arbon fiber is an amazing material that has allowed the cycling industry to create all sorts of bike components from frames to wheels that are lightweight and performance driven.
The ability to layer and shape carbon has allowed us to have components that are stiff and compliant where needed and create designs and shapes that would be very difficult with traditional materials like steel or aluminum. In addition, carbon is incredibly lightweight and it has become the goto material for most mid tier to high end bikes.
With all of its benefits, the one unfortunate downside to carbon is it has not been easy to recycle. However a new alternative has become available called FUSIONFIBER® which may address carbon fiber's environmental shortcomings.
Carbon Fiber and Recycling
Components made out of carbon fiber use epoxies and resins in the manufacturing process, which help hold the carbon pieces together. In order to recycle the carbon from a bike component such as a wheel or frame we need to get back to the raw carbon and to do that these epoxies and resins must be removed.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information there are ways to recycle carbon fiber products however from what I'm understanding it does not appear to be an easy process. In addition, there are studies still ongoing to understand if recycled carbon fiber is as good as the original material after going through the recycling process. So there are some complexities and challenges when trying to recycle carbon components.
FUSIONFIBER® Tech Explained
FUSIONFIBER® according to the manufactures site is a new type of material that makes use of long-chain polymers. I’m not a scientist but according to this article from Australian Academy of Science, there are natural polymers such as silk and even your hair to man made polymers such as plastic and polyester. Long-chain polymers are created by joining together monomers (smaller molecules) in a repeating pattern and by mixing how they are put together you can get various properties out of them based on your needs.
Okay with that out of the way, CSS Composites, the creator of FUSIONFIBER® has been able to create this new material that appears to have all the benefits of traditional carbon and even exceed it in some situations. Most importantly it’s stated to be 100% recyclable, which sounds like a win-win for the industry.
In addition, the manufacturing process using this material is also much more sustainable when compared to carbon as there is no carbon dust or refrigeration required to maintain the raw material.
The first implementation of this tech for cycling has been in wheels and some brands have already picked up this cool tech.
Benefits of FUSIONFIBER® Rims
Compared to carbon rims, rims made out of FUSIONFIBER® have the following benefits:
- Greater durability
- Better handling
- Lighter weight
- Recyclable
A large part of its recyclability over carbon is the fact that they don’t need to employ the use of epoxies and resins in the formation of the material. In addition, the manufacturing process is much simpler than carbon, which I hope will translate to lower costs in the future.
Cons of FUSIONFIBER® Rims
The biggest one for now at least is the cost and availability.
Because this is newer technology only a couple of brands are currently offering wheels made from this composite material. These brands tend to focus on the higher end of the market so their offerings are smaller in scope and more expensive.
Brands
Currently there are a three brands offering wheels using this new process.
Chris King, offers a road, gravel, and a few mountain bike options.
Prices start around $2850 and are offered in the below sizes:
- 700c 24mm depth
- 27.5” 28mm depth
- 29” 28mm depth
Forge+Brond, offers gravel and mountain bike wheels.
Prices start around $2,199 and are offered in the below sizes:
- 700c 25mm depth
- 29” 25mm depth
- 29” 22mm depth
Revel, similar to Forge + Bond also offers a gravel and mountain bike option.
Prices start around $2,199 and are offered in the below sizes:
- 700c 24mm depth
- 29” 24mm depth
Based on what’s out there if you're a road cyclist Chris King is really your only option right now, however with their rims you’ll also get access to their hubs which come in all sorts of fun colors. If you ride Gravel or Mountain bikes, it looks like each of the three above have an offering worth checking out.
How Does the Weight Compare?
Looking at Chris King gravel set as an example with our compare tool and comparing this with a similar wheel from ENVE the G23, we're seeing the Chris King coming out heavier at about 163 grams more. So it's close but not lighter at least in this comparison, however the differences may be due to hub selection etc.
I wonder if we'll eventually see a variety of wheel performance tiers using this material in the future.
Conclusion
As a cyclist and someone that generally cares about sustainability I’m all for new tech which can offer components with the same or possibly better performance than what we currently have while being more environmentally friendly than what’s currently available.
I don’t plan to get rid of my current carbon wheels but now that this technology is available in different wheel sets I would likely look at them first before a carbon set in the future. The price point is still a lot higher than many of the carbon offerings out there as you can usually find good wheels in the $1k - $1.5k range. However I’m hoping that more brands will start to offer wheels with this material and reduce the costs as more options enter the market.
What do you think of this new tech as I’d like to hear if you would pick up one of these wheels in the future? Or if you have one of these new wheels what are your thoughts so far?
Extra
If you want to learn more Ben Delaney has a great video featuring the creators of FUSIONFIBER® that goes into more of the details.