ENGEL to Present Live Production of Lightweight Bicycle Handlebar at EUROBIKE 2025
BY Composights
Published: 05 Jun 2025
ENGEL, the world's leading
specialist in plastic injection moulding, will make its debut at ‘EUROBIKE
2025’, taking place from 25th
to 29th June in Frankfurt. Headquartered in Schwertberg,
the Austrian machine manufacturer will demonstrate a turnkey, fully automated
production cell showcasing the live manufacturing of an innovative,
lightweight bicycle handlebar developed for CANYON Bicycles GmbH.
The handlebar is manufactured on ENGEL's
tie-bar-less triumph 180 injection moulding machine, employing its advanced
fluidmelt technology. This facilitates the construction of hollow
components by displacement of the molten core by water or nitrogen, allowing
for light designs with high torsional and bending stiffness. Automated
integration, such as an easix
articulated robot, ensures the part is ready for use directly from the
mould without post-processing.
Made from glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 and strengthened
with four unidirectional carbon fibre (UD) tapes, the handlebar provides
the structural integrity and performance of aluminium, while considerably
minimizing material consumption, energy usage, and CO? emissions. The component
is made in less than one minute, underlining its potential for mass production
and recyclability.
Paul Zwicklhuber, Technology Manager for Lightweight Solutions at ENGEL, said: "This
new combination of technologies is a real innovation. It reduces weight while
offering high stability, geometric design freedom, and the possibility of
incorporating features like cable routing or display mounts directly in the
process. This significantly reduces the cost of production and the carbon
footprint, making European manufacturing economically appealing once again."
The tie-bar-less machine design of the ENGEL victory series offers increased mould space and flexibility in high, complex geometries within a smaller footprint. The Wide-Platen variant further increases mould dimensions by 100 mm without requiring a higher clamping force, thereby minimizing machine size, floor space, and energy usage, supporting ENGEL's commitment to sustainable and efficient manufacturing.
ENGEL's EUROBIKE showcase is the result of strong cooperation with multiple partners:
- CANYON Bicycles – Contributed to the conceptual and functional design of the handlebar.
- ARTEFAKT Design – Developed the product's visual and aesthetic design.
- DOMO Chemicals – Supplied the polyamide compound and reinforcement tapes.
- Plastic Innovation – Led the mechanical design, process development, and simulation.
- Simoldes – Provided toolmaking and series production expertise.
Together, these partners developed a high-performance recyclable product that showcases how injection moulding and composite integration can redefine sustainable mobility solutions.
ENGEL's exhibition at EUROBIKE presents it as a pioneer in creating innovative technologies for lightweight structures and urban mobility. It sets a new benchmark for cost-efficient, high-quality production of plastic parts in markets historically controlled by metal.
