titus v. cannondale lawsuit rumours..

[lnomalley]

y'all heard anything yet? something about proprietary technology ...

anybody know what's up?

[pdonk]

A quick search brings this up

http://bicycleretailer.com/bicycleretailer/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002312850

[1centaur]

Interesting on several fronts.

First, on all the forums I read, and the many Six13 threads, I have never seen a single person link the Exogrid concept with the way the Six13 joins tubes. To the extent the suit seeks damages related to all the money they have put into the Exogrid technology, I'm guessing they will have a tough time coming up with a dollar figure for people who bought Six13s over Exogrids based on the joint technology.

Second, even now they have made the connection for us, I think the sort of integrated bump at the carbon/metal joint in the Six13 seems like a very minor improvement on gluing in lugs, unlike the very complex joining of materials in Exogrid.

Third, in a multi-year case of Tiny Co. vs. Cannondale, I'd bet on Cannondale's lawyers.

There may be an idea for safer joints being shared between those frames, but the entire ethos of the end products is completely different - it seems like bad business to pursue it. If a lot of Exogrids were being sold, they'd never do it.

[Tmogul]

Some Pics for comparison.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tech/shows/interbike05/interbike0526/Isogrid_seat_tube_cluster.jpg

http://bike-zone.com/photos/2004/tech/shows/interbike/day3/04ibikeD3_064.jpg

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tech/shows/interbike05/interbike0526/Isogrid_bottom_bracket_assembly.jpg

[Kane]

For Cannondale's sake I hope that Titus does not use Ellsworth's patent attorneys.
(Explanation: Ellsworth's patents are donkey fazue, but they have caused Dave Turner tons of grief.

[1centaur]

Those pictures are Isogrid, while Exogrid was mentioned in the article - Exogrid looks a lot more complex. On my Six13 (year 1, three tubes) the window does not show at all. I had never seen the newer nude versions - the Cannondale version looks a little ugly and not worth the showing of the carbon window.