Made in Germany: How a carbon handlebar is made

Stefan Frey

· 29.01.2017

Photo: Stefan Frey

Made in Germany: how a carbon handlebar is made

Most bikes and bike parts are manufactured in Asia these days. But they still exist: small manufacturers with the "Made in Germany" seal. We were guests at Bike Ahead Composites in Würzburg.

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In an industrial estate on the outskirts of Würzburg stands an inconspicuous old factory building. But what is produced inside is neither inconspicuous nor old-fashioned. This is where Christian Gemperlein manufactures exclusive and ultra-light wheels and add-on parts made of carbon - Made in Germany.

This is astonishing, as carbon fibre production in Europe is actually considered too expensive and unprofitable. But Gemperlein wants to set itself apart from the mass-produced goods from the Far East. BIKE was on site for a day and was allowed to watch the production of a carbon handlebar at Bike Ahead Composites live - from cutting the carbon fibre mats to baking them in the impressive autoclave. Our photo story shows just how complex this process is. We are also giving away an exclusive THE riser that Christian Gemperlein made during our visit.

The data on the Bike Ahead Composites THE riser

Weight 129 grams
Width 740 millimetres
Backsweep 8.5 degrees
Upsweep 5 degrees
Rise 15 millimetres
Price 239,- Euro

Competition: Click here for the entry form

Before a new part goes into production, a lot of work has to be done on the computer first. All products are developed at Bike Ahead Composites using state-of-the-art CAD technology. With the help of the Solidworks planning software, the developers' ideas can be realised in 3D models. Fibre thickness and orientation, as well as the arrangement of the individual mats, are all optimised in the CAD program.

Once the individual parts and the appropriate arrangement of the carbon fibres and mats have been determined, the next step is to cut them to size. As the quality of the end product depends heavily on the accuracy of the individual parts, this step is also carried out by machine.

The material required for cutting is pulled from a roll onto the cutting table and held in position by a vacuum. Bike Ahead uses so-called prepregs. The carbon mats are already impregnated with resin on delivery. This not only reduces the excess resin, the "binder" is also distributed more evenly, which ultimately results in a higher and more consistent product quality.

A cutter whizzes over the carbon mat with millimetre precision and cuts out all the individual parts in the correct fibre direction. The programme distributes the individual components on the mat in such a way that there is as little waste as possible.

The individual parts are then deep-frozen at minus 18 degrees and stored temporarily until processing. Here you can clearly see that both classic carbon fabric and UD material (unidirectional carbon, in which the fibres are arranged in a line) are used for the subsequent handlebars.

39 Images

Photo: Stefan Frey

The full report on the company visit to Bike Ahead Composites can be found in BIKE 3/2017 - on newsstands from 7 February. You can also read the complete issue in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or in the DK shop reorder:

Read in the Apple App Store
Read in the Google Play Store
Order in the DK-Shop

Stefan Frey

Editor

Stefan Frey is from Lower Bavaria and loves the mossy, loamy trails of the Bavarian Forest as much as the rugged rock of the Dolomites. For technical descents, he is prepared to tackle almost any ascent - under his own steam. As an accessories specialist, he is the first port of call for questions about equipment and add-on parts, while as head of copywriting he sweeps the language crumbs from the pages of the BIKE print editions.

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Made in Germany: How a carbon handlebar is made

The data on the Bike Ahead Composites THE riser

Competition: Click here for the entry form

Stefan Frey

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