In Cologne-Porz, the company Igus manufactures a bicycle made from recycled plastic. The advantage: it is said not to rust, not to require any chain maintenance and not to need any other maintenance either. Is this a pipe dream, a marketing gimmick, or is this the ideal city bike?
TEXT: Fabian Hoberg, Barbara Merz-Weigandt
There it stands, in a riot of colour: the new bike from Igus. Igus? Never heard of them? That’s quite possible, as the company from Cologne-Porz is currently known only to insiders in the metal industry. Igus specialises in industrial injection moulding. As a supplier, Igus is regarded as a specialist in injection moulding technology and wear-free bearings – the company has had little to do with complete bicycles to date.
But that is all set to change now. Since the start of this year, Igus has been selling the RCYL by Igus bicycle. As well as its striking appearance – with wide, straight handlebars, a thick frame and wheels with Y-shaped spokes – the bike’s material is a real source of amazement, as it is made almost entirely from recycled plastic.
First impressions: Quiet, robust and surprisingly comfortable
Right from the very first few metres, the Igus bike feels familiar to ride. The belt drive hums quietly over the rear wheel hub, the steering responds directly, and the brakes bite firmly. The wide saddle is also a surprise: what initially looks a bit clunky quickly proves to be comfortably supportive – even without a long period of getting used to it.
“The plastic in the world’s landfill sites is becoming a valuable resource.”
Despite weighing around 17 kilograms, the bike can be moved easily and with little effort along flat terrain. The ride feels pleasantly direct, and the handling seems more agile than that of traditional city hire bikes. Even with moderate effort, the Igus bike rides with a lively and dynamic feel. Downsides? Really, just the comparatively higher weight. But anyone who doesn’t have to carry the Igus bike up to the fourth floor every day will hardly notice this.
When developing its bicycle, Igus did not simply replace existing metal components, as that would have been too short-sighted. Instead, the company carried out a detailed analysis of the material properties of high-performance plastics and used this to develop new design approaches – every single component was redesigned and specifically adapted to the properties of high-performance plastics. The result: a completely redesigned bike that differs from traditional bicycle design in many details.
97 per cent of the components are made from polymer materials, and the frame is available in a range of colours. Despite the absence of fibre reinforcements, the frame has a high material density and can support riders weighing up to 103 kilograms. Furthermore, the frame is made from a single type of material and can be recycled at the end of its life with relatively little energy consumption.
Notable features include the hollow front wheel hub, the robustly designed fork and the wider cranks. These features are not merely design flourishes, but responses to the demands of the material. Plastic behaves differently to metal in mechanical terms – it is more flexible and less rigid, but in return is lighter and maintenance-free. A simple 1:1 replacement of metal components is therefore not possible. Igus has adapted the components to the specific mechanical properties of the plastics used. All components are tested to their breaking point on 25 test benches – with load cycles that exceed those encountered during normal riding. Two test riders also simulate real-world use in everyday situations and in extreme conditions in order to identify any potential weak points at an early stage.
The large components – the frame, fork and wheels – are produced using rotational moulding. This manufacturing process is well suited to the use of recycled materials. Today, around 50 per cent of the material consists of recycled content, including old fishing nets. The ten-strong bicycle team at Igus aims to increase this proportion to 75 per cent over the next two years – the long-term goal is a bicycle made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. At the end of its service life, the bike is fully recyclable. To ensure this happens, a deposit of 50 euros is included in the purchase price. This is how Igus closes the material cycle. And there’s another factor that contributes to the carbon footprint: unlike many conventional bicycles, which are often manufactured in Asia, 90 per cent of the Igus bike is produced in Germany. This shortens transport distances and saves on costs and CO₂ emissions.
The idea behind the bike
The idea for a plastic bicycle didn’t originate on the drawing board, but on a hot summer’s day in 2005. Frank Blase, managing director of Igus, was sitting on the beach during his holiday in Jacksonville, Florida – and was annoyed by what he saw there: rusty, dilapidated hire bikes that looked barely roadworthy. In conversations with local bike hire companies, he learnt that the salty sea air takes a heavy toll on the metal frames, with many bikes lasting only a few months.
Blase is troubled by the poor condition of the bikes and their short lifespan. His thought: a plastic bicycle would be resistant to corrosion – rust-free, durable and low-maintenance. And so the idea was born. Frank Blase’s team found the right partner in the Netherlands: Mtrl.bike, formerly known as Dutch Fiets. Together, they developed prototypes, which Igus then tested in Cologne. The finished product made its debut at the Hannover Messe in 2022. Since 2025, the plastic bikes have been in series production at a new manufacturing facility in Cologne. The series model, the RCLY Bike by Igus (model GEN A), costs 1,243 euros.
And development continues. The team is currently working on several new variants: an S version with a low step-through frame, an e-bike and a cargo bike for delivery services. Around 500 bikes are set to be produced this year, mainly for the German and European markets. From 2026, Igus plans to produce over 5,000 units a year, including for the US market.
As well as direct sales, Igus is targeting the B2B sector – for example, hotels, campsites, bike hire companies or businesses offering mobility solutions for their staff. Furthermore, Igus sees the bike as proof of what is technically feasible: a moving showcase for its own components. In the long term, Igus is pursuing a grander vision: the production of bicycles directly at the world’s major landfill sites. Where plastic waste is generated, components are to be manufactured and transformed into bicycles. After all, sustainability in the bicycle industry has so far often played a role only in marketing. This is where Igus comes in, with a system that demonstrates: it is possible to produce things differently. Even in bright, colourful designs.
The company: Igus Bike
In October 1964, Margret and Günter Blase founded Igus in Cologne-Mühlheim, a company specialising in ‘plastics for moving applications’. The advantages over metal are slower wear and recyclability. Furthermore, the components require neither oiling nor greasing and operate with virtually no maintenance.
Its products include, amongst others, plain bearings, energy chains, threaded components, plastic chains and roller conveyors for industrial use. For the first 20 years, Igus manufactured technical plastic components for other companies. In 1983, Igus began manufacturing energy chain systems and plain bearings. Between 1985 and 2024, Igus grew from an initial 40 employees to over 5,200, spread across 33 sites worldwide, and generated a turnover of one billion. Around 900 injection moulding machines produce new components. Since 1993, his son Frank Blase has been the owner of Igus in Cologne Porz-Lindt.
