Based in Bozeman, Montana, the American manufacturing company Twenty6 Products has an international reputation for rugged, high-end mountain-bike components that are designed, engineered and CNC-machined to win.
The high levels of finish, quality and character offered by the company’s products are instantly recognisable in its two-finger hand-brake levers, seat-post clamps, stems and bar ends, as well as its no-slip no-maintenance pedals — available in 12 colours.
Tyler Jarosz, the brains behind Twenty6 Products, does it all; from concept to anodising, every part ‘carries his fingerprints’. He machines his designs on two Haas VF-2 CNC vertical machining centres and a Haas SL-10 CNC lathe (www.haas.co.uk), which he also programs. Moreover, he personally tests his creations on his own track — just outside his ‘shop’ — several times a day.
Mr Jarosz, just 29 years old, designs compon-ents based on his own experience as a mountain biker and his knowledge of CNC machining. “As a kid, I worked at a bike shop and always loved the sport. I have been on bikes since I was old enough to ride, and my passion for the sport continues to grow today.”
He took a machining class, then studied manufacturing at technical college. “I went to college during the day and worked as a machinist at night,” recalls Mr Jarosz. “I knew I wanted to be in the bike industry, so I was trying to find a way to make a good living at it.
“Just before I started the company, I was trying to become a professional mountain bike down-hiller and free-rider. I’ve endured many injuries along the way, but I had a very bad crash that put me in a hospital for a week. While I was there, I realised I needed a different plan. My injuries ended my career as a professional bicycling athlete, but I decided that the next best thing was working with pros and bicycling non-professionally. When I finally healed up, some four months later, I made my first parts — levers for hydraulic disc brakes. Interest quickly grew, so I made more and expanded on the back of that. Soon, I was renting machine hours from my boss every weekend, riding less and spending a lot more time working, getting my passion for making bike parts off the ground.”
Mr Jarosz soon reached the point where he needed to buy his own machine; he chose a Haas VF-2 vertical machining centre. “I decided to use Haas because of their reliability and price. I trained on Haas machines at my first job, so I knew how easy they are to operate.”
When he needed a lathe but could not afford to buy one, Mr Jarosz designed and made tooling that allowed him to do the work on his mill. “I used my mill as a lathe, and I also used it to rotary-broach; it worked out great. The G-code was a little tricky, but by doing the work on my mill, I was able to make enough money to purchase my Haas SL-10 lathe. Production from this subsequently helped me to purchase my second Haas VF-2. They both get used for heavy production!”
Mountain bikes demand components that are tough and light, so the choice of material is very important. Down-hill and free-riding involve neg-otiating stumps, rutted trails, and rocks ranging in size from pebbles to boulders. Bikers also love getting ‘airborne’, so the bike and its components must withstand the high-speed shock of a hard landing — and the heavy impact of a crash.
“All my products start with extruded 6061-T6 aluminum bar stock, and they require at least three operations. To maximise efficiency, I use custom fixturing of my own design to hold most workpieces while machining. The most difficult product to machine is the pedal, because of the many tool-paths and contouring required. The Twenty6 Prerunner pedal is wide, has intricate structural features, and a slightly concave surface for grip. Aluminium traction pins screw into the pedal, ensuring a reliable, non-slip contact with footgear. The pedal axles are available in Ti-6Q2 titanium or 4140 chromoly steel.”
Polished to perfection
Component finish is something that Mr Jarosz pride himself on. “I start with a good surface finish off the Haas machines. The pedals then get 8hr in a plastic-media tumbler to remove any marks or scratches, followed by six days of polishing using three large bowl tumblers filled with rouge-embedded walnut shell to achieve the polish. It takes a long time to polish all surfaces, because the parts are so detailed.”
In addition to manufacturing his own products, Mr Jarosz also does some job-shop work “to keep me on my toes.” He says: “I want to be on top of my game, and making parts for other people keeps me fresh. I want to maintain an open mind in the way I manufacture things, and job-shop projects help me develop new ideas on fixture design, set-ups and tooling — and I’m constantly improving my programming ability and programming speed.”
Attention to detail and good design are hallmarks of Twenty6 Products. “I get design inspiration while back-country snowboarding and riding bikes. I’m still a competent down-hiller and free-rider, and I sponsor some of today’s top professionals. Their input and my experience help me design the best components possible. I like to do all the work myself, because I want everything to be of the best achievable quality. These are my products, the designs come out of my head, and they have to be the best. I spare nothing.”