Rocket Science Components 1990s bling

[fiendish feet]

Back in the mid 1990s i remember visiting my LBS which was then called
bike trax Brentwood in Essex
I bought a lovely stem very light made by Rocket science it cost £130.
same price as the Syncros cattle-prods in the shop.
The Branding was a oval gold metallic Sticker with a black rocket.With Rocket Science above and below . really cool
they made sexy seatposts as well .
I wonder if any survived i never see it for sale or spoken about..

 

[MR OX]

Re:

I recently brought a nos silver Rocket Science 1 1/4 stem from ebay, it was missing it's top cap but was cheap, I think £15 buy it now + p&p they had a black one which I almost did the buy it now on but had a bid on in the end, I think they started the bidding at £5 but it made more than the buy it now. Mine has a later graphic but is really light & nicely made.

 

[fiendish feet]

Re: Rocket Science Components bling

The Rocket Science Zero-G stem combines epoxy composites with aluminum to yield a light weight enduring stem. The quill tube is internally re-inforced with a carbon fiber/epoxy composite which is said to reduce the weight of the quill tube. The wall thickness of the quill tube is 1.37mm, and is lined internally with another 1.37mm of the carbon composite. The quill tube is bonded to a vertical tube, amde of aluminum alloy, which is welde to the extension tube. This vertical tube has a 3mm wall thickness. The extension tube is round, with a 33.07mm outer diameter.

Rocket Science mentions in accompanying literature that the extension tube is cutom extruded for them to have a thicker top and bottom wall with narrower sides. If this were true, it would tend to add structure where needed while while minimizing excess weight. The binder tube also appeears to be an extrusion, that has the front milled so there is a protusion which will house the binder bolt. The hole bored from the top leaves a cradle for the binder bolt head and a pass through for the bolt shank. The lower side of the binder assembly is also bored, in this case its to make a hole for a stainless steel nutsert which is pressed in from the bottom for the binder bolt to anchor into.

The binder tube and the vertical tube at the rear have a hole drilled through one side to relieve heat at time of welding. The vertical, extension and binder tubes are TIG welded using a contiuous welds that begins on the bottom of the stem. The binder bolt is made of cadmium plated steel having 6mm x 1mm pitched threads. It's 16mm long with a 5mm hex head and weighs 5.5 grams. The expander bolt passes through a 4.5mm thick disc of aluminum. The disc lies on top of the quill tube within the vertical tube to support the expander bolt head, while it remains recessed in the vertical tube. The expander bolt is made of steel, with 8mm x 1.25mm pitched threads, is 130mm long with a 6mm hex fitting and weighs 54 grams.

The wedge Rocket Science chose to use is the Brodie cast magnesium wedge which weighs 9 1/2 grams (rather than the 14 gram average). This 63.5 gram weight is up slightly from the 61.5 grams of the bolt and wedge used the first year of Zero G production. In the first year, the bolt was only 110mm long weighing 46.5 grams and a machined from rod wedge weighed 15 grams. The longer bolt is necessary becase of the shape the Brodie wedge is cast in. The vertical tube and bolt are closed off witha Black plastic press-in cap. The sides of the extesion tube are etched with the Rocket Science logo.

The Zero-G comes in three diameters, 1", 1 1/8", or 1 1/4" in three lengths 120mm, 135mm, or 150mm. It is made in a 0 degree or a 10 degree rise and anodized in three colors, Black, Lavender, or Silver. The weight of the Zero G in a 10 degree rise , 1" diameter, 135mm is 230.5 grams, a 0 degree, 1" diameter with 150mm length is 240 grams.
[urlG-zero stem by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr][/url]
BikePro,com

 

[fiendish feet]

Rocket science Zero g stem mid 1990s
[url=https://flic.kr/p/296RPHm][img...r.com/1785/43385850162_007ea9a0f8_b.jpg[/img]zero g stem by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr[/url]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/28c7xPh][img...r.com/1826/42788949074_a894dec94b_b.jpg[/img]Zero G Stem by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr[/url]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/27UwM7V][img...kr.com/915/42601296085_2467a2aa93_b.jpg[/img]Zero G Stem by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr[/url]

 

[MR OX]

Re:

Wowsers! yes mine is like the top one 0 rise 1 1/4" interesting about the black plastic cap, I had an alloy centre from an alpinestars stem I was planing to use, looks like I'll have to find a more suitable item!

 

[fiendish feet]

Rocket Science entered the bicycle market with a great deal of promise. It was said to have been founded by an alienated space or defense engineer/designer. Their carbon fiber implementations were unusual and seemed to be respected by other designers and riders. As with many people in the bike industry, hobby interest in bicycles do not make a sucessful business. The bike industry more than any other is populated with hobbyist riders that think they can run a business. The last throes of Rocket Science had them acting as the exclusive distributor of Joe's Components. They went out of business with no notice leaving a vacated building.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/KAcjjH][img]...kr.com/932/28610309757_807bd73cbb_z.jpg[/img]Rocket science wingz bars by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr[/url]
In 1992, the Denver Bicycle Design Center adopted the brand name "Rocket Science" for marketing their products. The first with any real success was their Wingz flat style Mountain handlebar. Wingz are a carbon fiber/epoxy re-inforced handlebar, but rather than have the carbon fiber on the outside, in this instance, it's placed inside the outer aluminum sleeve of the handlebar. The outer sleeve, which has the appearance of a standard handlebar, is made of 6061-T6 straight gauge aluminum alloy that has a 7/10ths of a millimeter wall thickness. This sleeve is bulged at the center raising the outer diameter to the standard 25.4mm. The bulged, center area is 2 1/2" in length, then the outer diameter reduces to 22.2mm, which it remains at, until the aluminum outer sleeve ends, on both sides. Carbon fiber, covered with epoxy, is placed around the outside of a partially inflated sheet plastic tube, which is inserted into the outer aluminum sleeve. The sheet plastic inner tube is fully inflated to hold it firmly against the outer aluminum sleeve, while heated to cure. One of the concerns in composite work of this sort is the creation of what are known as "voids". Voids are in fact, trapped air pockets. To allow any residual air to escape while the inflated tube is under pressure, a very tiny hole has been drilled through the aluminum sleeve in the center bulge area. This hole not only allows air to migrate out, but once the inner chamber is fully inflated, a small amount of the epoxy passes through the hole. The rate of cure for this excess epoxy through the hole is used as a measure for the rate of cure of the epoxy impregnated fiber between the inner plastic sleeve and the outer aluminum sleeve or tube. Some thought has been given to the placement of the carbon material inside the outer sleeve. It is made considerably thicker in the "bulged" area, because the greatest amount of stress is raised in this area. The thickness of the carbon material decreases to the point where there is little to none in the six inches toward the ends, on both sides. The variation in thickness mimics the tapering of the tubing walls in handlebars made only of aluminum alloy. The use of the carbon/epoxy on the interior is said, in Rocket Science literature, to make a considerably stronger handlebar by weight, over the competing technique of wrapping the exterior of an aluminum handlebar form. The ends of the Wingz bar are plugged by a CNC machined aluminum cap which is snug fitting and bonded in place. This aluminum cap, holds apart, and re-inforces the thinner and un-carbon/epoxyed ends, which prevents the ends from crushing when cinch type bar ends are used on it. The outermost surface is extremely smooth, from fine sanding. Wingz are available with the outer aluminum tube anodized in six colors, Blue, Black, Gold, Green, Lavender, or Silver. The aluminum end caps are always Silver. Wingz are 577mm in length, and are available in a 3 or 5 degree bend. Wingz weigh 126.5 grams. No longer made, this handlebar sold for $64.9
Quoted from Bikepro.com

 

[fiendish feet]

Re: Re:

Wowsers! yes mine is like the top one 0 rise 1 1/4" interesting about the black plastic cap, I had an alloy centre from an alpinestars stem I was planing to use, looks like I'll have to find a more suitable item!

Hi Ox
My memory of the top cap is like Blancmange
Theirs very little info on the company , Since photo bucket finished even less images about
i have this image.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/KAddpz][img]...r.com/1827/28610484967_c2ae57a138_z.jpg[/img]g-0 by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr[/url]
MR.Ox after a nights sleep i now remember the top cap setup.
the Quill bolt was recessed about a inch into the stem.
The top cap was unbranded plain flat black plastic bung.
Basically to keep water and muck out.
should be easy to reproduce...

 

[fiendish feet]

Prior to becoming an attorney in what now seems like a previous life I was an entrepreneur. After leaving my first engineering job out of college, I started the Denver Bicycle Design Center, Inc., which designed, manufactured and produced high end mountain bicycle components. These products, namely a ultralight aluminum/graphite/epoxy handlebar and stem, were sold under the Rocket Science Mountain Bike Components brand from 1992-1994. The company had snippets of success along the way but in the end we just tried to do too much without enough financial backing and the doors closed on or about Christmas 2004. . The company owed numerous suppliers money and my personal finances were a mess. We really should have closed the doors a year earlier but when a company is your brain child, it is difficult if not impossible to let it just die without a fight.

For the longest time even thinking about the company depressed me. But as time has passed I can now look fondly on the past and recognize what I learned from the experience. And like I said above, I am so far removed from this past that discussing my experiences seems more like describing a dream than something I actually took part in. Further, I find that I am beginning to forget some of the details of the past as this first entrepreneurial experience slips in importance relative to other life experiences, such as those of my wife and twin girls.

So to memorialize this past life of mine these Rocket Science chronicles are born. In the coming months, I will describe my experiences related to product conception, product development, marketing, sales and business management in this multi-part blog series . Hopefully, those interested in inventing and development of their invention will find my experiences helpful and illuminating. These writings are somewhat rare in that they are about a business that did not succeed; whereas, most books focus on successful ventures. Ultimately, I hope you can gleam useful tips from how to run your business in terms of both what to do as well as what not what to do.

Stay tuned…

By Kurt Leyendecker Founder of
[url=https://flic.kr/p/29gH2P2][img...kr.com/839/43497299811_9aedb63f31_b.jpg[/img]Early Rocket Science ad by Wholly Spokes, on Flickr[/url]

 

[mrkawasaki]

Fascinating stuff - I have a black one somewhere. It didn't come with a top cap but does have a red anodised Allen bolt top. Will snap it when I can.

 

[MR OX]

Re:

I must admit this thread has really spurred me on, I brought my stem for a build I was struggling with just before I shelved the whole thing. After having a read I trundled out to the garage & had a look at my stem, I like it. I've since brought a few other bits to try & get my build back underway & am feeling much more positive about it.