11 Apr 2007

Okay, so the weight (har har) has been long and painful, but we finally got some good news from the refinishers in regards to our new Ether and Ether SL frames.

To make sure everyone is up to speed, here’s the background.

About a year ago, with talk of all the great new steels coming out and all the great new braze-ons available and how 2007 was going to be The Year of the Supersteel and blah blah blah, we decided that was all the impetus we needed to build the raciest, most pared down Werks steel MTB hardtail we could. We’ll, when I say ‘we could’ I really mean ‘we should’. We didn’t want to cut any corners, use any trickery, or compromise the ride qualities in any way. I mean, if we added a carbon seat-tube, or used smaller diameter tubing to save weight, then it would all be a bit of a joke, right? It would be like a steet hardtail, but worse, so what would be the point?

One of the key factors to producing the best steel bike we could, was re-evaluating absolutely every aspect of the frame, no matter how small. One particular area we’d like to bring special attention to, is paint. Paint suprisingly adds quite a lot of weight to the frame, so we started looking at ways to not only reduce the weight of the overall finish, but also further protect the frame from rust, scratches etc. Depending on how many layers, how thick those layers are, whether it’s paint or powder, a frames’ finish can add anywhere between 75-150g to the total weight. That’s a fair wack!

After a lot of searching and a lot of homework, we found a refinishing system specifically designed for steel, and specifically designed not to add any dimensionality to parts it’s applied to - just like anodising for Aluminium. Originally designed for the equipment used by the US Navy SEALS, the coating we apply to the Ether and Ether SL is a super tough, baked on ceramic-based finish that adds less than 30g to the entire frame, is as tough as powdercoat (arguably tougher) and is available in a whole slew of cool industrial/military colours.

And the best part? The Thylacine Ether is as far as we know, the only steel frame in existence to utilise this amazing high-tech, lightweight finish.

More information will follow in the next couple of days. The first few Ethers are available in Silver and Antique Bronze, but subsequent orders will be available in Stainless, Blue Titanium, Desert Pink, and Light Sage. This finish because it’s applied similar to paint will also be eventually offered in a few different patterns.

Posted by warwick @ 7:43 am

2 Responses to “It’s not called Ether for nothing.”

1. Dicky Says:
   April 11th, 2007 at 2:59 pm

   Sweet.
   I didn’t know Navy Seals were made of steel.

2. thylacine Says:
   April 11th, 2007 at 10:00 pm

   Hell yeah! Each one of them has a picture of Superman framed above their beds.

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