Thanks to this new factory, Vittoria will be the first in the world to produce and use Graphene for the manufacture of bicycle tires and inner tubes compound. A state-of-the-art R&D lab has been dedicated to the tests on Graphene based bicycle tires compounds. First outcomes say benefits are countless. Vittoria and GEAX tires containing Graphene will then be produced through the owned factory in Thailand.
Bangkok – Thailand, January 22nd: Vittoria Industries Ltd. President and CEO Rudie Campagne and his partners cut the ribbon at the entrance of the new compound factory.
The new building has been dedicated to Claire Campagne, former Director of Global Marketing and Communication at Vittoria Industries Ltd. Claire has built ground for the actual Vision and Mission of Vittoria, bringing the holistic brand experience to "the next level”. At the entrance of the new building, all visitors will be welcomed by one of her most inspiring and touching quotes:
“Those who do not believe in magic will never find it”.
She passed away too soon on March 13th, 2012.
The “Claire Campagne Building” hosts one of the most innovative and world leading R&D center ever dedicated to the cycling industry. 11 million USD has been invested by Vittoria Industries Ltd. to make this possible. With its state of the art facilities, the new global center of excellence will be the “feather in the cap” of Vittoria Industries Ltd. The new global center of excellence is also the host of experiments and testing on Graphene nanotechnology, being applied to bicycle tires.
Thanks to a Joint Venture with the Italian start-up Directa Plus - that developed a system, called G+, for the application of Graphene on a scalable way - Vittoria is the first and sole to produce and use this material in the world, in the bicycle industry. Vittoria Industries Ltd. holds the exclusivity of G+ for the whole 2 wheel sector.
Graphene (single layer of carbon atoms) will thus be added to future Vittoria and GEAX inner tubes and tires compound. This will bring favorable features to bicycle tires, such as air-tightness, lower rolling resistance and better grip.
“Racing is casing! - said Rudie Campagne at the opening speech - With proper modesty we can proudly say that our casings are the lightest and probably the best in the world. This is the result of an almost 60 years long tradition of manufacturing cotton casings in Vittoria Italy plus many millions investments for very sophisticated production equipment and constant improvements by our R&D team. The next challenge is in compounds (...) this new Graphene technology will have numerous advantages for our tires and latex inner tubes (...) Graphene is the much needed breakthrough in bicycle tires.”
Profile
Vittoria Industries Ltd. leads a global operation, with its origins and Headquarter in the Bergamo area, Italy, near Milan. Founded in 1953, today’s Vittoria Industries Ltd. is the world's leading manufacturer of bicycle tires, with an annual production of more than 7 million tires and 900.000 famous tubular and cotton tires marketed under the reputed Vittoria and GEAX brands. Its own production facilities are based in Thailand and provide global sales and marketing network from North America (Oklahoma City & Boston) to Asia Pacific (Bangkok & Taiwan), and in Europe (Italy, Netherlands and Germany).
