Eurobike 2008 started officially today in Friedrichshafen, Germany and we were able to get a closer look at a 2009 prototype of a company that has been fairly quiet in terms of tri bikes recently.

Litespeed the Ooltewah, Tennessee based manufacturer showed up at Eurobike with a radical departure from previous Litespeed Blade models and according to chief engineer Brad Devaney, "Blade may not be the perfect name for this bike because it really is very much different in concept and execution from any previous Blade models."

"Steve Hed reminded us to utilize our strengths and create a much more industrial look versus all the smooth molded features you see so often these days," added Devaney.

It is industrial looking for sure and according to Litespeed they spent spent quite a bit of time in a wind tunnel to develop this frame. They further credit aerospace technology leaders such as JPL/NASA and Lockheed Martin to have inspired some of the new technologies such as Radial Break Sheet Forming (RBSF).

The frame pictured below is a prototype but apparently not too far away from the final production version. No price was released, but it is said to be very, very expensive