For Championship Performance in its Racing Bikes, Cannondale Corporation Teams Up with
EF Precision Inc.

Many of the high-tech racing bicycles that win medals at the Olympics, the Tour de France and other notable racing venues worldwide are built at the Cannondale Corporation plant in Bedford, PA.

Cannondale has its own complete manufacturing facilities. But when developing its new super-high-performance SI (System Integration) line of racing bikes, it turned to an outside supplier for machining of a main component, the crankset, or crank. The crank is perhaps the most critical component, because it serves as the heart of the bike's drivetrain. Cannondale designed and engineered the new crank to be the world's best. So it naturally chose the best supplier it could find to transform specifications into a superior product.

Cannondale entrusted the job to EF Precision Inc. of Willow Grove, PA, a company well known for its high-quality, close-tolerance milling and turning of components for a wide range of industries.

Most-desired qualities built in.

The qualities most valued in a crankset are lightness and strength, and stiffness, which maximizes pedaling efficiency while adding a lively feel to the pedals. A key element to lightness and stiffness of the cranks is their hollow, oversized axles of aerospace-grade aluminum alloy machined on one of EF Precision's six-axis lathes from straight-gauge tubing. The cranks reflect Cannondale's "System Integration" design strategy of improving both performance and weight savings with an integrated system for developing its bicycle frames and components concurrently.

Test results for the new cranks were excellent. The standard for fatigue tests is 100,000 cycles . The best competitive crank goes 289,000 cycles. But the Cannondale crank rolled up an incredible 1,499,880 cycles! What's more, it's 22% lighter and 4% stiffer than the competition's.

EF Precision Inc. also machined spindles for Cannondale's mountain bike cranks. In tests on three bikes, the spindles scored impressively high. Maximum load on all three spindles yielded within one pound of each other at 567 lbs. per pedal, far surpassing the test standard of 466 lbs. - for unheard-of consistency.

Partnering at its best.

The teaming of Cannondale and EF Precision has paid off handsomely for both companies, as well as for users of Cannondale's advanced new SI line of racers. The bikes have already won many medals in competition around the world, and the enthusiastic acclaim of professional cyclists everywhere.

Two companies; with the synergy of one.

EF Precision Inc. is one of two specialized, autonomous but interacting companies comprising The EF Precision Group. The other is Precision Assembly, Inc., provider of mechanical and electro-mechanical assemblies for applications from prototype to production. Precision Assembly Inc. also employs strategic alliances with various specialists as a contract manufacturer of mechanical and electro-mechanical components. Precision Assembly, inc. also offers complete design engineering and testing services.

The Group produces high-tech custom components for fields including semiconductor, aerospace, medical equipment, power transmission, defense and chemical industries. Customers can call on the specialists of one company or the pooled resources of the entire Group.

A different kind of supplier.

Like all members of The EF Precision Group, EF Precision Inc. teams up with its customers in close working relationship. The company welcomes the challenges of unique, unusual or difficult jobs. It machines titanium, 17-4 pH, stainless steel, plastics, castings and forgings of all types. It specializes in working with such exotic metals as Invar, Inconel, magnesium, and monel. And it takes pride in an attitude of its people which makes a real difference in all the ways the company works with its customers.

For more information, contact The EF Precision Group, 2301 Computer Avenue, Willow Grove, PA 19090. Telephone: 215 784-0861. Toll-free: (800) 536-3900. Fax: 215 784-0868.