Nanotechnology bicycle for Tour de France

If Floyd Landis won the bicycle race around the French Tour de France, that would be the victory of nanotechnology.

Landis, captain of the Phonak racing team and one of the favorites at the preliminary race, now uses an enhanced racing car. with carbon nanotubes.

BMC, the maker of these cars, said that although nanotubes were previously put into the thighs and other parts to reduce their weight and increase their durability, the cars Phonak used. There is also a chassis with nanotubes rolled into the chassis.

As a result, the frame of the Pro Machine SLC 01 BND cars is less than 1 kg and becomes one of the lightest chassis in the race and about 20% lighter than the BMC chassis that this team used a year ago. The entire racing car weighs only 6.7kg.

Developed in the early 90s, carbon nanotubes are viewed by many as a marvelous material . Nanotubes are basically carbon atom tubes arranged in hexagons; images from electron microscopes show that these nanotubes look like steel grids.

And this unique structure has given nanotubes extraordinary properties. They are many times more durable than steel fibers of the same size, but much lighter. Nanotubes can also conduct electricity, which can act as an insulator and transmit light signals.

In the next few decades, nanotubes will probably carry signaling in chips, transport drugs to specific cells in the human body and can help aircraft become museums. image before radar signal. But now, it is mainly used to increase the durability and weight of objects such as car parts, golf clubs, tennis rackets and some parts of bicycles.

The material that BMC uses to build racing bikes is produced by Easton and Zyvex and is an improved version of standard carbon fiber. Usually a carbon fiber sheet (consisting of carbon fiber woven into a fabric) is covered with a plastic layer. This type of plastic penetrates the gaps between carbon fibers, which is the weakest place of this material.

Easton mixed into this plastic dispersed nanotubes (made by Zyvex) to overcome weaknesses. Easton has marketed bike parts made from these nanotube-enhanced carbon fiber sheets.

Of course, BMC bicycles are not cheap at all. The starting price of a car is about 6,597 USD and when fully equipped with additional components, its price can reach $ 8,390.