Omni - Safety

Safety Testing

TriRig's radical frame design has been thoroughly tested and passed all of the latest ISO standards for safety. It has also been approved for use in all ITU non-drafting events. Note that Omni was already legal in all USAT, Ironman, and Challenge events, but ITU requires independent ISO certification for "non-traditional" bikes. Not only did Omni pass ISO certification, but it's much, much stronger than the tests require. We ran all the tests on just one frame sample, even though ISO allows up to five fresh samples for various parts of the test. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Here's some more background and information on testing and safety.

ISO Testing Background

ISO (the International Standardization Organization) is an independent, non-governmental organization that helps to develop a system of standards for a variety of industries. While CPSC and EN testing has been used in the past, ISO has become the legal and de-facto body for developing standards related to bicycles. Moreover, the current ISO standards for bicycles are the most stringent in the industry, setting the highest bar for safety. ISO has published a comprehensive list of standards related to the function and safety of bicycles. Manufacturers who want to ensure their products comply with best practices for safety and performance do well to ensure their products meet the ISO standards. Unfortunately we can't simply publish what all of those standards are, as this is the proprietary work product of ISO. Any manufacturer wanting to conform to the standards needs to first purchase the publication from ISO (it's about $800 to purchase the bicycle testing standards). But we can describe these tests in a general way.

So what is the ISO testing process like? It's quite brutal. The process involves a variety of strength tests (single, high-impact events) as well as fatigue tests (medium-strength forces applied hundreds of thousands of times). The strength tests are designed to simulate crash-type events, to ensure that a part will remain intact and not shatter or fail catastrophically. The fatigue tests are designed to simulate a larger rider (say 300-350 lbs) using the part in a normal fashion over a lifetime of use. The fatigue tests are generally the more stringent of the tests, because they require that absolutely no visible damage be present after hundreds of thousands of testing cycles. Even a single hairline crack after 200,000 testing cycles means that the part fails testing.

At TriRig, these tests are integrated into our product development process. Our production facilities have ISO testing equipment in house, so that we can ensure our products are safe before moving from prototyping to full production. Moreover, we test even beyond the ISO standards, using higher forces than the tests require. Not only does this ensure we have robust and safe products, but also means that when we have our products sent for certification testing by independent testing facilities, we know beforehand that they will pass easily.

Testing for Omni

In the case of Omni, we knew that this testing was important not only on its own merits, to ensure customer safety, but also to provide concrete evidence that our radical frame design didn't introduce any structural or safety weaknesses. So we refined the carbon layup schedule for Omni until we could consistently pass testing at about 120% of the ISO safety standards. This makes for a VERY robust and VERY strong bike.

So, before we sold a single Omni, we knew that it was extremely safe and reliable. So when we proceeded to pursue independent certification, we decided to throw an additional challenge at the bike. We instructed the certification lab to run all tests on just a single sample for each frame size. Normally, ISO allows up to five fresh samples for various parts of the test. For example, after undergoing a couple hundred thousands of fatigue cycles, you are allowed to swap in a new sample for the high-impact strength tests. And generally, you can use fresh samples on each high-impact strength test. We asked the lab to do ALL fatigue AND strength tests on just a single frame of each size. The lab warned us that we were asking for a pretty tall order - virtually no bike could pass all tests on a single sample, and advised that we shouldn't expect Omni to do so. Nevertheless, we persisted. And Omni passed. Each size - Small, Medium, and Large - passed all ISO testing with just a single frame. TriRig is very proud of this achievement, and it means that Omni is among the safest and most durable bikes on the market.

Fit Guide

This Guide shows you how to set up your TriRig Omni with the TriRig Alpha One or Alpha X aerobars. This Guide can help you replicate your current bike position, or set up your bike based on numbers from a bike fitter. The Fit Chart below shows the actual X/Y coordinates of your arm pads measured from the bottom bracket. This coordinate is the most important number that bike fitters use to determine your position on a triathlon bike. Be aware that some fitters use a coordinate to the top/back of the pad, rather than the top/center. In that case, you can subtract 44mm from all of the reach numbers in the Fit Chart, which yields the back of pad number. The steps below provide an easy-to-follow system for making sure you have the perfect fit with your Omni.

Step 1: Determine your current fit numbers

What we want is the X/Y coordinate to the top/center of your aerobar pads, measured from the bottom bracket. Most bike fitters can provide this number to you when performing a bike fit (although some provide it to the top/back of the pads rather than top/center). If you already know these numbers, you can skip this step. Otherwise, follow the steps below to determine these numbers for your current bike setup:

1-Place your bicycle up against the corner of a room, with the back tire abutting the wall.

2-Next, measure the vertical distance from the floor to the center of the bottom bracket. We'll call this measurement Floor Offset (FO).

3-Measure the horizontal distance from the wall to the center of the bottom bracket, we'll call this measurement Wall Offset (WO).

4-Measure the vertical distance from the floor to the top of your aerobar pads. This measurement will be Pads-To-Floor (PTF).

5-Measure the horizontal distance from the wall to the center of your aerobar pads. This will be called Pads-To-Wall (PTW).

6-Subtract Floor Offset from Pads-To-Floor (PTF minus FO). This is your Pad Stack.

7-Subtract Wall Offset from Pads-To-Wall (PTW minus WO). This is your Pad Reach.

Step 2: Review Frame Geometry

	Small	Medium	Large
Frame Stack (BB to Headset)	490mm	525mm	560mm
Frame Reach (BB to Headset)	375mm	405mm	435mm
Front Center	560mm	600mm	640mm
Rear Center	400mm	400mm	400mm
Seat Angle	79°	79°	79°
Head Angle	72.5°	72.5°	72.5°
Fork Offset	48mm	48mm	48mm

Step 3: Select Size, then find your position on the chart

The chart below shows the stack and reach information for the TriRig Omni with the included Alpha X aerobar, complete with the number of extension spacers and stem spacers used for each setup. Here's how to use the chart:

1-Use the dropdown box in the upper-right corner of the chart to select a bike size.

2-Find your Stack in the left-hand column of the chart, or the row that most closely matches your stack. Every cell in this row represents a way to set up the Alpha X on your Omni that will produce this stack number.

3-Each cell states the amount of Pad Spacers as well as Stem Spacers to use in order to hit your stack number.

4-In most cases, there will be multiple cells that can hit your stack. The best setup for your position will generally be the one with additional colored cells above AND below your selected cell. These cells represent room to move up or down in the future, merely by adding or removing Pad Spacers, which is generally the easiest way to make a position change.

5-Cells in blue represent a standard setup with the extensions over the bar. Cells in green represent the special undermount position, where the extensions are mounted below the bar.

6-Once you have selected a cell from your Stack row that represents your preferred position, look at the bottom of that column to the Reach section. The three rows of Reach cells show the reach to the center of the pad based on the three different adjustment positions available on the Alpha X arm cups. Select the one that most closely matches your Pad Reach number, and set up your pads/cups accordingly.