Of 417 products submitted for the Eurobike Award, the twelve most innovative were distinguished with the Eurobike Gold Award. The impec, launched at this year's Tour de France, was one of the proud winners. The Swiss producer BMC is building a racing bike that achieves an entirely new caliber of perfection. Its name: impec. That is shorthand for "the impeccable bike" – with a frame that is nothing short of perfection, being the first exclusively machine-made carbon frame in the world.
The ceremony for this year's awards took place on the first day of Eurobike, the world's leading trade fair for the international bicycle sector, in Friedrichshafen. The jury of experts selected the twelve most innovative contributed products from a total of 565 registered contributions from 30 countries (417 products and 148 student contributions). These winners had the honor of accepting a GOLD AWARD for particular performances with regard to design and innovation on the first day of the trade fair, September 1, 2010, in Friedrichshafen.
impec, the impeccable bike from BMC, was also there. The jury that selected the bike had the following to say: "The first carbon frame with fully automated manufacturing. The tubes are woven with a radial braiding machine to be seamless and adapted to different loads. An innovative construction method that allows for manufacturing various sizes and geometries. A superb innovation!" The impec from BMC truly is the herald of a new era in frame building. Until now, conventional pre-impregnated carbon mats had been used in the manufacturing of racing bikes. Every frame had to be hand made from hundreds of carbon mats in operations based mostly in the Far East. After several years of research BMC, under the leadership of Andy Rihs, has now constructed a new factory in the Swiss city of Grenchen to build the frames for the new
flagship model. BMC has thus set a new benchmark in the worldwide bicycle industry.
The new manufacturing method is not the only trailblazing innovation. The tubes are connected by newly developed shells to form a highly stable frame. These shells are made from ultra-lightweight, high-strength composite material. The shells comprise a high content of carbon fibers, to withstand extremely high loads at a minimum weight. They double up as a key design element. The Shell Node Concept (SNC) means that impec is also visually distinct from any other racing bike.
In addition to the innovative manufacturing process, the unique BMC design is also being applauded with this win of the Eurobike Award. The first impec will be available to end customers as of fall 2010.
