Built to last - with drylin W linear guides

What was needed: drylin® W double guides and linear housing
Requirements: The lift should be indestructible, stable, beautiful
and long-lasting
Industry: Bicycle industry
Success for the customer: lubrication-free, stable and durable function

The company Rad9 started looking for new assembly stands for the newly created assembly stations. They looked at various lifts and assembly stands, but none met their requirements. For this reason, Rad9 decided to build a Velolift according to their own requirements. The company's idea was to develop a bike lift that is indestructible, stable, beautiful and lasts forever. The two founders then developed the first "max. Velolift" together with an employee. The prototype worked well straight away, but the Rad9 design was not quite to their liking. The ball bearing used always had some clearance and there was a risk of injuring oneself on the guidance or even jamming one's hand. The two owners showed their prototype to a mechanical engineer friend and he recommended replacing the H-beam with a square tube and the ball bearing with a lubrication-free linear guide from igus®.

Our colleague Axel Ebert from Switzerland visited Rad9 with a sample case full of linear solutions. The technical requirements were defined on site and the experienced application engineer from igus® quickly realised that thedrylin® W modular system would prove its worth here. Together they decided on the drylin® W double profile guides - in a length of two metres and with a shaft diameter of 20 millimetres, with 80 millimetre guide spacing. The ten-millimetre rail would also have been sufficient, but the price difference was so minimal that the company opted for the more solid version due to its stability, durability and appearance. They also opted for four matching drylin® W linear enclosures from the modular system. The drylin® W double profile guides used are made of hard-anodised aluminium and are therefore corrosion-free. The housing bearings from thedrylin®® W linear programme are also designed for dry operation and completely dispense with lubricants such as oils and greases. The use of thedrylin®® W linear programme offers many advantages over conventional recirculating ball bearing guides. No lubrication is required, dirt and dust cannot stick and there is no need for costly maintenance. max. Velolift has focussed on reducing the lift to the essentials. However, it fulfils its function precisely by keeping bicycles permanently stable and secure at the right height.