Easton Advanced Materials System Revolutionizes Cycling Product Development
April 14, 2010 / adminEAMS drives innovation with new composites and carbon fabrication techniques first used to create featherweight carbon rim for 1,450-gram HavenCarbon trail wheelset.
(Scotts Valley, CA, April 14th, 2010) Easton Cycling, a leader in innovative carbon technologies and composites, announces the creation of the Easton Advanced Materials System (EAMS), a special operations program that raises the bar for advanced production techniques in the bike industry. “EAMS allows Easton to bring truly innovative products to market faster than would otherwise be possible,” says Tom Larter, VP of Easton Sports. “We are literally rewriting the book on composite
research, development and fabrication techniques that benefit cyclists.” EAMS consists of a team of engineers and chemists who source and test proprietary carbon yarns, laminates and resins and devise novel methods for integrating those materials. The first result of the EAMS program is the proprietary Armored Ballistic Composite (ABC). Featured in the all-new 1450-gram Haven Carbon All-Mountain wheelset, ABC uses High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE), a tough material favored in body armor and other military applications, sand MRES-B resin, which provides a featherweight yet bombproof matrix for the fibers. “Haven Carbon is the first of many products that EAMS will bring to market, and it demonstrates how Easton’s long history of innovation with composites continues to benefit cyclists of all stripes,” Larter says.
The materials and techniques come to life in Easton’s Composite Production Facility in Tijuana, Mexico, and are honed and refined through R&D at Easton’s cycling test laboratory, which occupies an entire floor at Easton’s newly revamped headquarters in Scotts Valley, California. These facilities, and the scientists, designers and engineers who work there, are the backbone of EAMS.
EAMS is the brainchild of Easton composites engineer Sayeed Syed, whose resume includes work on military applications including radar-transparent coatings and unmanned drones, and Easton chief engineer Chuck Texeira. Together, they devised a system for creating a platform that integrates hybridized materials in new and ingenious ways.
Next up: Top-secret innovations that will re-write the book for road bike riding. Stay tuned.
—
About Easton Sports
Founded in 1922, Easton Sports, Inc. has always focused on the design and manufacture of innovative, high performance sporting goods equipment. Today, Easton’s bicycle division delivers a range of carbon and aluminum components and wheels to consumers that provide category-leading performance and value. In 2010 Easton Sports will supply wheels and components to the world’s best athletes in nearly every cycling discipline.
Media Contacts
Mark Riedy
TRUE Communications
415.302.2923
mark@trueoverdrive.com
Kevin Franks
Brand Manager
Easton Cycling
kfranks@eastonbellsports.com
mark@trueoverdrive.com