All our bikes are packed with innovations. Plenty of standard solutions are available but these are often made to conform to a desired price-point. At 11ANTS we do not want to settle for good enough, we like to go all-out and make stuff that is built to last, functions well and looks good. This has resulted in a number of features that you won’t find find anywhere else. Below are some highlights of what we have come up with.
The axANTer PM-P evolved during the design of our first Pinion bike. we could have settled for sliding drop outs, like everybody else does, but in our view these have too much lateral flex when built out of titanium. The axANTer allows us to use hooded dropouts. A 12 mm titanium thru-axle is mounted in 2 concentric inserts that can be adjusted to with a 6mm allen key to tension your belt. The post mount adapter is integral to the design and moves in tandem with the hub assembly. This means your brake caliper is always lined out correctly relative to the brake disc.
The little (or big?) brother of the axANTer PM-P: the axANTer PM-R. We designed this piece for use in the mANTis full suspension. As with the Pinion bikes, we could have settled for a sliding dropout, but in a fully, lateral rigidity is arguably even more important than in a hard tail. The axANTer PM-R allows the Rohloff hub to be mounted and the belt is put under tension by turning the inserts. Design-wise the challenge was to ensure that both the counter force from the Rohloff and the brake caliper are adequately dispersed. This entailed the design of a custom made stutzklotze and PM adapter.
The ANTlers are a series of CNC’d machined yokes, specifically designed for each model. When building in titanium, lateral rigidity is extremely important. Titanium is inherently flexible and to some this results in a more comfortable bikes, but what is often forgotten is that this flexibility also works sideways. Such flex is not comfortable, it’s inefficient. your power is used to bend tubes instead of propelling you forwards. The ANTlers, in combination with over-sized chain – and seat stays, result in a 20% increase in stiffness of the rear triangle.
The eccANTer QBS is our interpretation of the eccentric bottom bracket. The eccANTer QBS assembly consists of a male and female shell. Inside the bottom bracket the two meet and fit together snugly. The drive belt tension is adjusted on the none-drive side using a 6 mm allen key. The eccANTer QBS is 90 mm wide and has a throw of 14 mm. Another unique features is that it features four bearings, two on each side with additional seals on top. Each bearing receives an extra shot of grease before being mounted.
The post frANTis a sleek and minimalist solution for tightening your seat post. We were initially quite charmed by the traditional lip and bolt systems that you find on steel bikes. the draw back of these however is that they stress the clamping bolt sideways. We could have settled for a stock quick release clamp, but that offended our sense of style. Instead, we designed the post frANT. It combines the minimalism of the traditional lip and bolt system, but negates the side ways stress on the clamping bolt as the alu inserts can turn freely and line up perfectly when the post is clamped.
Our first prototype bikes used standard belt splitters. These consist of 2 parts in the vertical chain stay that are bolted together. To replace a belt, one had to forcefully pull one part of the chain stay from the other and then find a magical third hand to feed the belt through the gap. This we very quickly abandoned for a design of our own. the 11ANTS belt splitter has a CNC macined centre piece that can be removed completely. No more pulling of that chain stay to fit a belt! Internally a bit of intricate machining ensure that the pieces of the splitter can not move when tightened.
The concenANTer is a key part of the mANTis full suspension bike. This nifty bit of kit integrates a concentric pivot bearing for the chain stay with four bottom bracket bearings. A conical lock ring pulls the whole assembly of bottom bracket and pivot bearing together using 6 subtle countersunk M4 allen bolts on each side. For the technically inclined among us, you can even adjust your belt line on the concANTer.
The dropouts on a bike seem like such a simple part, but they do far more than just hold your wheel in place. A properly designed dropout contributes to the overall stiffness of the rear triangle. All dropouts on 11ANTS bikes are by our own design. CNC-machined from grade 5 (ti6al4v) titanium, the dropouts are hooded, allowing us to maximise welding surface where the dropouts connect to the chain stays. On the mANTis and Pinion bikes the dropouts are made to take the axANTer inserts. On the hard tail Rohloff models the dropouts are made to optimise the Rohloff cable routing. While Rohloff does not officially condone this, it allows you to run your Rohloff hub without the black box.