tsubasa resurrects banned takhion bike frame to study effective rider positioning

tsubasa resurrects banned takhion bike frame to study effective rider positioning
all images courtesy of tsubasa bicycles

bike design. the original ‘takhion’ frame was constructed back in the late 1970’s by ukrainian frame builder regniald vorontsov, who used to build and design bicycles for the USSR national cycling team which won olympic gold competing against italy’s cinelli team. afterwards, the frame broke the ‘hour world record’ and other prestigious competitions after which the design was banned by the UCI and resulted in manufacturing discontinuation. 

the ‘MASS’ project was introduced as a design study to experiment with frame layouts

tsubasa bicycles and reginald vorontsov decided to collaborate and resurrect the design in carbon fiber calling it ‘MASS’. some changes were made compared to the original with performance in mind. the advantage of a single-piece carbon fiber made-to-measure frame is that when under the physical pressure during riding occurs, forces don’t resonate at the joints, but instead along the entire frame, helping counter balance under tough torsion conditions. 

biking without a saddle eliminates unnecessary components while still keeping the rider arched in position

the ‘takhion’ becomes more responsive and leads to greater power transfer which promotes efficient riding. the angled handle bars force a rider to slightly tuck in their elbows, engaging a bigger group of arm and back muscles. this also generates more power when riding, resulting in greater speeds.

the wide handlebars forced riders to tuck in their elbows, engaging more muscles 

the team didn’t add any coat finishing to reduce weight 

each piece was molded together for a single piece of carbon fiber

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