SCORCHING!

All stars shine but none do it like Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Aptly named, Sirius comes from the Greek word Seirius, meaning, "scorching." Pretty much sums it up - and we're not the only ones to think this about our multi award-winning frame!

So, how do you improve on an already great frame? The attributes that defined it - geometry, balance, neutral handling and value - had to be preserved. But we've learned a few things in the past few years and bike technology has advanced. With that in mind, the changes had to be subtle yet significant.

So, here's our new-for-2010, Sirius [more photos here].

• Reynolds 853 butted main tubes
• Custom 4130 head tube is 20% thicker
• Gusseted TT/HT/DT junction
• Sliding dropouts
• 19mm seatstays (previously 16mm)
• Bridgeless chain stays
• 2 sets of bottle bosses
• Curved seatstay bridge

• Classic Pipedream trail geometry.
• Heat treated 4130 CrMo stays
• Double bent stays (traditional 'A' seatstays)
• Clearance for 2.5" tyres
• 73 mm bottom bracket (BB) shell

With our acclaimed "point and pedal" geometry, our frames are built by some of the best builders in the industry.

For us, CrMo is still our material of choice as frankly, there's nothing that comes close to it in performance and value. What about Ti, you may say? Well, Ti's all well and good and still a wonderful material but the 'advantages' over high end steel are negliable. OK, so it's marginally lighter and it's corrosion resistant. Well, the steel super-alloys like Reynolds 853 and Columbus Spirit/Life are so different from ordinary Steel, about the only characteric they share is they contain iron. These steel super-alloys are one of the reasons why there's still vintage steel frames being ridden today that command premium prices after 30-40 years. Now that's a frame for life!

Our Sirius frame has just had it's first 'major' upgrade in 5 years and frankly, it was a challenge to figure out what to do. There were reasons we made the choices we did back then and we confidently stood by them. Tubing choice, geometry, intended usage were all carefully considered after considerable research, riding and prototype development. For the technically oriented, take a look at the tubing schedule here.

Why the changes? Perception is a powerful thing and is often what shapes our choices. Reynolds 853 (among few others) justifiably has a high reputation, backed up by technology, race-results and heritage. It's proven.

The first incarnation of the Sirius used 'No Hype, Just Pype' - a custom drawn, heat treated, double butted 4130 CrMo with a strength comparable to Reynolds 631. It was and is more than strong enough for it's intended use. However, our US and Japanese distributors wanted a branded tubeset which is why we built the frame in R631 for their markets.

Today, more than 5 years on, component technology has made some big advances - as has the skill level of the rider - and we know that a well designed hardtail can take the fight to the trail as well as any short/mid-travel full suspension frame. The hardtail is here to stay so why not build it with the best materials avalaible - it's going to be around for a long time.

As a final note, the sliding dropouts offer more than just singlespeed capability, 650B fit fine and offer yet another wheel choice.

Awards (above) are for the 2005-09 Sirius.