EVE9: AREVO and Pilot unveil 3D printed carbon fiber bicycle frame

Composite 3D printing company AREVO has just announced a partnership with bike design and production company Pilot Distribution Group BV through which it will produce 3D printed carbon fiber unibody frames for a new series of Pilot e-bikes. The announcement, which follows on AREVO’s existing bicycle-focused collaborations with Studio West and Franco Bicycles, was made at Eurobike 2019.

In addition to revealing the production partnership, Pilot and AREVO will also be displaying the 3D printed carbon fiber e-bike—the EVE9—at Eurobike this week in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Visitors can get a first glimpse of the innovative two-wheeler at Pinion GmbH’s stand.

Over the past year, AREVO has honed in on the bicycle and e-bike markets, showcasing its composite 3D printing technology’s ability to rapidly and cost-efficiently produce bike components and frames. In April, for instance, the Silicon Valley company revealed it would be producing the new Emery eBike series for boutique bike manufacturer Franco Bicycles—resulting in the first 3D printed, continuous carbon fiber single-piece unibody frame. The company says these frames are currently in production at its facility in Milpitas, California.

“AREVO’s continuous carbon fiber technology is very impressive as it affords numerous design possibilities and provides excellent strength and durability,” said Arno Pieterse from Pilot, a Dutch manufacturer of bicycles. “The technology truly is a revolution in composites manufacturing and enables us to offer all the high-performance qualities we envisioned for EVE.”

Hemant Bheda, Co-Founder and Chairman of AREVO, added: “We thank Pilot for the confidence they have shown in the AREVO DNA technology, which is unique in the additive manufacturing world. We feel we are making a significant impact in the bike industry and see near-term applicability in other areas of green urban mobility, from electric scooters to e-VTOLs, or flying cars.”

AREVO has pioneered a unique composite additive manufacturing technique which combines a free-motion robotics system, a patented software that enables generative design techniques and void-free direct energy deposition. All three elements of the company’s AREVO DNA technology are developed and optimized for anisotropic composite materials and together they enable the “True 3D” construction of single-piece structures.

“As this manufacturing technology offers such unique possibilities, it enabled us to redefine the way we design bicycles,” said Bastiaan Thijs of bicycledesign.studio. “The technology gave us the ability to create a truly one-piece design, carbon fiber-reinforced, fully-integrated eBike frame for the EVE9.  Furthermore, it is truly remarkable that this frame is 100% recyclable.”