Review: The Mythos 3D-Printed Titanium Stem is my version of the extreme – Pinkbike

Electron beam melting & vacuums

If you’ve never heard of Mythos before, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of their parent company, Metron, which has been making great innovations for years, mostly in the leather tire world. The IXO is the basis of their first mountain bike and is manufactured using a process called electron beam melting which is exactly what it sounds like. EBM is similar to the more common Select Laser Melting in that they both ‘grow’ the part through powder, but while SLM uses a “normal” laser, EBM uses a beam of electrons in a negative environment .

If you want to manufacture your bike parts through EBM, all you need is a special gun that fires a beam of electrons from a very hot tungsten filament at about half the speed of light, and a barrel or two of space-grade titanium and Hell of a lot of know-how. Mythos does this at their Derbyshire facility in the UK, the same place where they make their insanely expensive Elix chopsticks. After the stem is grown, the top of it is screwed down to hold the steering tube with a 35mm rod, and titanium hardware is used because of course it is.

Are you wondering why you can see through ICO? Mythos said they use fea (the lessen under under under under under under under under under under under underground underground)) and CAD for find out exactly where something should be and, as you can tell, where it doesn’t need to be. The result of the 3D printing is an exotic shape that Mythos says has exceeded the 200,000 round test program at the specified ISO forces while being stronger under both bending forces and stronger than traditional foundations.

Looking a little way, a classic job

The first thing I noticed about the IXO base is that it seems a little stiff, especially in the few spots where the surface seems uneven. It turns out that this is an ingredient of the manufacturing process and has no effect on its strength or durability, says Mythos, even if it is ugly compared to the forged and machined aluminum we use. “Many people believe that 3D printing produces smaller materials, but EBM titanium actually matches or beats the properties of materials obtained through traditional manufacturing processes, meeting or exceeding all the requirements of the standards of ASTM and ISO standards for Ti6Al4V (ASTM 1107, ASTM F1472, AMS) 4999 and ISO 5832-3),“Mythos told me. So why not give a soft foundation? Matthews explained: “Because titanium is exceptionally hard, it is extremely difficult to remove the material evenly to produce a smooth or polished finish, and the surface finish on the inside of the stem is extremely difficult. This is the reason why we decided to end the publication. Plus, what’s the point of 3D-printing something and then making it look like it was made with some old boring traditional manufacturing process?“

There are many black bases to choose from and all of them cost a lot less (and some weight less) than IXO, but Mythos is not trying to sell thousands of these things anyway. Personally, I like the way it looks, especially on a black bike with black wheels, but I have a soft spot for something more exotic.

Forget about the price for a moment, are you a fan of the ICO line or would you prefer something a little more traditional?

Install like any other source; it should sit a few millimeters larger than the steering tube, and uses a face plate that does not have a gap and 5Nm of torque for all six titanium M5x0.8 x 14mm. The pressure tolerance of the steerer is a bit tighter than other stems I’ve used and requires a good push to slide down on the tube (no, no burrs), but it all went together as intended. You’ll definitely want to use a strong screwdriver for a solid foundation and read the instructions before picking up any tools.

The base that the IXO replaces is the standard aluminum material which of course does not do anything wrong, but the difference in the way between it and the 3D-printed titanium Mythos is… It is not known, not doubt. . What the hell do you expect? I know that Mythos says that IXO is, “16% stronger in torsion, and 11% stronger in bending, when tested side-by-side with equal proportions.“but I never feel that while riding my bike because it’s not like any other 40mm soft pedal to begin with. I’m not saying it’s not long, just that I can’t tell the difference, even at the moment. I was squeezing the front wheel between my knees as I tried to twist and turn the handlebars in my faux science experiment.

So it’s not a game changer, but it also didn’t do anything wrong while I was using it, I never squeaked, groaned, or slipped, as you would hope for such a large part. One thing that should be noted, is that the riders who have the roots take the original products from their knees may prefer a smoother back to the driving pressure.

If you’re hoping for an exciting jump into your career, this isn’t it. The IXO doesn’t make mistakes but it also won’t change your riding in any way, which is pretty much what I expect. That said, if you are interested in the technology behind the foundation and as it looks, which describes me, I do not think that all that will be considered is the other things that we spend our money on.

Pinkbike’s Take