3T: Carbon frame "made in Italy"
The fact that a small revolution in the construction of bicycle frames is taking place in Presezzo, a suburb of Bergamo, is not visible from the outside. Here, a frontal attack is being prepared on the supposedly ironclad principle of the bicycle industry, according to which carbon parts are produced in Asia for cost reasons. The four-storey, concrete-coloured building, with striking blue glazing, is a functional building that could be found in many industrial areas. It is not particularly large. In any case, huge quantities cannot be produced here.
The address makes you sit up and take notice. The namesake is none other than Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian universal genius from the 15th century. In the modest entrance area, a metal, backlit 3T logo hangs in front of a plywood wall. At the back is a 3T Racemax gravel bike in a bare carbon finish. Opposite the reception area, the company history hangs framed on the wall. Two floors up is the production level. Through the open windows, light falls on three painted frames, which Gerard Vroomen has neatly arranged for us in the order green, white and red to imitate the Italian tricolour. Vroomen is Dutch and has been a partner of 3T since 2015, as has Managing Director René Wiertz.
Vroomen, once co-founder of the Canadian manufacturer Cervélo, is regarded as a prominent and above all innovative figure in the industry. When he joined 3T in 2015, it was the initial spark that transformed the traditional Italian specialist for racing bike components into a bike manufacturer. Vroomen, inventor of the aerodynamically optimised road racing bike, merged the aero racer and off-road bike into the Exploro, which was launched in 2016, and invented a new breed: the aero gravel adventure bike. Early on, Vroomen saw good opportunities to popularise gravel biking. History has proved him right. Gravel is booming, and 3T is skilfully surfing the gravel wave from the front.
3T: German production expertise
Vroomen also demonstrated foresight with a strategic purchase. In 2015, he acquired THM, a German carbon specialist that created pioneering lightweight components, such as the full carbon crank called Clavicula. Vroomen was, as he openly admits, particularly keen on the manufacturing expertise of THM boss Thomas Mertin. The first carbon product that 3T manufactured itself in Italy after this fertilisation was the full carbon crank Torno, which is partly reminiscent of the THM design: the right crank and shaft are made entirely of carbon. THM is also a linchpin in other respects. The head of 3T carbon production, Spanish engineer Enrique Pineda, went to THM in Germany after completing his studies in Spain and learnt a lot about lightweight construction there before moving to 3T and taking on the task of setting up frame production in Italy. "We worked for a year until we had the first frame in our hands," recalls Pineda, adding: "But then the problems really started!" Getting to grips with the flow of resin, i.e. the carrier substance for the carbon fibres, in the moulds proved to be extremely difficult. "Many frames came out of the mould in folds," jokes Vroomen, "because they had dry spots where the resin had not wetted the fibres."
This highlights an important difference to carbon production in Asia. 3T uses the so-called RTM process. RTM stands for "Resin Transfer Moulding" - a technique in which the resin is injected into the closed mould. In Asia, on the other hand, pre-pregs are used, i.e. fibres that have already been impregnated with resin, which is activated in the mould under pressure and heat. The advantage of RTM: the non-impregnated fibres are cheaper and no deep-freezing is required for storage.
Pineda explains how he methodically solved the problem of too much waste due to the invisible resin flows: "We studied the flow behaviour on a mould with a glass lid and were thus able to optimise our process." Vroomen is not worried that someone could simply copy this. "We are very open and happy to show our process, because you can't see the crucial details," says the engineer.
How does the production of a 3T frame work?
The manufacturing process of a 3T frame is divided into winding the tubes, covering the moulds and post-treatment of the blanks - they are sanded and then placed in the oven for one night.
The winding process takes place in a separate, glazed room within the 1,000 square metre production floor. It looks like a textile factory. Rolls of carbon fibre mats hang behind a cutting table. At the centre, however, are two winding machines that automatically wrap an endless carbon thread (a thick "roving" consisting of 25,000 individual fibres) around a core that replicates the inner contour of a tube. This process is called "filament winding". "The angle of the filament to the tube axis is freely selectable," explains Vroomen, "we can lay the carbon exactly how we want it." An adhesive is added to ensure that the dry fibres, which are as flabby as textile threads, adhere firmly to the core. This part of the witch's kitchen is manual labour: an employee applies powder from a tin to the coils as if she were seasoning a roast on a spit. A UV lamp then irradiates the coil and activates the glue.
The machines on which all this is done are mostly built in-house, says Pineda. Everything is trimmed for maximum efficiency and low energy consumption. "The motors that move the spindles are small and light, they are only as powerful as they need to be," he explains. This helps to reduce energy costs.
Once a tube has been wound, the core around which the thread has been laid must be removed. 3T does not show us how to do this - it's a trade secret! We are allowed to hold the freshly wound pipe in our hands. Thanks to the pre-glue, it is so dimensionally stable that it can be handled.
Once all the individual parts for a frame have been wound, they are stored together on a shelf. The history of the parts can be traced using a QR code.
Economical production
The tubes are married to the main frame in negative aluminium moulds. These are freely distributed in the room. The tube braids are placed by hand in the moulds, which rest on aluminium frames like unfolded shells. Tubes are pulled inside the moulds. Around ten per cent carbon material is added by hand as reinforcement at the joints. Skilled craftsmanship is essential. Those who work here have the longest familiarisation period in the company behind them.
The mould is then closed, which is possible with little effort thanks to lifting technology and joints. The mould is screwed together and connected to various hoses. These are used to create a vacuum inside the mould, inject the resin and pressurise the hoses in the pipes.
The highlight of the process is that the mould is not moved after closing, as is usually the case. Initially, the moulds were transported to the two large presses, which are still in the middle of the room, explains Pineda. The presses clamped the moulds and heated them up in the style of a giant waffle iron. "A waste of energy!" says Vroomen, so the heaters were integrated directly into the moulds so that much less material had to be heated. The frames bake for two hours at just 80 degrees - a gentle cycle for carbon.
After removal from the mould, the rear frame is added to the main frame. Its tubes are produced in a separate mould and then bonded to the main frame, the bonded areas are heated with heating elements strapped around them and thus hardened.
In the grinding shop, the finished frames are still finished manually, which essentially involves removing the mould burrs. A robot is already ready to take over this not very attractive work in the future. Further finishing work is carried out by a small five-axis CNC portal milling machine, also a home-made machine. It drills holes for brakes and bottle holders. This delicate machine also follows the philosophy of keeping production lean. "We process one-millimetre-thin carbon here, so we don't need heavy equipment," explains Pineda.
Costs like in Asia
The frames are painted off-site - for the time being. As the number of units increases, painting will become part of the workflow under one roof. 3T currently produces four frames per day. Six are planned by the end of the year, and the aim is to produce 20 per day by 2024. To date, the Racemax model has been manufactured in Italy; by 2024, all bikes will be available as Italian versions and the moulds are already in-house. If production is to grow further, a relocation will be necessary.
In terms of price, the company can already compete with Asian production in Italy, says Vroomen: "We manufacture in Italy at comparable costs if you take transport and customs into account; our basic products are cheaper, we are faster, but of course we have higher wages."
However, the customer is not yet aware of the favourable production costs, as the frames from Italian production are sold at a significantly higher price than those from Asia. A Racemax Italia frame kit costs around 5,000 euros. A Racemax from Asian production, on the other hand, is available as a complete bike from 3,500 euros. Gerard Vroomen justifies the price premium for "made in Italy" with the years of development that have to be refinanced. In order to be able to produce higher quantities, Vroomen and Wiertz brought an investor on board. For the customer, Italian production currently offers - apart from a good feeling - above all the advantage of a customised finish. For example, a visible carbon fibre version is available.
From Vroomen's point of view, local production only has advantages: "We produce more efficiently, with less waste and only what the customers want." 3T wants to utilise lean production with relatively lightweight equipment to produce closer to the market in America too. "We can realise this relatively quickly," says Vroomen. Other bike manufacturers are also interested in the production process. "We will probably take over European production for a larger partner." Nothing will change for them, they will simply order their bikes from 3T instead of an Asian supplier.
3T as a role model for the entire industry?
3T production shows that carbon frame construction is a complex process that can be highly customised. However, the resources required for the process that 3T has chosen for itself are manageable. Large-scale technology is not used. In principle, a small frame builder could work with this method. Above all, expertise and tinkering ambition are required to achieve good results. At 3T, thousands of hours of work have gone into designing the details.
The argument that European production is too expensive seems to have been refuted. Like Carbon Team in Portugal (see TOUR 1/2022) 3T has also found a way to produce carbon intelligently on site, with the stricter requirements that apply in Europe, from labour protection to environmental protection. Specialist retailers also benefit from the changing production methods. For 2024, 3T dealers only need to reserve production capacity with the manufacturer. They will only have to provide details such as model, equipment, frame size and colour six weeks before the planned delivery date. Until now, bike dealers have often had to order specific and precisely specified models from major brands many months in advance - before it is even possible to predict what customers want.
The future may even bring fully recyclable products (see interview below). Then the circle would truly be closed and Leonardo da Vinci could be proud of his distant descendants.
Interview: Gerard Vroomen and Enrique Pineda on the future of frame building
"Natural fibres are an option"
TOUR: Why is it so important to produce locally?
VROOMEN: It's not sustainable to produce everything far away. Nothing against Asia, but compared to our production here, it is much dirtier in Asia, very inefficient, you have to order far in advance in a cyclical business and before you know which model will be in particular demand.
How could sustainability be increased even further?
VROOMEN: Through the use of thermoplastics. They can be melted down and recycled. I don't see any advantages in terms of cost. But for gravel or MTB, the higher impact strength of thermoplastics is an advantage. The service life of the products could therefore be even longer and the fibres could ultimately be recovered after the plastic has melted down.
TOUR: From the athlete's point of view, is it necessary to recover the fibres from the frame intact? Aren't we only talking about a few kilograms over the course of an athlete's entire life?
PINEDA: From the end customer's point of view, it may not be so important, but for the industry, which is being increasingly regulated, reuse could become a very important issue. Up to now, long fibres have been recycled into short fibres with poorer properties. We use them to make dropouts, for example. The aim is to minimise waste in production.
VROOMEN: But at the end of the day, you don't necessarily need long fibres to make frames. You don't necessarily need carbon either, not even for a racing bike, even if everyone wants it and it's the best. Natural fibres are an option, at least as a supplement. If we can have a more sustainable society by riding frames that weigh a kilo and a half instead of a kilo, I'd be all for it.
TOUR: A look into the future - where will 3T be in ten years' time?
VROOMEN: Ten years is not a long time. We will then probably be producing on three or four continents and no longer just for ourselves, but also for others. There is an appetite to produce locally, but many people have little incentive to do it themselves. They don't want to go to the trouble of producing themselves. They will try to produce locally.
