To dampen the impacts in bicycles, a shock absorber is used between the swing arm rear suspension and frame. Traditionally, this is a cylinder in which a piston moves to and fro in a linear fashion. The problem is that such a design, if it should be both light and rugged, will become very expensive with the previous solutions.

By the application of a novel design, which feature an individual element made of iglidur® RN56 as the core piece, the technical requirements could be achieved at clearly reduced costs.

In this solution, the functions of the pistons and the plain bearing at the end of the damper are combined in a single injection-molded component. This becomes possible by the good coefficient of friction and the low wear of the iglidur® RN56 material with simultaneously high tenacity of the material. Furthermore, the design allows the removal of the piston from the cylinder, which is of enormous benefit in foldable bikes.

Richard Thorpe
Managing Director
Karbon Kinetics