TIME Machines !

Test4outside.com was lucky enough to visit  the Time factory, camera in hand and curiosity in our hearts. We weren’t allowed to show everything (but we did see everything!) as some manufacturing secrets are, well – secret! But we saw the manufacturing process from A to Z. The French manufacturer is specialized in top-of-the-range products, quality materials and goldsmithing techniques. These handmade bikes come from a micro-chain production, some literally call them “jewels”. Here is our guided visit of the Time production line, a site whose Alcatraz style high security protects their sublime machines…

 

Texte & pictures : Franck Oddoux / Test4outside.com

 

 

 

From the outside you wouldn’t know that you were entering into a factory where the most prestigious bikes are built. North of Grenoble, a few hundred meters from Rossignol’s headquarters, who bought the brand in 2016, you even have trouble actually finding the factory. Time is hidden in a completely confidential perimeter under high surveillance, is dedicated to research. At the entrance the security guards show no sense of humor. With our personalized badgesa ready in our hot little hands we can enter the sacred palace.

 

 

Our visit falls on the same day Martin Fourcade, the multi-medaled Olympic biathlon champion, is there to discover the manufacturing genius of these mythical carbon bikes. The Rossignol group count on using the possible synergies between the two brands, in terms of communication and why not use the technologies as well; cushioning materials to absorb vibrations for example. Time’s journey is sprinkled with innovations. The brand came into being in Nevers in 1986 and the invention of its first automatic road bike pedal came out that same year. Then legendary cyclists carried the brand to its mythical status: Tom Boonen, Laurent Fignon, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, Pedro Delgado, Jeannie Longo, Miguel Indurain, Julien Absalon, Julie Bresset, Thomas Voekler…

 

 

 

HAND MADE

When you slide the door open, you are immediately struck by the passion of all those working there. The care in every detail, and the craftsmanship that combines state-of-the-art technology and traditional skills. Human interventions are numerous, automation is practically non-existent, Time provide exceptional bikes: nearly 100% handmade.

 

The brand has integrated manufacturing techniques such as fiber braiding, but whatever you do, do not use the word “braiding” otherwise the engineer will pick you up on it quickly, his craftsmanship is the heart of the specificity of Time. Here, interweaving kind of socks with technical thread, that will then be injected with epoxy resin creating a circular profile, connector free, that will become the tubes holding mechanical properties that are the DNA of this regal brand, Time.

 

 

Time bikes start their life in the vast hangar where massive machines dispense bobbins of threads.  This is the weaving workshop, since 2002 these machines have been producing bi-directional interweaving (the carbon fibers cross each other) or unidirectional (all the carbon threads are in the same direction). To use car talk; the bi-directional is like the body work; it brings flexibility and comfort, and the notion of the chassis is given by the unidirectional fibers, which provides the bike’s strength and energy.

 

The 120 bobbin machine, 60 turn in one direction, and 60 in the other, creates a rhythmic dance…which terminates at the other of the machine with an interwoven braid.

 

 

 Each carbon thread has a specific number of filaments. Different numbers define them: 3K, 6K or 12K. Paradoxically the strongest is the 3K (HM), the one with the fewest filaments.

 

 

The 12K (HR) is used in the Fluidity bike, its 12,000 filaments give more flexibility.

 

In some of the braiding you will notice some red threads. This is Kevlar, a material that is shock resistant, and which is also used in bullet-proof vests. Carbon is very poor at resisting shocks, so Kevlar is used in the fork’s crown that absorbs the stem’s compression. This is a very important security measure.

Carbon can also be combined with an aramid fiber that Time used on its very first bike in 1991, the Helix. This fiber absorbs vibrations, Time frequently uses it in its forks, in the front triangle, the upper tubes…

 

 

THE ART OF DRESSING

 

After producing the interwoven braidsthe Time engineers transfer to the “dressing” stage. Here’s where Time comes into their own: superposition of the interwoven layers, one on top the other following a very precise operation. At the end of the operation we are rewarded with a frame.

There are a number of specifically defined layers depending on where they are placed: 4 braids for a wishbone, and up to 17 braids for a fork head! These braidsare placed over a mold: the fused core and metallic mandrels are removed once the resin takes its shape.

 

 

Every layer is fused to the others. This particular operation takes an hour of work. For the complete triangle you need 3hours 30mins. The Scylon model, the previous top-of-the-range Time, took 17hours before reaching final assembly.

 

Once the head tube, bottom bracket and seat post are assembled, they cover all the folds to create a smooth seamless surface. The material is heated to 230°C with a heat gun and this causes its consolidation due the resin.

 

 

 

PRESSURE SURGE

The next stage calls for big machinery: the injection press. For each frame model and each size, Time has developed a specific mold. The resin is injected at a predetermined dosage. For a frame you need about a kilo. The polymerization of the resin is accelerated by using heat. The low pressure injection, at 4-bars, allows the resin to rise slowly into the mold, to impregnate each fiber. The surplus exits the other end of the mold. The tricky part of the operation is removing the bubbles: for this, the operator is the only one in charge. It takes 10-mins impregnating the resin and 16-mins of heat. Just like making patisseries, you then just need to allow it cool before unmolding the triangle.

 

 

The surplus transparent resin is easily removed because it is not combined with the carbon. The metal mandrels and the other cores that were used to shape the fiber are then removed. The following operations consist of sanding and preparing the surface of the fiber. There is also machining to remove all the extra-lengths from the bottom bracket, chain stays, the wishbone bonding, the seat post shank and for preparing the head tube.

 

Time also manufactures small carbon pieces, but instead of injecting them, they are made by compression. Then they are heated to 120°C.

 

 

Each bike is hand painted in a cabin. Again, you need immense craftsmanship to obtain the exceptional standards of finishing expected from this regal brand. Next step is fitting the hardware, installing derailleur hangers and the passage of the sheaths. Time offers made-to-measure bikes à la carte. Or the client buys a module consisting of the frame, a seat post and fork. At a chosen retailer you can choose a set of wheels and saddle. 70% of bikes are sold as a module. Each customer, via their configurator, can choose their own paint job and personalize their bike and its name.

 

50 bikes per day can emerge from the center of production.

 

Transamericana avec Rickey Gates



À une époque d'incertitude politique et de montée des différences, le coureur américain d'ultra-trail Rickey Gates part à pied à travers l'Amérique. En plein milieu des élections présidentielles de 2016, qui ont vu le candidat républicain Donald Trump remporter la victoire, Rickey Gates s'est rendu compte que l'Amérique qu'il connaissait n'était pas nécessairement la véritable Amérique. Intrigué et curieux, Gates décide de partir et d'aller voir par lui-même ce qu'il en est, afin d'essayer de comprendre ses compatriotes. Au départ de l'océan Atlantique en Caroline du Sud, le voyage de Gates lui prend 5 mois et près de 6 000 km jusqu'à l'océan Pacifique à San Francisco, en Californie. Ce qui commence comme une quête de la véritable Amérique, pendant une période de troubles politiques, devient finalement une histoire d'identité à mesure que Gates commence à trouver de la clarté et du sens dans sa propre vie.













































































































































































































































































































































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