AREVO, a Silicon Valley company dedicated to direct digital additive manufacturing of composite materials, has partnered with Franco Bicycles, a Californian boutique bike manufacturer, to deliver 3D printed carbon fiber frames for a new line of eBikes.
Under the Emery bikes brand, the single-piece unibody frames have been integrated into the Emery ONE eBike, which is currently on display at the Sea Otter Classic bicycling event in Monterey, California.
“This is the first Composite additively manufactured bike frame and it represents an important milestone for the AM industry as AREVO is delivering on the promise of on-demand manufacturing of composite parts in volume now,” said Hemant Bheda, AREVO Co-Founder and Chairman.
“With the introduction of the Emery ONE, the transformation of the global composite bike industry has begun.”
True 3D printing and the Emery One eBike
AREVO uses patented software algorithms enabling generative design techniques, and a multi-axis robotic additive manufacturing platform using Direct Energy Deposition (DED) to construction the bike frames. The company refers to this process as ‘True 3D printing’. According to AREVO, True 3D printing is optimized for anisotropic composite materials.
The carbon fiber frame is made as a single part, as opposed to other composite bike frames. With help from Bill Stephens, an industrial designer at StudioWest, a Colorado design firm, the production of the Emery ONE bike frame is done in a few days as opposed to the previous 18 months cycle. This process has also led to a significant reduction in product development costs.
“We chose AREVO technology because its iterative and flexible design represents the new age in composites manufacturing, and we wanted to be the first bike company to help lead this revolution,” said Hector Rodriguez, Co-Founder of Emery Bikes.
“AREVO’s continuous carbon fiber technology has been instrumental in achieving the ride quality and high-performance requirements we set out to accomplish with the Emery ONE.”
Presently, the Emery One frames are in production at AREVO’s new multi-purpose facility in Milpitas. Attendees of the Sea Otter Classic event can view the new Emery ONE eBike at Booth S9 until April 14th.
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Featured image shows the new Emery ONE eBike, features a durable 3D printed unibody bike frame. Image via AREVO.
