We will have 2 or 3 Vertebrae Anubis gear kits ready for purchase by the end of next week, hence we’ve now changed the item status to ’available’ on the products page. Consider this a pre-release; obviously the first kits will go to the first initial buyers. I know that some of you have been waiting a whole year for this product to be released, so I expect the first few Vertebrae Anubis kits will be snapped up pretty quickly.

We have had 25,000 black ceramic pieces made up already for some time now (enough for 53 gear kits).

We are going to release our own slimline 0.7mm gear polymer-coated stainless steel cable housing and proprietry teflon liner so it works together as a fully-functioning system with truly ultra-low friction.
It has already undergone testing in Tenerife, Spain.

Dr. Leslie Brown (Mat. Sci.)
www.vertebr.ae | Precision braking & shifting
+612 9570-1634
(note my spanish mobile is switched off at the moment)

The other main reason for the delay is that we chose to go with a high-performance PEEK liner, another world first for bicycle cable housing (more on PEEK’s unique properties below). Because of that decision, we now expect Vertebrae Anubis to be ready at the end of November [2010] and we firmly believe it will be worth the wait. We don’t want to take orders until it is 100% in stock and ready to ship. When it becomes available, we will update the product page to include anubis as an selectable option.

This linear aromatic polymer is semi-crystalline and is widely regarded as the highest performance thermoplastic material currently available. PEEK has repeating monomers of two ether and ketone groups, hence the name.

What sets PEEK apart from fluoropolymers is the fact that PEEK polymer retains its mechanical properties at extremely high temperatures (continuous service temperature of 500ºF/260ºC). Thinwall PEEK is more flexible and kink resistant than aluminum tubing. PEEK is naturally tan in color and can be pigmented black.

In other related news, our high-performance 99% alumina version should also be available to the public before the end of 2010.

This is a convenient option for any international customers who do not have a paypal account and would like to purchase any of Vertebrae Components’ products. Australian customers are advised to contact us via email and we will then provide you with our Australian bank details. Please note that American Express cards are not accepted at this time.

It’s widely known that Campagnolo have recently reduced the diameter of their Ultrashift gear cable housing to 4.1mm with the introduction of their 11 speed system. Many cyclists have experienced various shifting ‘issues’ while some have even resorted to riding with 10 speed in the interim. We’ve previously reported on the disadvantages of undersize gear cable housing; unless the overall design and/or material of housing is changed, undersized housing leads to imprecise gear shifts (this is because the cable housing is more likely to compress when the gear cable is under tension, since the outer housing has less surface area to inhibit these forces).

This news was released earlier today, so it’s still on the first page of the arueda site! A special thanks to Gonzalo Vilaseca for taking up the opportunity to test our housing and publish the review!

The main benefit of FEP however is that grease and dirt will not adhere to this material. It simply wipes off with a clean rag, leaving your vertebrae housing completely clean and free of grease marks. FEP is very flexible once it has undergone heatshrinking; FEP also has a very high tolerance to heat, solvents and other chemicals compared to conventional polyolefin heatshrink materials.

NOTE: This option will not be available for the basic self-assembly kits since FEP has a straight tubing form factor before heat shrinkage, complicating the postage of our product.

NOTE: The liner material, SpinalWrap, cables and ferrules constitute consumables and will not be covered under this warranty. Neither does it apply to improper installation.

Nevertheless, this is an industry first for cable housing -there are handlebars out there with shorter warranty periods than ours…. this is simply our way of saying that we are confident that our own product will stand the test of time.

If you are planning a Tenerife cycle training vacation, you should be pleased to know that we are now offering a door-to-door cable housing fitment service with a 24 hour turnaround period.

We first pick your bike up directly from your hotel or apartment in Tenerife, where you will meet Dr. Leslie Brown to discuss your specific requirements; we then perform a professional, customised vertebrae installation to your exact specifications, finally returning your bike to you within 24hrs in perfect working condition.

There is currently a €150 surchage for this premium service (price subject to change). We are pleased to also offer you a courtesy rental bike from Pro Bike Hire while we are working on your bike.

Alternatively, you can opt for a rest day and see some of the attractions in Tenerife while we setup vertebrae on your bike. Please call +34 605 56 2020 for more info.

What better place to test the limits of your braking & shifting? Naturally, with all the steep offroad descents to be found, it’s even popular with the DownHill crowd.

For more information on cycling Tenerife, please see our sister site: www.tenerife-training.net

Finally, intervene is available as a front brake line only for single speed bikes.

Now for example, you can get a 25cm section of ceramic housing for only 30€, including free worldwide postage.

The only down side is that due to the substantial price drop, we aren’t left with a significant margin for international distributors (yes they cost that much to manufacture). Therefore, you’ll have to purchase them directly from our online shop (or speak with us over the telephone and order a set that way).

More about the ceramic toughening mechanism in ZTA:Transformation toughening is a breakthrough in achieving high-strength ceramic materials with very high fracture toughness. ZTA exhibits an internal mechanism for actually inhibiting crack propagation. A crack in a normal ceramic travels all the way through the ceramic with little inhibition, resulting in immediate and brittle fracture and catastrophic failure. Transformation Toughened Zirconia (TTZ) exhibits a fracture toughness (or resistance to crack propagation) which is 3-6 times higher than normal zirconia and most other ceramics. TTZ is so tough that it can be struck with a hammer or even fabricated into a hammer for driving nails. The stress intensity factor values for window glass (silica), transformation toughened alumina, and a typical iron/carbon steel range from 1 to 20 to 50 respectively.

Components manufactured from Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) show considerable improvement in strength and toughness over alpha alumina engineering ceramics. The increase in strength and toughness in ZTA is attributable to the stress induced transformation toughening mechanism which is introduced with the addition of optimized amounts of fine zirconia particles dispersed thoughout the alumina body.

Typical zirconia content is between 10% and 20%. As a crack grows through the ceramic, the crystal structure of the zirconia particles in the region of the crack changes from the metastable tetragonal phase to the stable monoclinic phase. The change increases the volume of the particles by about 3-4% and generates compressive stresses in the alumina matrix. This process closes the crack; although it does not ‘heal’ the damage, it does act as an energy barrier to further crack growth. The addition of zirconia to the alumina matrix increases fracture toughness by two times and can be improved by as high as four times, while compressive & flexural strength can be more than doubled.