Small, light, clean: iglidur plain bearings in the world's first fully balance bike

• What was needed: Plain bearings for various bearing points in the suspension system and in the steering system
• Requirements: Suitable for small installation spaces, lightweight, lubrication/maintenance-free, insensitive to dust and dirt, good damping properties, wear-resistant
• Area of application: Bicycle industry, frame construction

RePello is a small Czech family brand specialising in wooden vehicles for children. In 2013, founder Jiri Marjan came up with the idea of building a lightweight, full-suspension balance bike for his daughter that would be easy to ride and protect her musculoskeletal system from strong vibrations and impacts. Together with his friend and designer Pavol Mikulas, he developed the balance bike model J™, the first fully balance bike on the market. It weighs just 3.5 kg and is height-adjustable so that it can grow with the child aged 1.5 to 4 years "" .

During the design process of the Fully wheel, the aim was to work out how best to achieve a combination of high stability and low weight. The frame is made of birch plywood and coated in two layers of high-quality, non-toxic paint or transparent varnish. The centrepiece of the bike is the patent-pending LVS (Low Vibration System) suspension system. For the bearing points in the individual joints of the LVS and in the steering, the developers were looking for the lightest possible bearings that would fit into the small mounting surfaces, have a long service life and work without lubricating grease.

They found what they were looking for at igus®. Together with shafts made of a high-strength aluminium alloy, iglidur® bearings made of the material G form the perfect bearing combination for the bike. "For the joints of the front and rear wheel suspension system, we use iglidur® GFM flanged bearings, for the steering a combination of iglidur® GFM and the clearance-free preloaded bearings JVFM, which perfectly fulfil our requirements for the minimum clearance in this joint", explains Jiri Marjan. "The big advantage of iglidur® bearings is their wear resistance and resistance to dust. They also have very good damping properties and are maintenance-free."