Plastic Igus bike targets landfill and low service, invites partners

An innovative approach to bicycle design debuted by Igus this week at the Hanover Messe, one which is 90% made from recycled plastic.

“The plastic in the world’s landfills is becoming a valuable resource,” writes the Igus brand page, introducing its bike. “From the frame to the bearings to the toothed belt. A high proportion of the raw materials required can be covered by recycling plastic waste.”

Presented to both Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa earlier this week, the world premiere of the bike to crowds at the event was used as a platform to introduce a product that apparently never needs lubricating, will not rust and pulls its raw material directly from material destined for landfill.

15 to 16 kilos of plastic waste is used in the production of each bike, which Igus say that they will target both at consumer, but also to manufacturing partners who wish to go down this path of using recycled materials as part of their own designs.

“We would also like to explicitly invite competitors to join us on this path – great changes are only possible together. Our vision is to provide a point of contact that effectively helps manufacturers,” says the company.

At the present time, just Mtrl, formerly known as DutchFiets, is a partner to the Igus technology.

Proprietary components on the bike are ubiquitous. Among items displayed and detailed on the firm’s web page for the plastic bike are rim brakes, a freewheel, a planetary gear, pulleys, wheel bearings, a crank, frame and wheels. As you’d expect, colour variation is a simple and open-ended process and for the consumer there is even an online bike customisation software enabling colour changes on the frame, fork and wheels.

Delivery of the bike product is scheduled to begin from November this year. “We should have something physically in the UK in a few weeks,” company spokesperson Dean Aylott told CI.N.

The company, which employs around 5,000 people, presented several new innovations at the show, but it was the bike that caught the attention of the media. Igus produces everything from industrial robotics components to self-lubricating polymer bearings. Igus aims to be carbon neutral by 2025 across its buildings and production.

Previously an Austrian design studio has successfully 3D printed a cargo bike using recycled materials as the base ingredient for its chassis. Likewise, a separate Austrian innovation has pioneered a technique for turning waste into bicycle frames.