Materials

Scandium
Followers of modern cycling have seen the emergence of scandium frame bicycles. But what is scandium?

Scandium is number 21 on the periodic table of elements. It was discovered over a 120 years ago but gained importance during the Cold War, when Soviet scientists and engineers began experimenting with it as an aluminum alloying element. They discovered that it allowed them to weld aluminums they previously could not.

In the bicycle world, scandium refers to frame tubing made from an aluminum alloy that includes the element scandium. In most cases, the tubing base is a high-strength, 7000-series aluminum alloy. Scandium allows a stronger, non-weldable base aluminum alloy to be welded. Previously, these and similar base alloys could only be made into a frame by bonding them together using high-strength adhesives and cast or machined lugs-almost like high-tech tinker toys.

Scandium opens up new opportunities for frame engineers. In the past, aluminum tubing required larger diameter tubes to achieve the strength necessary to support riding. The larger diameter tubes resulted in stiff ride characteristics, which are fine for time trials but less than ideal for century rides. With scandium tubing, frame engineers are able to use smaller diameter tubes, thinner cross sections, and shaped tubes to tune the ride characteristics of each frame while using less material. This results in comfortable, efficient and light frames.

Scandium frame tubing also has increased fatigue life and improved failure modes when compared to traditional aluminum frame tubing. For many of the same metallurgical reasons that scandium allows non-weldable alloys to be welded, scandium adds to the fatigue life and durability of frames.

This technology and these benefits do not come free and easy. Raw scandium is not as abundant as many other alloying elements and is difficult to extract from raw ore. Production of scandium alloys is relatively new and is being done on a much smaller scale than other aluminum alloys. Welding scandium requires the use of new technologies and different materials than other aluminums. Proper heat treatment is critical to frame strength and integrity, which prohibits many aluminum frame manufacturers from being able to work with scandium. Most importantly, knowledge of the frame building material and proper design are still vitally necessary.

True Temper S3 Tubing
OX Platinum tubing is a proprietary product of True Temper. They developed the material in partnership with the U.S. Steel Alliance.

While the tubing is lightweight and delivers the near legendary ride of fine steel, it has one other very significant advantage. Due to OX Platinum’s composition, the tubing actually gains strength in heat-affected areas. So, welding or brazing actually increases the materials fatigue life and impact resistance.

Good engineers (like those at Salsa!) understand the values these tubing characteristics offer and take full advantage of them in our frame designs.

What Is True Temper S3 (Super Strength Steel) Tubing?
The secret behind True Temper S3 tubing lies in its proprietary heat-treating process. The goal of the heat-treating is to make the ultimate material strength as high as possible, while not making it so strong that it loses ductility and becomes brittle. Because S3 tubing is stronger, tubes can be made much thinner than traditional steel frame tubes. The thinner tubes result in a lighter frame. As well as being optimized for strength, S3 tubes are also carefully shaped to improve ride quality, adding lateral stiffness where needed, and increasing frame strength throughout.

Why Isn’t Everyone Using S3 Tubing? If S3 is so hot, why aren’t more folks using it? It all boils down to increased difficulties in production. Because S3 tubing is so hard, it is very difficult to work with. It destroys cutting tooling very quickly. Traditional tube cutting methods will work, but are difficult and very time consuming. Alternative modern cutting techniques are very expensive. The difficulties don’t stop there. Because S3 tubing is so thin, it must be cut with great precision to ensure tight, gap free joints that maximize the weld area. The welding must also be done with great care because the tubing is so thin and can be ruined easily.

Why Does Salsa Use S3 Tubing? Our motivations are really selfish. We love the feel of steel and we love light bikes too! S3 tubing allows us to offer the great ride quality of steel at a much, much lighter weight. Thus, the Primero is born. Not an overly stiff criterium-style frame, but an all-day road riding and road race frame that offers a unique blend of performance and ride quality.

Merino Wool
Merino wool comes from a breed of fine-wooled white sheep that produces a fleece of exceptional quality. Merino fibers are fine and light making it an ideal fiber for year round wear. In warm temperatures, Merino wool wicks away moisture (up to 30% of its weight) before it begins to feel damp. In cool temperatures, Merino wool is warmer because there is an insulating layer of dry air next to your skin. Merino fibers breathe eliminating buildup of unpleasant odors. Merino is a renewable fiber, leaving little impact on the planet.

Moisture Wicking Airies Micro Plus fabric
Micro Plus fabric uses different sized synthetic filaments to create a soft, comfortable feel. These macro and micro fibers’ unique shapes siphon moisture away from your skin to the outside face of the fabric. There, a waffle-like surface texture increases the surface area thus speeding evaporation, leaving you cool, and oh-so-stylishly dry.

Micro Plus utilizes a mechanical wicking process, thanks to those multi-sized fibers, and can never wash away or wear out like chemical treatments which many other jersey fabrics use.