Hexcel Advanced Composites, Essential for High-Performance Sports
As part of National Composites Week, Hexcel highlights the essential role advanced composites have earned within the sporting goods industry.
The world of competitive sports is one of the fastest-growing industries, with more spectators and athletes becoming involved every day. Each year, the caliber of athletic performance reaches new levels, and with it comes an increased demand for new and more advanced and innovative equipment. Hexcel’s advanced composite materials make the development of these goods possible.
In the 1970s, Hexcel began its journey in the world of sports when it manufactured snow skis using its honeycomb structure as the core. Hexcel skis were lighter, smoother, and more durable, providing customers with a significant advantage over traditional wooden skis. Not only did these skis last longer, but the reduction in weight allowed them to glide across snow more quickly, allowing skiers to reach higher speeds. “Even today, we cannot attend a trade show without someone coming by to reminisce about how much they loved their Hexcel skis,” said Max Thouin, Carbon Fiber Sales Development Manager.
Hexcel and composites materials have come a long way since those days. Hexcel continues to actively contribute to the manufacturing of the world’s top skis and other sporting goods such as bikes, golf shafts, canoes, racquets, surfboards, fishing poles, and more. Its carbon fiber, woven reinforcements, non-crimp fabrics, epoxy prepregs, cured laminates, and polyurethane systems are lighter and stronger and can easily be conformed to any shape for design optimization, which clears the way for better performance.
Our unrivaled range of products for sporting goods applications include:
