|
 | Four taglines were associated with Kirk bicycles: |
| 'You ain't seen nothing yet' , 'Nothing else comes close', |
| 'The way ahead' and 'The one and only' |
| Two quotes were used to advertise them: |
| 'You can jail the revolutionary, but you can't jail the revolution'. (Huey Newton) |
| 'I could be the catalyst that sparks the revolution. I could be an inmate in a long term institution.
I could lean to wild extremes. I could do or die.' (Ian Dury) |
| The Kirk Precision gets its name from the fact that the frame is
precisely aligned, thanks to the extensive use of CAD/CAM. |
| Every frame is die-cast in just 40 milliseconds at 650°C under
650 tonnes of pressure, in the world's largest hot chamber facility. |
| The Kirk frame is the result of 10yrs research and development
by aerospace engineer Frank Kirk. |
| Computer aided design helped match the unique qualities of magnesium
alloy to the demands of the cyclist. |
| Precision die casting and computer controlled robotics ensured the
perfect alignment of every frame. |
| X-raying, and subsequent computer analysis of every frame cast, provided
the highest levels of quality control. |
| A worldwide patent guaranteed that Kirk frames will remain the 'one and
only'. |
| Magnesium is the lighest structural metal known to man - one third lighter
than aluminium. |
| Kirk frames only used High Purity Magnesium Alloy for superior mechanical
strength, excellent damping capacity and remarkable stiffness. |
| The Magnesium Alloy qualities of a Kirk frame, whilst being immensely
durable and highly resilient to impact damage, will not fatigue with age or rust. |
| Magnesium is an environmentally sound choice as only 0.01% of the Ocean's
resources would be depleted if worldwide consumption quadrupled, and was used at this rate for a million years. |
| Only one and a half cubic metres of sea water is needed to provide
enough magnesium for one Kirk frame. |
| Frank Kirk's pioneering developments with magnesium have received
prestigious international design awards. |
| 'First Edition' Racer and MTB frames were made by the same die-casting
tool by changing the seat and chain stay tool inserts. |
| 'First Edition' frames were manually machined and deburred. |
| When Norsk Hydro bought into the company, dedicated die-casting tools
were used for the Racer and MTB frames. |
| Although robots were later used for machining the main profile and holes,
they proved unsuccessful for surface finishing and manual operations returned. |
| Pre-threaded alloy inserts were used in the bottom brackets. |
| Panels and fixings were hot glued into frames, via a conveyor belt and
oven system. |
| The die-cast tools were the largest of their type in Europe at the time
and were manufactured in Portugal. |
| The die-cast press came from Germany - Frech. |
| High speed profile routers came from Italy. |
| The robots were Swedish. |
| Two separate boring machines were used, both designed and built in
Birmingham, England. |
| The powder coating of the frames was done in-house at the Kirk factory. |
