FRANKFURT (BRAIN) — Ben Serotta will collaborate with a German 3D printing manufacturer to "bring the benefits of personalized cycling equipment to a broader section of the cycling population," the longtime bike designer told BRAIN on Thursday at Eurobike.
The manufacturer, APWorks GmbH located just south of Munich, reached out to Serotta, and the two parties agreed to a multi-year partnership. APWorks, whose parent company is Airbus, primarily serves B2B businesses, primarily in aerospace, transportation, and high-performance motorsports.
Serotta said APWorks wants to showcase its customization technologies in consumer products and believes cycling is an appropriate application. The outreach to Serotta was triggered by an APWorks employee who was directly familiar with the brand's history.
"We are just at the beginning of a new and exciting journey that has so much potential," Serotta said. "Now the real work begins. I'm spending a lot of time asking questions — of retailers, bike-fitters, industry experts, and of course consumers. I see this opportunity as a journey that can benefit everyone. We're looking for folks that want to become an active part of that journey."
APWorks utilizes a material known as "scalmalloy," a scandium and alloy mix that it says is the "highest strength aluminum alloy for additive manufacturing (3D printing). ... All of the design possibilities of additive manufacturing with the properties of forging."
Serotta is president of Higher Ground Cycling LLC, producing Serotta titanium and steel bicycles in limited quantities in the Northeastern U.S. that are available from the website or through a number of fit-focused retailers and Best of Cycling LLC, his design and consulting firm. He relaunched the Serotta brand in 2020.
"Additive manufacturing is rapidly emerging as the technology which enables mass-customization thanks to the fact that it requires only digital design data and no physical tooling," said APWorks CEO Jonathan Meyer. "This is a key enabler for producing high-performance products, and our partnership with Serotta is a great way to showcase our unique capabilities in design and production automation."
The Serotta brand was founded in 1972, and the company has gone through several iterations.
"Ask any successful endurance athlete, and there is no doubt that when it comes to optimizing performance, nothing beats the benefits gained by personalized customization of their equipment, so long as it's done right," Serotta said.
