Schaeffler Group Industrial is supporting top-level sport in Germany with its technological expertise and has become a sponsor of the FES institute for research and development of sports equipment in Berlin, Germany. The cooperation contract signed at the end of 2010 defines how Schaeffler Group Industrial and the FES will collaborate in future in development projects for sports equipment and measurement systems for activity recording.
Rolling and plain bearing solutions and linear guidance systems play an important role in many types of competitive sports and training equipment. “We are really pleased that we can make a valuable contribution to supporting top-level sport with our products and expertise”, says Dr. Arbogast Grunau, President of Product Development at Schaeffler Group Industrial. “With our low-friction products in particular, we can improve the smooth running of sports equipment and therefore provide athletes with a decisive advantage of a few tenths of a second during competitions”. Examples of applications here are racing bicycles, speed inline skates or summer bobsleighs. Lower mass, longer life and the highest-possible level of reliability are also important objectives during the development of sports equipment. This partnership offers Schaeffler Group Industrial the opportunity to test products with extreme requirements under extreme conditions and to define development methods for pushing the limits of performance.
The cooperation contract is not restricted to the development and supply of rolling and plain bearing products. Both parties will work together on surface coatings for components, basic tribological investigations and on developing special materials. Both parties have already collaborated on the latter. The FES and Schaeffler Group Industrial developed a new blade for ice skates that was used during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The special material used for the blade was developed by the Schaeffler Group as a high-tech steel and the company uses it for rolling bearings in extreme conditions. “We are pleased that this collaboration has developed into a more long-term cooperation. The Schaeffler Group’s technological expertise will provide us with several new sources of inspiration and therefore help our athletes to stay among the world’s top performers”, says Harald Schaale, Director of the FES.
There has been a long-standing tradition of products for sports equipment at the Schaeffler Group. The most recent developments from the Schaeffler Group in this area include rolling bearings for the bottom bracket units and wheel hubs of racing bicycles, the FAG branded Cronitect® Hybrid roller bearings, furthermore bottom brackets for city and touring bicycles as well as sensor bottom brackets for the drive control systems in e-bikes. Components for Rohloff’s 14-speed hub gear, bearings for fitness and training equipment, special bearings and roller clutches with corrosion protection in fishing reels are also part of the Schaeffler Group’s comprehensive product range in this sector.
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