Continental Head of Bike Tyre Growth and Industrialisation
Trevor Hedge: Inform us a bit bit about your background, the place did you develop up, the place did you go to highschool, how lengthy have you ever been with Continental?
Emily Altenhofen: “My title is Emily Altenhofen, and I’m a 31-year-old industrial engineer. I grew up in Germany. I began with Conti in 2012. Since 2018, I’ve been working in numerous tyre growth roles in Germany and the US earlier than I took my present position as Head of Bike Tyre Growth in late 2023.”
Hedge: Would which were when the TKC 80² course of was began?
Altenhofen: “It takes a while, you’ve seen what number of items now we have constructed within the growth, so I joined proper after the beginning of the venture.”
Hedge: Lots of people don’t perceive the chemistry concerned in tyre compounds and the way there’s really a chemical response that you just guys put into the tyre, that successfully repels water, the identical as magnets repel one another. One would think about {that a} sports activities tyre would require way more growth in these chemical compounds and interactions, however I spoke with Christoph earlier, and he mentioned maybe the brand new TKC is much more of a problem from a chemistry standpoint?
Altenhofen: “I might positively say engaged on 50-50 tyres is basically growing one thing that should match all the pieces, so you need to make each a part of the rider blissful, and meaning nice grip on the street, meaning nice belief or traction off-road, so positively growing a compound for a 50-50 tyre is a giant job and likewise very demanding.”
Hedge: So what number of chemists would you may have had engaged on the compound for TKC80 Mk2?
Altenhofen: “We’ve a devoted workforce of chemists in tread compounding, growing, and now we have our headquarters of RnD in Hanover. All of them work collectively when engaged on compounds for brand spanking new tyre generations.”
Hedge: And it’s your job to deliver these folks collectively to work in direction of the first aim of the TKC80? To decide on who you’re employed with, and to collaborate to give you the ultimate particular sauce?
Altenhofen: “Precisely, the TKC 80 Gen 2 is a particular venture. So everytime you get a set of necessities, which I talked about earlier, you arrange a workforce of particular specialists, like what do you want, you want a brand new compound, you want patterns, designers who do industrial design considering on how one can design patterns, noise vibration harshness engineers, chemists, there’s a workforce that has to work collectively. A tyre developer on building, mould drawings, there’s a giant workforce concerned in setting that up, as a result of it’s so extremely specialised.“
Hedge: You introduced up NVH, and clearly, with Euro5, 5+ and going to Euro6, I do know a serious problem for bike producers is attempting to cut back the noise in so many areas of the bike, so then they’ll produce the noise they wish to produce. Within the earlier presentation, you talked about you had microphones positioned in particular places across the bike. I think about you’d even have ride-by setups as nicely. So I suppose you may have acoustic evaluation engineers who concentrate on finding out and dealing on that? As a result of I’d think about that proper now, that’s most likely extra essential than it’s ever been?
Altenhofen: “The significance of noise has elevated through the years, as everyone knows, environmental safety is getting extra essential, but additionally riders have larger… again within the day, you had a knobby tyre, and it’s loud. It’s not like that anymore. The world modifications, the necessities change, and now we have many various noise vibration, harshness engineers, individuals who give attention to it. If you speak about pass-by noise, that’s one half. Inner noise on a bike is extra what a rider perceives, a subjective noise, however there’s additionally indoor noise testing. In order that’s a giant half, and getting increasingly essential.”
Hedge: When growing the tread design, what compromises have been made to cut back noise?
Altenhofen: “Growing the tread sample for the TKC 80² and optimising it on noise is only a matter of utilizing the perfect simulation strategies. The way you distribute the block across the tyre. With the higher growth simulation strategies, you may have actually nice alternatives to have the perfect tread sample, which you want out there for a 50-50 tyre.”
Hedge: You talked about the way you shifted that tread sample across the tyre in order that it’s uneven, so that you don’t have that repetition, so it spreads extra of the noise over extra of the noise spectrum?
Altenhofen: “Precisely, it’s just like the howling noise of a tyre. It’s about self-amplifying frequencies, and you need to break them. If we give it some thought, each bike is completely different, so it’s additionally a tyre/bike interplay which you need to think about. However now we have put quite a lot of work into that subject.“
Hedge: For the reason that earlier iterations of the TKC80, journey bikes have gotten loads heavier, and at the moment are stupendously highly effective, with mountains of torque, so I think about via the completely different measurement ranges, there have to be some fairly large variations in carcass power to cater for the completely different bikes? Are we attending to the purpose the place you’re going to, maybe sooner or later, have a heavy load and light-weight load model of one thing just like the TKC 80². Is that one thing you’ve thought-about?
Altenhofen: “Each tyre has a special building, it is rather depending on the dimensions. You’ll be able to really learn it on the sidewall; you’ll be able to actually see, relying on the dimensions and the bikes on which these tyres go. Each single carcass is optimised for the particular measurement.
“And even in case you discuss concerning the tread sample, completely different bikes just like the 890 Journey with the 90/90-21 entrance and 150/70-18 rear, the 90/90-21 entrance is widespread for extra off-road purposes, and you will notice the sample seems to be a bit bit completely different than a 120/70-19 which matches on a giant 1300 GS and that’s additionally due to the applying of that measurement. It’s not solely the development, but additionally typically how the sample is scaled to a particular measurement to suit that extra various utility of journey bikes.”
Hedge: And regardless of quite a lot of analysis and consideration of going the radial route for this new technology TKC80, you caught with a bias ply building. There are execs (primarily sidewall power, puncture resistance and cargo capability favouring bias) and cons of each approaches. Inform us why, regardless of your trials with radials, you selected Bias, and have the newest cross-ply building manufacturing strategies decreased the negatives usually related to cross-ply tyres.
Altenhofen: “We selected to proceed with a full bias vary as a result of this building merely carried out exceptionally nicely within the examined circumstances. For the kind of off-road use the TKC 80 Gen 2 is designed for, the pure benefits in sidewall stiffness, puncture resistance, and total off-road sturdiness have been very convincing in our assessments. These traits gave us the arrogance that bias ply building stays the perfect answer for us for this product’s supposed objective.“
Continental Head of Bike Tyre Growth and Industrialisation
Hedge: These tyres shall be utilized in each tubeless and tubed purposes. Is there something particular about the way in which the tyres are constructed to additionally enable them to simply accept tubes? With a lot know-how now in tyres, what ought to consumers think about when selecting alternative tubes, and the way can this have an effect on efficiency and longevity? Are we attending to the purpose the place we’d like a considerably matched pair, tyre and tube, from the identical producer to attain the perfect efficiency?
Altenhofen: “Our tyres are all designed to be appropriate with each Tube and tubeless purposes. TKC 80 gen 2 will settle for all kinds of rubber & butyl tubes, but additionally heavier heavy-duty tubes.”
Hedge: What about warmth concerns? It will get a lot colder right here (Portugal) than in Thailand, the place the tyres are made, and in Australia, now we have to make the tyres work in zero to 40-degree ambient temperatures, and maybe tarmac temperatures that exceed 50 levels. Once more, the compromises there have to be arduous to attain.
Altenhofen: “With the newly launched tread compound, of half silica, we’re additionally lowering the warmth build-up within the tyre, so the tyre is extra sturdy in direction of warmth, and now we have, as you see, over 90 prolonged length excessive pace assessments, and that’s actually testing the tyre to the max of its functionality. So this has been examined totally at Continental, as that’s what we focus loads on in tyre growth.”
Hedge: And the way did you engineer, for the massive heavy bikes, which may tear tread blocks fairly simply particularly on rocky floor, is there any specific technique that you just assume has made a giant enchancment on this subsequent technology?
Altenhofen: “I feel one of many important modifications, and important elements which make the gen 2, the TKC 80², are the larger blocks, extra blocks, making the sample extra stiff to actually be sure that the tyre works nicely within the off-road for giant bikes with excessive torque. So I’d positively say the dimensions and elevated blocks.”
Hedge: What concerning the precise manufacturing course of itself? What’s essentially the most difficult a part of the manufacturing course of, making an journey tyre like this?
Altenhofen: “Tyre manufacturing over the previous years actually has made enormous steps ahead, you may have the latest superior mixing machines, the superior tyre constructing machines, prime notch know-how, glorious engineers, I really feel like now we have come such a great distance with tyre manufacturing, constantly with prime quality, and that’s one thing we’re actually happy with as nicely. In order that’s what I may say to that.”
Hedge: Looking forward to the following technology, what do you see as the following generational leap ahead for bike tyre know-how as an entire? Is it going to be in, possibly a technology leap in chemistry and compounds, or do you assume it’s going to be in how the tyres are made? The place do you assume or hope to make the following leap ahead?
Altenhofen: “ the way forward for tyres, it’s very troublesome, typically if you consider know-how, 10 years in the past, would you assume that we might have iPhones as now we have now? We most likely thought we have been on the fringe of know-how, and now there’s one thing new. I feel it’ll be a mixture of each, particularly fine-tuning all these manufacturing, mixing processes, compound know-how, carcasses, to actually discover the candy spot. I feel that’s most likely the longer term too, use what you have already got and which works rather well by themselves, however combining them to the proper symbiosis, for the way forward for tyres.”
Hedge: You began out together with your traineeship at Continental and have been with them ever since?
Altenhofen: “Sure, I’ve. In Germany, now we have work and examine applications, the place you do three days at college and three days with an employer that sponsors your research. You leap from one division to a different, get work expertise, get to know the corporate after which work your means up.”
Hedge: Let’s speak about boundaries, you’re nonetheless fairly younger, you’ve acquired an extremely essential position, and also you’re a girl. Are you considerably distinctive on this trade in that position? And on a number of fronts, you have to be the youngest product supervisor in a job like this, and one of many only a few ladies. I’m guessing you have to be fairly good at it!
Altenhofen: “I truthfully don’t take into consideration my position by way of age or gender. For me, it’s all the time been concerning the workforce and the combo of personalities and strengths we deliver collectively. We’re solely nearly as good because the workforce behind us, and I’m lucky to work with extremely expert folks. Continental gives nice alternatives for many who are pushed, and I strongly imagine success needs to be based mostly on expertise, competence, and arduous work—not gender.”
Hedge: I feel you’re proper, maybe in your position, as you say, there are inherent character traits extra widespread in ladies that I feel most likely do have a bonus on a collaborative venture involving a big workforce.
Altenhofen: “It’s all the time a matter of variety, you want one thing of all the pieces, nationality, age, gender, I feel actually that’s the way it needs to be.”
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