In cycling, many materials are hyped, but Bio-Based Dyneema® is among the few that truly live up to its claims of greatness. Fifteen times stronger than steel yet so light it floats, Dyneema® fiber is one of the key technologies behind the legendary strength, durability, and ride quality of TIME carbon fiber frames.
Fancy Fibers 101: The Technical Take
Dyneema® is a thermoplastic polymer made of long chains of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Thanks to its molecular structure, it is inherently flexible and vibration-absorbing. Dyneema® also boasts exceptional tensile strength—at equal weights, it is even stronger than carbon fiber—but it is not as stiff. When pushed beyond its strength limit, Dyneema® stretches and absorbs energy before breaking, making it ideal for applications like armored vehicles and ballistic protection.
In contrast, carbon fiber is composed of long, tightly bonded carbon atoms arranged in a crystalline structure. It is exceptionally rigid, very light, and has high tensile strength, though it can be brittle when it fails.
Both Dyneema® and carbon fiber begin as little more than a floppy pile of string or fabric. They only achieve their strength when combined with resin—a glue-like liquid that hardens into a strong plastic. Resin binds the fibers into designed shapes and orientations to create lightweight, durable composite structures.
Forget what you’ve read about the compliance of carbon fiber itself—carbon fiber as a material is inherently stiff and unyielding. Compliance–the sensation of reduced road chatter and the dulling of sharp hits—comes from how carbon is arranged and used.
Metals commonly used in cycling—steel, aluminum, and titanium—are isotropic, meaning they have the same strength and stiffness in all directions due to their uniform crystalline structure. Carbon fiber, however, is anisotropic, meaning its properties vary depending on the direction of the fibers. Designers can strategically arrange and stack fibers to make carbon stiff in one direction and flexible in another.
For pre-preg carbon fiber frames, arranging and stacking different layers of carbon fiber at various orientations to balance strength, stiffness, and compliance is called the "layup schedule."
Dyneema®: This Changes Everything
At TIME, we incorporate 16 different types of carbon fiber in our frames, but none can do what Dyneema® does. Dyneema®’s extraordinary strength and inherent vibration-damping qualities add another dimension of design flexibility to our frames.
By combining carbon fiber with Dyneema® hybrid layers in frames like the TIME Alpe d'Huez X, we achieve the perfect balance of strength and flexibility. Carbon fiber focuses on what it does best—optimizing stiffness and durability—while Dyneema® absorbs and dissipates impact and vibration. This enhances performance and comfort without adding excess weight or compromising stiffness.
Bio-Based Dyneema®® is integrated into the braided carbon structures (BCS) of TIME frames, particularly at critical intersections like the headtube, downtube, and top tube. These BCS braids contain 20-25% Bio-Based Dyneema® by weight.
Why Don’t More Bike Brands Use Dyneema®?
Most bike brands cannot incorporate Dyneema® into their frame designs because they rely on pre-preg carbon construction, which limits them to fibers supplied by large manufacturers. Moreover, the high-temperature curing required for pre-preg carbon frames exceeds Dyneema®’s thermal tolerance.
At TIME, we take a different approach. By crafting our braided carbon structures (BCS) in-house and using resin transfer molding (RTM) at lower temperatures, we seamlessly integrate Dyneema® fibers into our designs.
What truly sets TIME apart is our ability to innovate from the ground up. By weaving our own BCS, we’ve been testing and optimizing sustainable Bio-Based Dyneema®® fibers from the moment they became commercially available.
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TIME - Le Defi and Dyneema®
Since our foundation in 1987, TIME has continually pushed the boundaries of technology, design, and innovation, driven by our guiding principle, Le Defi / The Challenge. This relentless pursuit of excellence inspires us to never settle and to lead the way in building the world’s best bikes. TIME bikes are known to have a legendary ride and exceptional durability, and part of that comes from our committed use of Dyneema®, the World’s Strongest Fiber™.
