Bicycle frames have gone through an impressive change in the last 30 years, evolving from a selection of steel tubes to today’s intricately shaped pieces built around increasingly complex components such as motors and batteries.
Evidence of that evolution could be seen at last year’s Eurobike tradeshow halls, as various manufacturers displayed innovations in frame building processes and materials to keep up with the ever-changing industry. But first, a rewind to the early days when steel was the material of choice for bicycle frames. For decades, thin-walled and refined tubesets from the likes of Columbus, Tange or Reynolds were readily available, often joined using intricately decorated lugs. During the 1990s, aluminum became the new material of choice at the hands of pioneering American manufacturers such as Klein Bikes and Cannondale. This light metal allowed for stiffer and more lightweight frames, but those often were harsh to ride. Scandium offered an even better stiffness-to-weight ratio and more comfort as a bonus. But it proved hard to work with, and at the same time, frames made of carbon fiber were making their way from competition to mass market availability. Over all those years titanium held its ground in a small custom niche, cherished by enthusiasts but commercially not relevant when looking at the bigger picture.
This trend away from steel toward first aluminum and then carbon had a profound impact on the industry’s supply chains: Where many of the steel frames were built close to their respective markets, the production of bicycle frames became more concentrated and global with adaption of first aluminum and then carbon. Large manufacturers such as the Giant Group and Merida Industries produce aluminum frames in-house, but in most cases assembly services and frame production are performed by separate companies, allowing streamlined operations for the task at hand to remain competitive on a global stage. Most of today’s frame building is happening in Far East where labor is cheaper and more readily available. But in a bid to reduce the industry’s eco footprint, there is a clear drive for reshoring as well. This also promises more flexibility for production planners, but the volumes produced are still small.
Thanks to close cooperation with premium brands and constant R&D efforts, frame manufacturers in Asia have constantly upped their game and invested in advanced machinery, from massive hydroforming presses to gravity casting and robot welding stations. This has further added to their comparative advantage. One example for this is Sunrise. Starting with steel frames in the early 1970s, the company extended its operations to aluminum frames in the late 1980s. And it set up additional factories in China and Vietnam to keep the distances to its customers and assembly factories short. In a bid to simplify the production of complex e-bike frames it has been investing heavily in gravity casting so it can manufacture the headtube, downtube and motor interface of an e-bike main frame in one part. With Carbotec, Sunrise also has a subsidiary that manufactures carbon frames and parts.
Another big frame builder is Astro Tech. While much of the R&D efforts are still centered in Changhua County, 90 percent of the company’s output stems from its two factories in Vietnam. The older of those factories is about to be replaced, with a new factory currently under construction. As a pure OE service provider and development partner, Astro Tech has been growing with its key customers, including some of the biggest brands in Europe and Northern America. And founder Samuel Hu has been pushing for innovation all along. His latest project is to automate the production of both alloy and carbon frames, relying on thermoforming as an industrial production method. Hu’s goal is to make monocoque main frames by seamlessly joining two thermo-formed halves from sheets, either from aluminum or thermoplastic carbon.
Giant Group is producing carbon frames in Taiwan, but this is an exception within the industry, not the rule. Carbon frames are made up of more than 500 pieces of prepreg carbon fiber sheets that need to be laid up precisely by hand, so the price of human labor make up a large part of the overall costs. For this reason, most commercially available carbon frames are made in China. Shenzhen-based XDS Carbon Tech is one Chinese carbon frame manufacturer that has upped its game, launching X-Lab as an aftermarket brand of its own after having built frames for other brands for almost 20 years. As one of the biggest contract manufacturers in China, Tianjin Fuji-Ta Corp. builds frames in-house as well, using pretty much every kind of material that buyers come up with—from steel to aluminum and magnesium to carbon. As a sign of the times, Fuji-Ta has opened a carbon frame factory in Vietnam’s Binh Duong province as well to steer clear of the EU’s anti-dumping tariffs.
A certain revival of frame building is ongoing in Europe as well, spurred by disturbances of sea freight during the pandemic and a push to shrink the eco footprint of the industry’s operations. In Portugal, Triangle’s has made headlines by investing heavily in a widely automated production of aluminum frames. One motive to push for automation is labor costs, but upping the consistency of production and thus reducing wasteful scrap is almost as important. This also shows with Dutch VDL Bike Frame Technologies, a subsidiary of automotive supplier VDL Group. Profiting from plenty of in-house knowledge regarding the shaping and welding of aluminum, the Dutch company advertises its aluminum frames as being “100 percent made in Europe.”
As a specialist for casting various metals, Taiwanese corporation Mei Ta Industrial has been supplying various industries. As of late it has entered the frame building business, and at Eurobike it shows a rocker for full-suspension bikes that has been cast from stainless steel rather than machined or forged from aluminum. Mei Ta claims that this method adds consistency and strength without extra weight. Focusing on fleet operators as customers, French Groupe SAB has gathered plenty of know-how in all things aluminum from its activities in the automotive and transport industry. As part of its push into low-emission mobility, the French company has developed Véluria, a bicycle frame that is cast in one piece from aluminum. As the tooling costs are high, volumes also need to be big to make this method viable.
The same goes for bicycle frames made of thermo-injected plastic. Igus has been an early mover in this aspect, stressing the advantages of its plastic frames in terms of sustainability. Weber Fibertech has been building parts from fiber-reinforced thermoplastics for 25 years, mostly for the automoptive industry. In recent years, it has been expanding into the bicycle business, first with parts such as stems, handlebars and wheels and then with frames for kids bikes specialist Li:On Bikes.
For craftmanship and skillfully joining metal tubes, ORA Engineering gets the job done well. Based in Taichung’s Northern Houli district, this family-owned frame builder fully focuses on low quantities and high quality, with MRQs starting at 100 units. ORA Engineering builds bicycle frames, forks, cranks and other accessories from titanium, aluminum, steel and stainless steel. To keep quality control at a high level, the company performs almost all of the production steps in-house. And if you should be in need of precision 3D-printed titanium parts, make sure to check out Titan Super Bon.
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