic paint touch-ups. The process requires approximately 5 weeks for completion.

This Dragonfly Pro, outfitted with Calfee’s proprietary internal Di2 solution and a full-carbon BarStem, was built for a cyclist in Texas.  We hope to squeeze it into our booth at NAHBS.  This bicycle, with it numerous innovations and striking finish, is a stirring example of our carbon craftsmanship.

This is a carbon fiber handlebar laminated to a carbon fiber stem. You can specify the stem extension, stem rise, handlebar brand and width.  You can also choose a carbon or aluminum steerer tube clamp.  Any 31.8 diameter carbon fiber handlebar can be made into a BarStem.

Introduced in 2010, our full-carbon BarStem features an ENVE Composites stem modified by Calfee.  Though more expensive, this full-carbon BarStem is lighter and eliminates the need to bond an aluminum clamp to a carbon stem extension.

Unlike competing products, our one piece BarStem allows the marriage of personalized and optimized individual components; lighter, stiffer, stronger, more absorbent and better fitting.

Dragonfly; our lightest and most technically advanced frame.

The Dragonfly tube set was designed to build the lightest possible single and tandem bicycle frames without sacrificing stiffness, durability and ride quality. We use high modulus carbon fiber in all the tubes (55 msi) as well as the lug areas (42 msi). Previously, a frame built with all high modulus fiber would be too brittle. We incorporated Boron fiber into the three main tubes to add some toughness and compressive stiffness.  Boron is an attractive reinforcement because the resulting composite combines superior tensile, compressive and flexural strengths, high modulus, and low density in one system.  Combined with the super high tensile stiffness of the carbon, the result is a frame material with the highest stiffness-to-weight ratio on the market.

The use of boron fiber has come of age with its use in our high performance bicycle frames. Bicycle weights have dropped from 18 pounds back in the 1980s to 14 pounds or less in 2010. Much of this weight savings comes with the use of carbon fiber composites. As bicycle companies compete in the arms race to make even lighter, stiffer bikes, safety and durability are pushed to the limit. High modulus (55 Msi and greater) carbon fiber is being used to make stiff yet thin walled tubing. These tubes can be vulnerable to damage from a variety of real world sources. When slightly damaged from a pebble thrown up by a passing car, or an unfortunate event during a group ride or race, a thin walled tube can rapidly degrade to an unsafe condition. Our very popular Calfee Carbon Repair business is evidence of this common failure. Using boron filaments in the tube laminate mitigates this problem by significantly enhancing the tubes structural performance.

Calfee Dragonfly weighs only 2.1 pounds in a 54cm size, delivers power as well as any large diameter, thin wall frame, has superior vibration dampening, compressive and impact strength, and is protected by a 25 year warranty.

Dragonfly single and tandem lugs are pressure molded from high modulus fabric.  With Dragonfly singles, lugs are made with carbon fabric formed around metal mandrels.  These lugs and pre-mitered tubes are easily bonded together because they are so compatible.  The carbon fibers are carefully oriented to put strength exactly where it’s needed while minimizing weight.  Gussets are integrally formed with the fabrication of the joints, eliminating the inherent weakness of the tube and lug joint found in many other manufacturers designs.  They are then meticulously carved to the optimum shape, taking into consideration the weight and intended use by the rider. They happen to look good because of their form-follows-function aesthetic.

The dropouts are also carved out to their optimal shape, saving 15 grams off the standard dropouts. This may not seem like much, but the way to build a 12 pound bike is to address every component and look for opportunities for weight savings, no matter how small. The trick is to do it without sacrificing strength and durability. As in nature, the Dragonfly is one of the most optimized and evolved structures to be found.

The Tetra tube set and single, road frame was originally designed in 1987 and has been thoughtfully refined to its current incarnation over the last 23 years. As the oldest continuously produced model of carbon fiber bicycle frame in the world, it has evolved to a state of perfection and value unmatched by any other frame.

Even bicycle enthusiasts and industry insiders are surprised to learn that Tetra was invented back in 1987 and only four years later was being ridden by Greg LeMond and his Team Z teammates in the world’s most important cycling event, the Tour de France.  Greg wore the leader’s Yellow Jersey aboard our Tetra, then less than five years old.  Today, nearly 20 years later, Tetra tubing and bicycle frames have been continually optimized; sharpened by improvements in raw materials, manufacturing processes and advantageous frame options.

With the Tetra frames, we saturate carbon fabric with epoxy, then laminate it at 210 p.s.i. and fuse it to pre-mitered carbon tubes using metal dies.  Molded in one layup, the resulting joints have long tapered transitions from one tube to the next, following the stresses evenly.  This manufacturing process seamlessly marries our tension filament wound carbon tubing resulting in a frame without molded lugs.  Fatigue life for these fiber reinforced joints is appreciably longer than that of adhesive bonds and, coupled with the tubing itself, is grounds for the Tetra’s 25 year warranty.

The Tetra tubes were designed to have the optimum stiffness to weight ratio and also have a thick enough wall to be impact tolerant.  The 42 and 55 msi modulus fiber is strong and very stiff but not too brittle.  Given this durability, we’re happy to offer our Tetra tubing in off-road and travel frame configurations.

Calfee Bamboo Pro, shown here with a SRAM Apex group, retails for just over $5000.  Compare to a Campagnolo Super Record equipped Bamboo at $8500.

Our Bamboo Pro is as happy in a group race-ride as it is on gravel in a brevet.  This frame weighs 5.5 pounds and retails for $2995.  The hand wrapped hemp fiber lugs stop traffic; they resemble polished, highly figured burl wood and out-perform other methods and materials for joining bamboo tubing.

Each of our bamboo frames requires over 40 hours of labor to build.  Following an interview with the frame’s new owner, we hand select a bamboo tube set that will deliver characteristics consistent with the riders expectations and requirements.  Every frame is made to order and every frame is unique.  All bamboo bicycles are available in stock or custom geometries.

Beautifully formed by our carbon craftsmen, our bamboo frames perform at the highest level of the sport.

Shown; Calfee Bamboo Mountain frame with a SRAM XX group, upgraded build kit featuring ENVE Composites seat post, carbon railed saddle, Mavic Crossmax SLR wheels and our BarStem weighs only 22 pounds.  Ergon BioCork grips pair beautifully with our mocha brown bamboo tubes and are included in our complete Bamboo Mountain builds.

There are many good reasons to choose Calfee Bamboo for your next bicycle frame.  Calfee Bamboo bicycle frames are very stiff, transferring power efficiently; are durable, resisting damage from stress and impacts; are comfortable, surpassing aluminum, steel, titanium and most carbon frames in smoothness.  Our bamboo tubes mitered together and bound by epoxy soaked hemp fiber create a frame whose most notable characteristic, beyond beauty, is this incredible vibration dampening.

Tetra tandem with S and S Machine couplers for travel weighs less than 28 pounds and is ready to race.  You no longer have to compromise.  Calfee is doing for the tandem world in 2011 what it did for the single world in 1987; building a lighter, stronger, stiffer more absorbent frame that is faster and more fun to ride.  Beyond the frame, complete personalization of the component group and parts kit allows for tandem bike builds that are far more exciting and, simply, better than the rest!

The precise orientation of the Tetra’s 51 million fibers delivers the best combination of stiffness and comfort for everyday riding.  While these frames are unbelievably stiff through the drive train and are very light (2.4 pounds for a 54cm single and 6.8 pounds for a Medium/Small tandem), they are especially easy on the saddle and handlebars.  These qualities conspire to make Tetra the choice of traveling tandem teams, privateer racers, endurance road riders and gravel-road randonees.

Calfee Dragonfly featuring our full carbon BarStem, proprietary seatpost housed Di2 battery and internal cable routing, carbon PressFit 30 bottom bracket shell, and a striking translucent, root beer finish weighs 13.5 pounds and costs $12,500.

Our lightest and most technically advanced frame; we use high modulus carbon fiber in all the tubes (66 msi) as well as the lug areas.  Previously, a frame built with all high modulus fiber would be too brittle. We incorporated Boron fiber into the three main tubes to add some toughness and compressive stiffness.  Boron is an attractive reinforcement because the resulting composite combines superior tensile, compressive and flexural strengths, high modulus, and low density in one system.  Combined with the super high tensile stiffness of the carbon, the result is a frame material with the highest stiffness-to-weight ratio on the market.