No, not Cipo! But that would be cool. What a stud.
Anyhow, I finally received cost estimates for the carbon-fiber molds. Really not that bad. Maybe $30K for 5 frame sizes. Then I’d need to find a manufacturer that can make custom carbon bottle cages and another that can make the unique stems but that should be pretty easy.
Still kind of considering the Kickstarter project. Would likely need $60K-70K in funding. The only hiccup is having a real-life prototype. I could have the frame machined in RENshape and then hang the components on it for a photo-shoot. It certainly wouldn’t be rideable. I haven’t messed around with the geometry. It’s pretty standard and should provide for a very neutral handling bike. Nimble but yet very stable.
Thoughts? Basically all I really need to do at this point is bust out an awesome CAD model of the medium or large size. With that, I can create the renderings, produce engineering drawings and have the RENshape model cut and painted. Nominal investment, really. Basically my time plus a couple thousand for the RENshape model.