YXLON advances into the world of bicycles

The bicycle industry has joined the ranks of producers that concern themselves more and more intensively with quality and safety. As a trailblazer among bicycle manufacturers, Canyon has invested in a Y.Multiplex CT and uses the system to inspect parts bearing a relevance to safety, for instance bicycle forks, via X-ray technology.

At Eurobike 2012, the world’s largest trade fair for bicycles that ran from August 29th to September 1st in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Canyon presented Y.Multiplex CT to its viewing public and demonstrated several of its applications ‘live’. The YXLON X-ray inspection system with integrated computed tomography impressed the audience not only due to the options it offers and simple operation; its look was acclaimed, too. Canyon had taken great pains to have the system adapted to its corporate design, providing a real eye-catcher at the trade fair.

Y.Multiplex CT is being deployed in 3 areas at Canyon:
As one example, wall thicknesses, lamination, gluing points and materials are inspected for the presence of inclusions, cracks or other irregularities during development. Highly dynamic radiography (HDR) is primarily used thereby, and at critical spots a switch to CT (computed tomography) is made simply by pressing a button. This enables even the tiniest details to be defined in a 2D or 3D depiction.

During quality assurance, bicycle series are inspected in order to guarantee the greatest possible safety for the customer. When all standard inspections have been passed, Canyon has no problem giving customers a 6-year guarantee for the bicycle frame. At Canyon, carbon fiber forks on racing bikes are subjected 100 % to radiographic inspection. In the event of abnormalities, they are analyzed further using CT before they are passed on in the course of production.

Canyon also offers its clientele damage analysis as a service. Customers can have parts that may have been damaged in a crash or collision tomographed and appraised directly at Canyon. In summary, with YXLON new standards are now being set in the bicycle industry, too.