Open Cycle (Switzerland) - Press Release: Modern Classic.

This is a very different OPEN yet it answers the same question: What do we want to ride? While we love pushing the envelope, we also love the classic bike aesthetic. In the MIN.D. both come together.

The joy of cycling starts even before the first pedal stroke, as you collect your MIN.D., feel its lightness, admire the sleek tube profiles, see the shimmering midnight blue, smile at the splash of color from the 4 OPEN logo colors fading into each other on the inside of the fork and chainstays.

Once on the bike, a strange combination of performance and comfort becomes apparent. Every gram of material has a function. Beyond it is nothing, other than the endless draw of roads unknown. This is the MIN.D. (MINimal Design); it exists because it’s the road bike we wanted to ride.

What is the MIN.D.?

• A high performance road bike frame using OPEN’s ultra-efficient tube shaping for power transfer, low weight & high strength
• Continuous seattube design for extreme comfort without gimmicks
• Tire clearance for modern road tires up to 32mm (since tire labelling is unreliable, always check tire clearance with the frame)
• Classic, understated look in both shaping and color

Comfort:

So much is said about comfort, but it’s not about gimmicks, elastomers, electronic suspension or sub-atomic vibration damping graphene-infused nano-particles. Comfort is about finding ways to ride further, for longer, while enjoying it.

That means first of all a comfortable geometry, something we worked hard at on our last generations of gravel bikes and have transferred back to the MIN.D. Our fit geometry is sportive (we still want to go fast) but with a realistic saddle-to-handlebar drop and reach. Our steering geometry is different from the traditional road bike standard, coupling agile handling to rock-solid stability.

Secondly, comfort means space for large road tires. Bad roads are one of the worst comfort killers, whether through cracks and potholes or simply through vibrations. Making your tires a tad larger is the most effective solution, with the added benefit of lower rolling resistance and better grip.

Finally, we create comfort through the frame, in particular the seattube/seatmast.

Continuous seattube:

The continuous seattube design is extremely small at 25mm diameter (30mm is normally the minimum if you want to fit in a 27.2mm seatpost). This change adds astonishing comfort to the frame. Removing the seatpost/seattube overlap at the toptube also means the seattube compliance continues uninterrupted.

Our own minimalist seattube top clamp is nearly invisible yet easily adjustable by 0-15mm and slip-proof. We even have our special MOCT saddle clamp (Measure Once Cut Twice) which is adjustable from 15-35mm. This also makes it much easier to resell your frame later on, although you probably never want to lose your MIN.D.

Simplicity:

It may sound weird that we consider this one of the most important features of the MIN.D. But as Dieter Rams said: “As little design as possible” (we highly recommend the documentary and the book). This is a pure road bike, and nothing more. Simply because it doesn’t have to be anything else.

New road handling:

We’ve done a lot of work on steering geometry in the past five years. Some of you in the Basel area may have seen us ride around on weird concoctions with adjustable headtube angles and chainstay lengths.

The MIN.D, takes everything we’ve learned from our road bike test mule and our gravel bike on/off-road geometry experiments, putting it back into a pure road bike geometry.

R-Turn:

The OPEN U-Turn was the first fork truly optimized for flatmount brakes by deleting the standard adaptor to switch between 140mm and 160mm disc rotors (you should always use 160mm rotors anyway for added safety & control at almost no extra weight). The adaptor is a feature without a benefit at the expense of weight, stiffness and complexity.

The R-Turn uses the same Smartmount direct-mount design with thru-bolts without adaptors, just like the rear brake. Together with new shaping and a new layup optimized for road, the R-Turn is the lightest disc brake road fork available.

Note: For SRAM or Shimano, remove the adaptor and use bolts recommended for a 30mm “rear chainstay thickness”. For Campagnolo, use a “140 mm REAR" disc caliper with bolts “for 30-34 mm rear mount”.