As BikeRadar reported back in February 2015, graphene – a close sibling of graphite, that black stuff everyone will recognise as the middle bit of a pencil – has been causing a bit of a stir in the bike world.
It's not just bikes though – graphene has become a big tech story globally, with the promises of this 'wonder material' making advances as far-reaching as aerospace, environmental cleanup applications and electronics.
Italian tire master Vittoria recently invited us to see what it's got in store with a visit to its graphene technical partner Directa Plus on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. Click through the gallery above for an in-depth look at what goes on in the graphene factory – and how its properties benefit bike wheels and tyres.
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Related: Graphene bicycles – the potential future of composites
What the heck is graphene again?
Graphene is refined graphite. The raw mined material is put into an expansion ‘system’ where it's hit with plasma with a heat range between 6-10,000C – that’s about he same as the surface of the sun!
This leads to massive expansion of the raw material, so it goes from a solid lump into what looks like black cotton candy after this process. The graphene has an enormous surface area, with 1g equating to around 2630 square metres.
But for bikes?
Some more numbers?
Breaking fresh tracks
Spilt-personality rubber
Going off-road
What's next?
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
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