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Ridley
Helium SL - 2014

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Lighter than Air

Every frame company wants to tout that it has the lightest frame in the industry. And yet, constructing an ultra-light frame just to be ogled by blogs and techies doesn't serve much of a purpose unless the ride is also something to behold. Ridley Bikes has constructed the Helium SL, which sits squarely at the front of the market's low-weight road frames. And it's rideable to the Nth degree. 


So how light is light? And, how does it ride? These are the two questions we'll address. Starting with the weight, the SL is a mere 1050grams, frame and fork. With the 300gram fork, this leaves just 750grams for the frame. This was achieved through the use of a sophisticated carbon selection, utilizing a strategic placement of 60, 40, and 30 ton high-modulus carbon fiber. Before the SL, the Helium featured a predominantly 30 ton carbon composition. Why is this important? Well, the 'ton' designation in '60 ton' refers to the carbon's ability to withstand 60 tons of pressure per square millimeter. So, basic logic tells us that a stronger carbon fiber requires less carbon to be used. In addition, on top of the carbon, Ridley bonded a nano resin. This decreased weight and increased strength.


Not surprisingly, Ridley wasn't done yet. To further reduce weight, Ridley constructed the front triangle of the SL with a monocoque design. This means that the entire front triangle (head tube, down tube, seat tube, and bottom bracket lug) is made in one piece. How does this save weight? Well the seatstays, chainstays, and dropouts are bonded to the existing triangle by applying resin and then over-wrapping the bonding points with more carbon fiber. With the SL, this application only occurs once, and you can imagine the added weight of repeating this process at every tube juncture of the frame. Furthermore, Ridley shaved grams by giving the SL a slightly smaller head tube dimension than the Helium, with a 1-1/8 x 1-1/4in tapered design instead of the Helium's 1-1/8 x 1-1/2in.


The SL has also received a new tube shape design. The SL takes its design inspiration from the circle. Yes, the circle. You've probably seen this on the Helium, but the SL does away with the massive, oversized tubing. It features rounded tubing emanating from the seat tube juncture, which slowly becomes box-shaped as it approaches the head tube and bottom bracket junctures. As Ridley puts it, this system creates a clean transition from stiffness to comfort. Supporting this ideology, the rear triangle has been designed to intermix the two. The asymmetric, flat chainstays provide a stiff platform for power transfer to the rear wheel. Meanwhile, the ultra-thin seatstays create a vertically compliant ride quality without sacrificing rigidity.


And on the subject of rigidity, even though it's a lightweight, Ridley says that the SL is actually stiffer than the Helium. To be exact, Ridley's testing has concluded that the SL is 8% stiffer at the bottom bracket, 4% stiffer at the head tube, and the new fork design not only weighs 90 grams less, but it also has a 20% increased side stiffness. How does this translate to speed? In rudimentary terms, ride quality hinges on what's called a stiffness-to-weight ratio, or specific modulus. And while the mathematics behind the determination of specific modulus are too complicated to explain here, it's not a complicated notion to grasp that a frame with low weight and higher stiffness will efficiently transfer power.


Ridley has also made the SL what it calls 'future ready.' This is a fancy way to say that its 100% internal cable routing has been designed to accommodate both electronic and mechanical shift systems. And in the case of the seatpost, the SL's features a 27.2mm post. This moves away from the ever popular integrated seatposts -- saving weight and making packing easier.



The Ridley Helium SL is available in the color Matte black and in five sizes from XX-Small to X-Large.


Frame Material
60T, 40T, 30T high-modulus carbon fiber
Fork
4ZA carbon
Fork Material
carbon fiber
Steer Tube Type
1-1/8 x 1-1/4 tapered
Dropout Type
vertical
Headset Included
yes
Bottom Bracket Type
PF30
Seatpost Diameter
27.2 mm
Cable Routing
internal
Compatible Components
Shimano, SRAM, Campagnolo
Claimed Weight
1050 g
Frame-Only Weight
750 g
Fork Weight
300 g
Recommended Use
road cycling
Manufacturer Warranty
5 years frame

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