Duratec

www.duratec.cz

Duratec are a Czech company specialising in the production of custom made aluminium and carbon fibre frames. All frames are hand crafted in their own factory and finished to impeccable standards.

Duratec's range includes endless options for frames for all branches of both racing and non-racing activities. Their products include bikes and frames for road cycling, MTB, cyclecross, track and triathlon, as well as custom designed tandems for all cycling disciplines.

Duratec take personal pride in all of their products, which guarantees the customer a frame made to the highest possible standards.

Standard geometries are available, however it is possible to design custom geometry to produce a made-to-measure frame, as well as choosing any combination of frame colours and decals and other personal touches such as placing a customer's signature or logo under the varnish.

Welding

Duratec use a unique 4 stage method of welding their frames. All welding is entirely carried out by hand using the latest KEMPI welding equipment and non-fusible tungsten electrodes. The joins are designed so that the welds pass from a thick tube cross section to a thinner tube wall, ensuring an even weld transition that prevents undercutting of the original tube end.

The four stage process is carried out as follows:

• In the first stage the frame is spotted along the contact line.
• In the second stage a single, continuous bead is run around the entire join. The cooling rate of the tubing is controlled to ensure the physical properties of the material remains unchanged.
• In the third stage, the original bead is spread to a pre-determined pattern to ensure uniform distribution of stress.
• The fourth stage consists of the manual grounding of the weld to remove surface tension and adjust the final appearance of the weld.