Vertebrae Ceramic Components

Now taking pre-orders for shipment in July 2013.

Dr. Leslie Brown — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:13:33 +0000

We normally process & send each order as it is recieved… however, we’re just letting our customers know in advance that we will be visiting Australia from 19/05/13 until 02/07/13 for a much needed break from Tenerife – this is a combined business trip, family reunion & honeymoon all rolled into one! Therefore, if you are placing an online order during this period, the soonest we can send it out to you will be within a few days of our return (i.e. 05/07/13). We will still have email access during this time and the online ordering process won’t be affected. We look forward to getting back to work again in early July. Apologies for the delays & thanks for all your support!

Minor website update

Dr. Leslie Brown — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 11:40:20 +0000

We have just performed a server upgrade along with the website software. We are aware this is causing some problems viewing the homepage. The solution is to ensure to clear/delete the “cookies” in your webs browser.

Latest Vertebrae advertisements

Dr. Leslie Brown — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 20:31:06 +0000

The latest news is that we have placed a series of adverts in the reknowned Rouleur Magazine, starting with issue 33 which is on sale now. Needless to say, here at Vertebrae Components, we are very proud to appear in such a high quality publication. Shown here is the cover artwork, not our ad.

2012 Eurobike Exhibitors

Dr. Leslie Brown — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:41:29 +0000

For 2012, Vertebrae Components is working closely with industrial designer Maximilian-Peter Werner, who is in charge of Norland Cycles. Norland Cycles is a new downhill brand originally conceived in Chile. It features a dual-chain transmission which eliminates interference between suspension & pedaling.

Maximilian now lives in Finland and hopes to take the bike into production there. Thanks very much Max – good luck with Norland Cycles!

Since we just have one “show bike” so far this year, if you’re planning on displaying a show bike for 2012 Eurobike, it’s still not to late to contact us to arrange something before September!

Free samples at Eurobike 2011

Dr. Leslie Brown — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:59:35 +0000

	For 2011, we are again represented at Eurobike. There will also be 50 free 2″ samples of vertebrae up for grabs in the clear colour.
We have organised to have the new Vertebrae anubis on display at Eurobike 2011, mounted on an all-new show bike built by A2J at the Carbon Sports / Lightweight tent on press day (30th August). We will also have a few different lengths of vertebrae housing on demonstration for you to touch and feel at the German Carbon Group stand (THM-Carbones booth in Hall A2 booth 205).

Vertebrae Anubis Update

Dr. Leslie Brown — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:26:32 +0000

Just a quick update on the Vertebrae Anubis situation. We now have 10,000 individual vertebrae in stock with another 10,000 pieces en route. Although this may surprise some people, the major delay has been the production of our custom PEEK liner, not the ceramic parts.

Note that this product is intended for use exclusively with campagnolo 11 speed systems, as no modification of the ergolevers is required.

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.

Vertebrae Anubis coming soon!

Dr. Leslie Brown — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:28:12 +0000

Just a quick update:
Thanks very much for the continued interest in Vertebrae Anubis! Actually there is some good news!!

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.

I am currently working on Vertebrae Components here in Australia over the next month, then I will be going back to Tenerife on July 18 and I think we can expect it to be ready for sale by the end of July (finally!). The main wait now is just for the teflon liner to be sent to us…

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

Mechanical properties of 96%, 99.5% alumina and ZTA.

Dr. Leslie Brown — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:44:57 +0000

It’s that time of year again, so you can expect to see more frequent Vertebrae updates! Here’s some detailed information about all three materials used in the construction of vertebrae ceramic cable housing, namely: 96%, 99.5% alumina and ZTA. We’ve included both the mechanical and thermal properties in a tabulated format.

96% Alumina Material Properties

Property	Units	Test	Value
Density	gm/cc	ASTM-C20	3.72
Crystal Size	Microns	Thin-Section	6
Flexural Strength (MOR), 20 °C	–	–	358 (52)
Elastic Modulus, 20 °C	GPa (psi x 10⁶)	ASTM-F417	303 (44)
Poisson’s Ratio, 20 °C	–	ASTM-C848	0.21
Compressive Strength	MPa(psi x 10³)	ASTM-C773	2068 (300)
Hardness	GPa(kg/mm²)	KNOOP 1000 gm	11.5 (1175)
		Rockwell 45 N	78
Tensile Strength, 25 °C	MPa (psi x 10³)	ACMA TEST #4	221 (32)
Fracture Toughness K(Ic)	Mpa m^1/2	NOTCHED BEAM	4-5
Thermal Conductivity, 20 °C	Wm degrees K	ASTM-C408	24.7
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion	1 x 10^-6/degrees C	ASTM-C372	8.2
Specific Heat, 100 °C	J/kg*K	ASTM-E1269	880
Thermal Shock Resistance, (delta)Tc	degrees C	NOTE 3	250
Maximum Use Temperature	degrees C	NO-LOAD COND.	1700

99.5% Alumina Material Properties

Property	Units	Test	Value
Density	gm/cc	ASTM-C20	3.90
Crystal Size	Microns	Thin-Section	6
Flexural Strength (MOR), 20 °C	–	–	379 (55)
Elastic Modulus, 20 °C	GPa (psi x 10⁶)	ASTM-F417	370 (54)
Poisson’s Ratio, 20 °C	–	ASTM-C848	0.22
Compressive Strength	MPa(psi x 10³)	ASTM-C773	2600 (377)
Hardness	GPa(kg/mm²)	KNOOP 1000 gm	14.1 (1440)
		Rockwell 45 N	83
Tensile Strength, 25 °C	MPa (psi x 10³)	ACMA TEST #4	262 (38)
Fracture Toughness K(Ic)	Mpa m^1/2	NOTCHED BEAM	4-5
Thermal Conductivity, 20 °C	Wm degrees K	ASTM-C408	30.0
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion	1 x 10^-6/degrees C	ASTM-C372	8.2
Specific Heat, 100 °C	J/kg*K	ASTM-E1269	880
Thermal Shock Resistance, (delta)Tc	degrees C	NOTE 3	200
Maximum Use Temperature	degrees C	NO-LOAD COND.	1750

ZTA Material Properties

Property	Units	Test	Value
Density	gm/cc	ASTM-C20	4.05
Crystal Size	Microns	Thin-Section	2
Flexural Strength (MOR), 20 °C	–	–	450 (65)
Elastic Modulus, 20 °C	GPa (psi x 10⁶)	ASTM-F417	360 (52)
Poisson’s Ratio, 20 °C	–	ASTM-C848	0.23
Compressive Strength	MPa(psi x 10³)	ASTM-C773	2900 (421)
Hardness	GPa(kg/mm²)	KNOOP 1000 gm	14.4 (1475)
		Rockwell 45 N	85
Tensile Strength, 25 °C	MPa (psi x 10³)	ACMA TEST #4	290 (42)
Fracture Toughness K(Ic)	Mpa m^1/2	NOTCHED BEAM	5-6
Thermal Conductivity, 20 °C	Wm degrees K	ASTM-C408	27.0
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion	1 x 10^-6/degrees C	ASTM-C372	8.3
Specific Heat, 100 °C	J/kg*K	ASTM-E1269	885
Thermal Shock Resistance, (delta)Tc	degrees C	NOTE 3	300
Maximum Use Temperature	degrees C	NO-LOAD COND.	1500

New Vertebrae labels double as frame protectors

Dr. Leslie Brown — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:08:51 +0000

The new Vertebrae labels double as frame protectors. These prevent any damage to your frame caused by cable housing rub. We now have them available in three colours: clear, black and yellow. If there’s a colour you’d like see, please contact us for a special order…

Vertebrae high-purity 99.5% alumina ceramic product release

Dr. Leslie Brown — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:41:43 +0000

	We’re proud to release the newest edition of vertebrae manufactured from high-purity alumina (99.5%). Retail price for the brake or gear kits is €140, while this is an €80 premium option for the complete kits.
The 99.5% alumina composition exhibits both a greater compressive/tensile strength and stiffness when compared to the standard 96% alumina version. It adds a greater margin of safety, especially towards the application of ceramic brake lines.