Hang on to your lathes as German frame maker, Actofive, wants to join Pole in the CNC mountain bike arena.
You will be forgiven for not knowing who Actofive is as we only heard of them a few weeks back when we wrote about this stunning steel full suspension frame with CNC machined rear triangle.
The German brand is now stepping up its CNC game though and has teased a completely CNC machined bike with large alloy blocks making the front and rear of the new bike.
It’s not a new technique. Pole has been machining alloy halves and bonding them together for a few years, and Forestal’s prototype bikes are bolted, but Actofive will still be 1 of just a few brands that take this approach to frame manufacture.
The teaser image shows 4 large chunks of alloy that have been cut out to the rough shape of a full-suspension bike. 2 blocks will be machined to make up the front triangle in halves, while we expect the rear to follow on from the P-Train that has already been tested.
It remains to be seen how Actofive plans to join the two halves. Will they bold, bond or weld, well probably not weld as the heat generated would likely warp the structure. So will it be glue, screw or both?
As always I’ll keep fishing around in the world of niche-cycles to bring you the latest on this project and more in due time.