FEATURE
Maxi Studio (top left), Project Manager, Mattia Carotto, (top right and bottom left) polycarbonate sheets (bottom right).
You might sell ABUS products in your bike shop, distribute them, or use them day to day. But do you know the process each product goes through? The time that goes into creating each helmet, and why they choose to do things a certain way?
Maxi Studio: Sheets, moulds and assembly lines In 2021, ABUS acquired Italian helmet manufacturer Maxi Studio S.R.L., integrating ABUS and Maxi Studio into one. Much of the production takes place in Vanzo Nuovo, Italy. Upon arriving, we were split into groups. The trip was organised for the ABUS Factory Racing team, ABUS customers and press, all to connect and help showcase what ABUS has been working on. We were shown around Maxi Studio by Project Manager,
Mattia Carotto, who took us through each step of the production process at the facility. It starts with a transparent polycarbonate sheet,
8 | June 2025
purchased as big sheets and cut into smaller sections, depending on the production cycle. Mattia explained that they use a special polycarbonate because it undergoes a lot of stress, hot and cold treatment and deformation. It’s a special material with a dedicated blend and a mixture of components in a mixture of different thicknesses. The sheets are manufactured in Belgium, made specially for ABUS, with a film that offers extra protection. The film either stays on until the helmet reaches the assembly department or is removed during painting, depending on the desired finish, and sticks to the sheets thanks to its electrostatic properties.
The thickness of the sheets correlates with stiffness, weight and cost. The tooling works to create sheets in line with the current product cycle. It’s not quite cut and dry; things such as internals, thicknesses and structure are dictated by which helmet is being produced. Once sheets are cut, colour and logos are added using a screen printing
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