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Front Range
BUSINESS
Carbon
Mission
One of the world’s most innovative
bike builders takes his newest ride
to the streets—and the masses.
Domahidy will build, then maintain, a fleet
of 30 red, white, and blue Carbon Roads for
Subaru Groove’s many races.
But you don’t need a VO2 max of 60 to
pedal this sucker. This spring, Domahidy
Designs will offer consumer versions of
the Carbon Road for $1,699 (for the frame
and fork; yes, you buy the rest of the com-
ponents separately). Only the pros get the
patriotic paint job. Your options are gloss
black carbon with a sky blue and red stripe
design or a sleek, motorcycle-inspired
matte black carbon, neon yellow, and gray
combo that’s perfect for the leader of the
pack—which, on this puppy, is precisely
where you should plan to be. —LRM
BODY ARMOR
Kady Zinke is used to hard knocks. A former professional dancer, she punished her knees with rolls,
floor moves, and other impact-heavy routines. But the available fix—bulky protective padding—hindered her moves and made her look like a hockey player. So the one-time Denver Nuggets dancer
Denver-born futuristic
and CEO of Kadyluxe activewear sought help from Terry Lowe, a metallurgical and materials engineering professor at Colorado School of Mines. Lowe developed a soft, supple new armor that stiffathletic gear keeps
ens upon impact and absorbs four times more energy than existing technologies, even though it’s
professionals focused
thinner. Its exact makeup is top-secret and patent-pending, but Lowe has revealed that the padding
on their moves instead
(pictured) combines shear-stiffening compounds (similar to cornstarch) and thin metal lattices that
of bumps and bruises.
disperse impact. “The higher the load and the faster the impact, the more rapidly the material components adapt to keep the forces on the underlying body parts to a minimum,” Lowe explains. The
Denver Nuggets and CU Express dance teams will test prototypes this spring. Zinke (pictured) hopes the new armor will be ready
for the public within nine months, and Lowe predicts we’ll ultimately see the innovation in cars, football helmets, and ski jackets.
But for now, Zinke is happy to see local athletes walking away with better moves and fewer bruises. kadyluxe.com —KELLY BASTONE
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| 5280.COM | APRIL 2015
PHOTOGRAPH BY CLAUDIA LÓPEZ
(KADY ZINKE) COURTESY OF RYAN SABOL; (PRODUCT RENDERING) COURTESY OF JOEL GRZENIA
after creating one of the best-known
mountain bike brands in the world
(Niner), Highlands Ranch’s Steve Domahidy
decided to try a new path—a paved one. This
month, the renowned bike builder debuts the
first Domahidy Designs road bike: the Carbon Road, the official ride of Denver’s Groove
Subaru Excel Sports Cycling Team.
The bike is actually the third release
from Domahidy Designs, which the Littleton
native started in 2014 after stepping back
from the day-to-day operations of Niner. In
February 2014, Domahidy revealed a pair
of hard-tail cross-country mountain bikes,
but even as those two-wheelers rolled out
of his shop, he was deep in the development
stages for a carbon-fiber road bike. “I took
what I’ve learned throughout my 15-year
career working with carbon to make a traditional and legal race bike,” he says. “It had
to accelerate like a bat out of hell but also be
comfortable to ride.”
When Groove Subaru team sponsor—
and avid cyclist—Alex Gillett confided
that he was breaking every bike he rode,
Domahidy knew he’d found his perfect test
subject. Less than a month into the trial—
with nearly 1,000 miles under his tires—Gillett was sold on the featherweight ride (the
frame weighs just more than two pounds).
“Calling the bike I was riding a prototype
is misleading,” Gillett says. “It corners,
descends, and sprints beautifully.” He
signed up his entire team. So this season,