Japanese steelmaker Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Metals) has announced that Sumitomo Metals Naoetsu's (SM Naoetsu) three-layer clad steel sheet, providing high performance in wear resistance and heat release, has been adopted for use as material for disc brake rotors of mountain bikes made by Shimano Inc. The product contributes to improving the mountain bike's brake performance and reducing its weight.
SM Naoetsu responded to the request of Shimano, top-class bicycle component makers, by developing a three-layer clad steel sheet for rotors. This sheet uses aluminum in the middle and high wear-resistant
stainless steel in the outer layers.
In addition to application for rotors, SM Naoetsu will explore other applications of the newly-developed three-layered clad sheet of
stainless steel and aluminum, leveraging its features of simultaneously accomplishing high wear-resistance and heat release performance.