“DT have done a nice job of engineering a beautiful fork that performs very well, with a very plush initial stroke that will appeal to riders who place comfort and small bump sensitivity high on their list of priorities.”
“With its new F 535 ONE, DT Swiss has made an impressive comeback to the fork market. […] All adjustment screws and valves are concealed beneath high-quality covers and, thanks to the ingenious damping system, need only be used very rarely.”
“With it’s world-first technologies, the F 535 ONE is the only fork which overcomes the trade-off between small bump sensitivity and mid-stroke support.”
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How it’s made – the crown of our F 535 fork.
FORGING:
What comes out of the forging machine has got the rough shape of the crown. But it comes with a thick flash, excess metal which is squeezed out of the cavities and has to be removed. Two sets of specially made tools are used to remove the flash. In a first step the gross of the flash is cut off. The second trimming removes all but a small bit of the flash.
To make the raw part ready for the next work steps, the remaining bit of the flash is sanded by hand, leaving perfectly smooth surface. To remove all sharp edges and to create an uniform surface, the raw crown is then tumbled. Tumbling takes place in a big tank filled with small ceramic grains. The whole tank vibrates at a high frequency, leaving a smooth and uniform part finish. #engineeringperformance
How it’s made – the crown of our F 535 fork.
CNC Machining:
What makes the production of the crown completely different to all the other forks is the next step. After forging the rough shape, the crown is taken to a five axis CNC machine where the whole upper section of the F 535 ONE crown is 3D machined. This ensures a precision fit of the covers and seals and it let us manage precisely the strength to weight ratio. No one else does this in the bike industry, this is where high tech produces high precision and allows a unique design for the F 535 ONE.
Three different machines and multiple fixations are required to machine all interface sections of a F 535 ONE crown. #engineeringperformance
How it’s made – the crown of our F 535 fork.
FINALIZATION:
After all the machined interface areas have been covered, the crown is ready to receive a powder coated base layer. This layer protects the aluminum surface and evens all imperfections in the surface for a clean and durable finish.
Part to protect the base layer, part for stealthy looks, the F 535 ONE comes with a flat black powder coat finish. #engineeringperformance
Our UK brand manager takes color coordination very seriously, it’s no surprise that he even custom made some matching F 535 fork decals. #factorysquadrides
Next up in our DT Swiss Factory Squad series is our Hybrid Product Manager Nils’s @starlingcycles Murmur. Coming from a dirt jump background, steel has always been Nils' frame material of choice. His bike is set up pretty radical; super slack and long with steep trails in mind. To make it even more special, he decided to strip off the paint from his F535 fork crown – he doesn’t care about warranty… 😉
DT Swiss components:
F 535 ONE fork (stripped crown)
R 535 ONE shock
Prototype wheels 😉
#factorysquadrides#ambitiouscyclist
HOW TO: F 535 ONE - Step 7: POWDER COATING
First, a grey base layer/primer is applied to the raw part. The parts are electrically charged to make sure the color powder sticks to their surface. Machines cover the easily accessible parts of the lower while humans take over the hard-to-get-to areas. A fast-paced work environment demands high accuracy from both man and machine since the whole process is not easy to stop when mistakes happen.
Directly after the powder is applied the lowers run through an oven heated to 200° C where the powder is melted to form the actual coating. After that, the whole process is repeated for the final color. #engineeringperformance
HOW TO: F 535 ONE - Step 6: CLEANING
Yes, cleaning is crucial for high end performance. The lower is automatically washed with different solvents and water in order to make sure it is 100% clean and degreased, ready for powder coating. #engineeringperformance
HOW TO: F 535 ONE - Step 5: SANDING, POLISHING & PRECISION MACHINING
The cold and deburred lower is sanded and polished for a uniform and smooth surface. For the final fork assembly and for its smooth function in the bike, all the contact areas of the lower are CNC machined in a few different steps ensuring perfect alignment of all critical areas: the wheel-, the brake-, the bushing-, the fender- and the brake hose clamp-interfaces. #engineeringperformance
HOW TO: F 535 ONE - Step 3: INJECTION AND COOLING
The liquid alloy is injected into the mold, cooled immediately by water and removed from the mold for further cooling. Since a magnesium die casting machine can’t simply be switched off in the evening like you can turn off your computer when you leave the office, production runs 24/7. Until here it’s an almost fully automated & robotized process. #engineeringperformance
HOW TO: F 535 ONE - Step 2: The Mold
The mold is made from steel using a mix of 3D machining and eroding. It is composed of a top and bottom part, the core that creates the hollow section inside the lowers, and two side inserts which create the hollow sections of each dropout.
The liquid magnesium is injected into the mold through four entry ports and exits it into multiple overflow cavities. It’s important to make sure no air gets trapped inside the part and to always assure the mold is completely filled resulting in a faultless part.
#engineeringperformance
HOW TO : F 535 ONE - Step 1: MAGNESIUM ALLOY
The liquid Magnesium alloy starts out as bars of solid magnesium that are fed into the melting oven by an automatic feeder and heated at 680°C temperature at which the alloy becomes fully liquid. For ideal production efficiency the liquid magnesium is stored in a highly insulated melting oven.
From there, it is brought into the machine that injects it into the mold. The mold is closed by hydraulic cylinders exerting a force of 350 tonnes to keep it closed and tight. The actual injection then only takes 0.2 (!) seconds.
After that the pressure is kept up for a few seconds to allow the material to fill all the voids and to start cooling. Next, the mold opens and the part is removed by a robot. The mold is then sprayed with a lubrication fluid and cooled before it closes again to begin a new cycle. #engineeringperformance
HOW TO: F 535 ONE
The standard way to make a fork lower is a magnesium die casting process. However, and like in real life, it takes a lot to get the best out of it. In the next posts, we show you the process from an magnesium block to the lower of the F 535 ONE.
#engineeringperformance#competitiveedge
What does the bike of the future look like?
The team at @magura_official had excatly this question in mind. The result is this MCi concept bike allowing them to take their quest for a mountain bike without external cables and tubings one step closer.
Wheels: XMC 1200
Fork: F 232 ONE
#engineeringperformance#competitiveedge
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by Dan Roberts
