What bicycle frame materials is a Van Raam bike made of?

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Van Raam

The question of which material a Van Raam bike or bicycle frame is made of is a good question and the answer can be found in the following text. You will also learn more about the advantages of the material used for the bike frame and what other materials are used for a Van Raam bike.

What is a bicycle frame?

A bicycle frame is the supporting structure of a bicycle. It carries the weight of the rider and passes it on to the wheels. The frame is subject to driving, braking and steering forces as well as external conditions. All other components of the bicycle are attached to a bicycle frame, which are needed for steering, drive and other functions of the bicycle.

Van Raam bicycle frame materials

Many materials are used to produce a bicycle. It all begins, after the research and design phase, with delivering the raw materials for the bicycles. Van Raam uses mostly steel as frame material for the bicycle frame. The delivered steel tubes are sample checked at delivery. At every step in the production chain, semi-finished products are checked upon quality to see if it’s on an accepted level. A bicycle of guaranteed high quality is the result.

Why does Van Raam use steel?

Strong
Ductile
Long lasting
Very good to process

Steel frames are strong and have a high stiffness and when designed in a proper way, you can add a desired amount of flexibility to the bicycle. At the same time it is Ductile. This ensures that the frame does not break in case of impacts. This means that the material is very dimensionally stable. As a result, the durability of a steel frame is increased.
As far as riding characteristics are concerned, the unique and well-developed bicycle frame ensures that vibrations are well absorbed. This is important because it ensures a comfortable ride and you notice relatively little of the bumps in the road surface.

Van Raam produces in a sustainable way and also wants the bikes to be not only comfortable but also durable. Therefore the technical perspective of steel is also important and advantageous. Because wherever comfort and durability are a priority, the use of steel makes perfect sense. In addition, to the fact that steel is very easy to work with and is very processable, especially for adapted bicycles.

As you may know, steel can rust. It is therefore important to always paint the steel frames properly. Van Raam powdercoats his frames to protect them from their environment, but more of this later.

Easy Rider frame Van Raam in the program Solid Works
Van Raam Easy Rider frame in the production
Easy Rider frame Van Raam before powder coating
Easy Rider frame Van Raam colored
Assembly of Van Raam Easy Rider frame

Innovative processing

Van Raam is an innovative company. This means that we are constantly looking at how our bicycles, assembly and production process can be improved or even renewed. In production, we use modern machines to process steel tubes into a frame ourselves. To produce the perfect bicycle frame we use various innovative machines such as computer-controlled CNC lathes, milling machines and welding robots. We also have other machines, such as a 3D laser machine, which have put us at the top of the market.

Would you like to read more about our innovations? Please visit our innovation page.

Innovation page

van raam special needs bikes production 3d laser machine and welding robot — Here you can see the welding robot (above) and the Mazak 3D laser machine (below)

Tip!

Store your Van Raam bicycle preferably in a dry place such as a house or dry shed. Read more tips in our article "10 tips for the maintenance of a (special needs) bike".

10 tips!

Other material on the Van Raam bicycle

A Van Raam bicycle is not only made of steel but also has other components.For example, plastic, or to be more precisely polyamide 12, which is nylon, is processed into bicycle bottoms that are 3D printed. You can read about this in the article: "Bicycle parts from the 3D printer at Van Raam". Furthermore we also use a powder coating to paint the different RAL colours as bicycle material. Every Van Raam bicycle can be powder coated in (almost) any colour. Read more in the article about powder coating and colour choice. Also interesting to know is that the motor housing in the wheel is made of aluminium. Would you like to know more about pedal assistance? Take a look at our pedal support page. More bike options can be found on the price list of the desired bike and on our options page.

What people with a Van Raam bicycle say?

It is always helpful to see how Van Raam bicycles are experienced by others. You can experience this in our user experiences. Read the experiences of people who have already bought a Van Raam bicycle

View more customer experiences

How a Van Raam bicycle is made

Learn more about how we manufacture our special bicycles ourselves. Watch the film about the company and get to know the manufacturing process of a special bicycle step by step.

Manufacture Van Raam bicycle

Experience material up close during a test drive

Nothing is more important than your own feelings. Especially with an adapted bicycle. Experience and try the material of our Van Raam bicycles during a free test ride in our showroom in Varsseveld (the Netherlands), in our advice centre in southern Germany or at a dealer near you. During your visit one of our advisors will explain everything about the various Van Raam bicycles and you will also have the opportunity to take an extensive test ride on our test track in Varsseveld. On the test track you can experience how the material behaves in different situations. A test ride is important! Every person has their own preferences and tastes. Try it out yourself and plan a test drive.

Test ride