Hexcel customer Corima, one of the leaders in the manufacture of carbon fibre bike wheels for road racing, was one of the major technology players in this year’s Tour de France, supplying the Astana and Sojasun teams. Corima’s Chrono wheels, made with Hexcel’s HexPly prepregs and Primetex 12K carbon fibre reinforcements performed well on the Tour de France roads. Hexcel’s PrimeTex technology allows light fabrics to be woven from higher K tow fibres (with weights as low as 200gsm possible using 12K fibre) while maintaining perfect quality and uniformity of reinforcement. The HexPly range of industrial resins enables the twin objectives of industrial processability (competitive and efficient cure cycles) and high performance to be achieved, meeting the high demands to which a wheel is subjected during the Tour de France challenge. www.hexcel.com
