The igus:bike tour comes to a close in the UK

From the industrial town of Corby to the cultural legacy of Glasgow, the tour has connected with customers, communities, and influencers, all while showcasing the potential of motion plastics in shaping a greener future.

Starting in Corby, igus visited RS, a long-standing partner in engineering excellence. From there, the team cycled through the historic streets of Cambridge, stopping at the Corpus Clock and taking the bike on a punt along the river. London followed, offering a wealth of iconic landmarks for an eye-catching route and discussions with Design Solutions Editor, Rachel Morling. The capital’s constant flow of tourists and commuters made for many conversations around the future of urban mobility and the importance of sustainable transport.

After spending time across the Welsh border and the Peak District battling the changeable British weather, the week wrapped up in Liverpool, with a visit to Adlib, an event and venue technology specialist providing audio, lighting, video, and stage engineering services across the entertainment industry in the UK and Europe. With a relationship spanning over a decade, igus have collaborated with Adlib on many projects.

“We have used igus solutions in many of our installations, including the Tung Auditorium in the city where they are still going strong,” says Adlib Sales Manager, Kevin Toms.

Reaching the end of the first week, the team visited the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts to marvel at another, perhaps more famous, bike. The institute was co-founded by Sir Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty in 1996 and has a rich creative history as well as some cycling intrigue. Paul McCartney gifted one of his bicycles to the institute which sits pride of place in the atrium of the building for students and staff to see.

Week two began in the scenic city of York, where igus met with agricultural machinery specialists, Sumo UK. Sumo integrates igutex® bearings from igus into their tillage and seeding equipment, leveraging their exceptional load capacity and long-lasting performance.

“I’ve been working with igus over the last couple of years. We did use traditional brass and lubricated bushes, but found the deterioration on the pivot points was extreme and we wanted a hard-wearing bush that would give us longevity,” says Tim Lord, Head of Engineering and Quality at Sumo. “We’ve found that the performance of the igus bush is better than anything else on the market.”

Moving further north to Newcastle, igus visited another valued customer. Tharsus design and manufacture advanced automation systems known as strategic machines to help businesses solve complex operational challenges and scale effectively across a variety of industries. Principal designer at Tharsus, John Kelso, is a keen cyclist with over 15 bikes of his own. When asked for his first impressions on the bike, John said “I think innovation in bicycles is a good thing. It cruises at a nice speed, I can definitely see it working as a good city bike.”

Crossing over into Scotland, Edinburgh brought a new dimension to the journey, with a visit to Intelligent Growth Solutions, pioneers in vertical farming. Their use of igus technology in sustainable farming systems underscored the tour’s central message: innovation must serve both industry and the environment.

The final stop in Glasgow was a fitting conclusion. At the University of Glasgow, Gilles Bailet, lecturer in Space Technology at the James Watt School of Engineering welcomed the tour. Having collaborated with igus in his pioneering research in microgravity 3D printing, developing systems that enable manufacturing directly in space using granular materials.