Bike manufacturer Canyon has launched a3D printingA concept prototype for a mountain bike designed to demonstrate a more sustainable approach to bicycle production.
△3D printingbike
Canyon 3D with
software
and3D printing serviceprovider
materialise
Collaborated to print the frame and fork of the bike as part of Bike Magazine Germany’s “Ride Green” campaign. The finished bike has been displayed at the London Bike Show.
Bicycle green travel
The goal of the Ride Green project is to design a sustainable bicycle that
All its components are fully recyclable
.The materials used also need to be
Reusable without compromising the quality of the parts produced, while reducing waste in the manufacturing process.
Canyon was tasked with building the frame and fork of the bike and decided to use3D printing technologyManufacture them because 3D printing enables rapid manufacturing and is more environmentally friendly and sustainable.The company uses
Materialise’s Selective Laser Melting (SLM) 3D printing technology to create uniquely shaped parts
.
Materialise isn’t the first project involving bikes, in 2021 Materialise has printed 2,000 parts for bike maker Pinarello’s Dogma F race car; reduced weight on the bike’s seat assembly; created a full-service bespoke for this project Production workflow.
△ Canyon’s 3D printed bicycle frame. Photo via bike magazine.
To meet the project’s sustainability requirements, the frame and fork were 3D printed from recycled aluminum powder. Canyon also wanted to reduce the total amount of raw materials used in the frame manufacturing process, which would not only improve the bike’s environmental impact, but also reduce frame weight and provide performance benefits. The frame consists of a skeleton that makes up its structure, which is enclosed within a shell to provide additional protection and more desirable surface properties.
The frame is divided into three parts, each made by 3D printing, and each piece takes about six hours to produce. After printing, the frame and fork weigh only 2kg. While Canyon says there are no current plans to put the bike into production, the project could affect how the company’s future models are designed and built.
△ The bicycle frame is 3D printed from three parts and glued together. Photo via bike magazine.
△Details of the finished bicycle 1
△Details of the finished bike 2
Using Additive Manufacturing to Improve Ride Performance
Due to 3D printing’s ability to integrate multiple components into a single lightweight part and produce parts with arbitrarily complex geometries, bicycle manufacturers have increasingly realized the benefits of the technology in recent years.
For example, custom bike producer Sturdy Cycles has switched production of its titanium bike parts to use Headmade Materials’ Cold Metal Fusion (CMF) technology in January 2021, and has previously partnered with RAM3D to print parts for road bikes.
△ Riadh’s CMF 3D printed crank arm
Some3D printing companyAlready kickstarter launches of their 3D printed bike components such as Headmade Materials and Element22, where they launched their new Titanum 3D printed bike pedal design together last year on the platform.
△MyTi 3D printed bicycle pedals
Companies like Fizik and Specialized already use Carbon’s DLS 3D printing technologyTo improve the weight and comfort of its saddles, Stratasys’ H350 machines have been used by DQBD to produce fully personalized 3D-printed saddles for improved performance efficiency.
△Argo Adaptive’s 3D printed mesh bicycle saddle. Photo via Fizik.
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