Dark Cycles?

---Matt---

---Matt---

Likes Bikes and Dirt
As far as I can tell, there isn't a distributor in Aus. It seems like a very small company. What are you after? If you're looking at the Scarab, just take note of the chain stay length... it's nearly 18". On the other hand, the pedals look quite nasty (in a good way :p)

If you're really keen on getting in touch with them, send an email and ask. Most small companies SHOULD be willing to go out of their way to get your business.
 
cvbass

cvbass

Likes Dirt
wanting a set of the arachnid pedals (in the pic posted)
I ave sent an email, but no reply... Might have to call them
 
RaID

RaID

Likes Bikes and Dirt
FYI Dark Cycles is very small company that is an off shoot of a plastic injection molding company. It was started up by a few toolmakers as a side project.
 
D

dilzy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Jeebus said:
the tubing of the frames look way to skinny.
they look like they would snap straight away.
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Well congratulations on having absolutely no idea on the properties of various materials.

I know, because it looks so skinny I guess it's going to snap before an xtc.......There's a little known unobtanium material in the world called STEEL.

On a note to the original question, I asked the maker the exact same question and they said they don't have an Australian distributor, but they do sell direct.
 
---Matt---

---Matt---

Likes Bikes and Dirt
top_dog said:
The Scarab is a beautiful bike. Would be pretty quick too, with the high pivot.
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:D To each his own I guess but I was gonna say it's one of the most ugly bikes I've seen. It looks like a mess with the tubes going everywhere and the linkage shoved in the middle. Also, I can't get over how they think a 17.8" chainstay (that grows through the travel by at least an inch) can be a reasonable concept. Imagine cornering that thing?!?!? You'd wanna have nice open straight courses to ride. There's gotta be a way to fit that linkage further into the frame by 1/2 an inch and shorten it up a bit.

On the other hand I do love the design and the fact that it's basically a cross between a BB7 and a D8 and it comes in at a semi-reasonable weight (11.8lbs/5.35kg with shock). As always, I'd love to have a test ride and maybe prove myself wrong! ;)
 
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s73v30

s73v30

Likes Dirt
could someone possibly think that the wall thickness on there tubing is thicker than others. Doing this it makes it the same strenght with less tube size:confused: gosh fools:p
 
No Skid Marks

No Skid Marks

Blue Mountain Bikes Brooklyn/Lahar/Kowa/PO1NT Raci
I've tried various times to get through to them about bringing them into Oz.
Matt has many good points though,the BB is also high from memory and without to much travel you wouldn't be runing enough sag to compensate. I couldn't see any bennefit in them over a Brooklyn RL,accept personal geo and maybe a touch lighter. Nice design,just needs some tweeks.
They also do a few other nice bits.
 
D

dilzy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
s73v30 said:
could someone possibly think that the wall thickness on there tubing is thicker than others. Doing this it makes it the same strenght with less tube size:confused: gosh fools:p
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The only problem with having thin diameter tubes in compression is the amount of buckling load they can take. Although making them thicker (to increase their I) solves the problem, it makes the tube way heavier than necessary.

I really don't understand how the long chain stay would make it slow to corner? I would think it's the wheel base that effects the nimbleness. I point to every motorbike now, the designers are trying to compact the engine so that for the same wheelbase, they can make a longer swing-arm (I know this may not apply as much to a bicycle).

Those Scarabs do seem to have an excessively high BB, 15.3" is bloody high.
 
top_dog

top_dog

Likes Dirt
---Matt--- said:
Also, I can't get over how they think a 17.8" chainstay (that grows through the travel by at least an inch) can be a reasonable concept.
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My Orange has longer stays than that. It it goes around corners bloody well.

---Matt--- said:
On the other hand I do love the design and the fact that it's basically a cross between a BB7 and a D8
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Thats what I love about it too. However I'm alarmed at the 15.3" BB and the steep HA. If you got one though I'm sure being all small company they would make the necessary adjustments for you.
 
---Matt---

---Matt---

Likes Bikes and Dirt
My point about the chainstays was more related to the extending chainstay length (and wheelbase) due to the high pivot. A lot of people have said, and I agree, that high pivot bikes are harder to corner because they extend through the travel. So when the chainstay length is already long to start with and still extends I through it's travel I can't imagine it cornering well. Perhaps this is related to the wheelbase as dilzy said. To be honest I'd never really considered that point.

I am currently designing a 4.5" high pivot bike that I hope to build around xmas and I'm designing the bike around the sag point. I figure that way the chainstay length comes out at the length that I want when I'm on the bike. I might post up some design pics of it soon for the intense scrutiny of the Farkin crew :) The first high pivot dually Benj (on here) and I worked on seemed to turn out pretty well using this method.



Come to think of it, the BB height and HA on the Scarab kind of remind me of the GT IT1 which would have been an awesome bike if they had just tweaked a few angles in the design.
 
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