IperionX/Canyon Bicycles
IperionX has announced a partnership with Canyon Bicycles GmbH to develop a more sustainable supply chain for the bicycle industry through the production of bicycle components, using IperionX’s 100% recycled and low-carbon titanium and produced with 3D printing.
Canyon’s product development and ESG teams are working closely with IperionX. The companies have agreed upon an initial project to prototype Canyon bicycle parts, including bicycle frames, using IperionX’s titanium 3D printing. The announcement states that the term of the initial agreement is until June 30, 2025. The companies say that upon successful completion of the initial prototyping, they intend to negotiate an agreement for larger scale production.
IperionX says that titanium as a frame material has a ‘premium and desirable’ position for bicycle consumes, being both strong and lightweight, as well as having high corrosion resistance, which removes the need for paint as a corrosion inhibitor.
IperionX says the reason that it hasn’t been utilised in bike components sooner is due to its high cost compared to materials such as carbon frames. Another reason given by the company is the high-carbon footprint of the current titanium supply chain, which is based on the energy-intensive Kroll process.
Alison Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Canyon said: “We’re delighted to have formed this working relationship with IperionX. Connecting IperionX to our product development and ESG teams is allowing us to identify bicycle components that can be produced using their low-cost, low-carbon, fully recycled titanium powders. This is a real breakthrough technology for us and we look forward to deploying this innovative technology in the production of more sustainable titanium for use in Canyon bicycles.”
Anastasios Arima, CEO and Managing Director of IperionX added: “Our partnership with Canyon highlights the importance of fully circular, sustainable materials to customers with leading environmental goals. We are very pleased to be applying the patented technologies to create 100% recycled titanium parts for a leading company in a very large addressable market, and we look forward to progressing the partnership towards the extended use of titanium in bicycle production.”
In the announcement, Canyon said that the potential for developing bicycle components by utilising IperionX’s 100% recycled titanium is aligned to its ambitions to drive the use of innovative material in the production process, and to match that with its environmental goals.
IperionX recently announced the signing of a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SLM Solutions for the potential supply of materials.