3D-printed carbon bike frame

3D-printed carbon bike. © Arevo.

After the wheels comes the frame: Arevo, a Silicon Valley startup, has just unveiled a carbon-fiber bicycle frame fabricated using additive manufacturing, a world first. The company has taken a standard six-axis robotic arm and equipped it with a deposition head of their own design. The head can not only deposit carbon fiber anywhere with a high degree of precision, but it also delivers and laser-heats a thermoplastic material that binds the fibers as it goes, eliminating the need for ovens. Production cost is just US$300 per frame, which is comparable to conventional carbon frames built in Asia. Arevo designed the frame in collaboration with industrial designers at a company in Colorado called StudioWest, specialized in designing bicycles for major brands like Raleigh, Giant and Canondale.

⇨ Reuters, “Silicon Valley startup peddles 3D-printed bike.”

⇨ CompositeWorld, “Arevo in 2018: Industrialized production of continuous fiber 3D-printed parts.”