Airbus : From aircraft to bikes, Airbus is breaking away to upcycle carbon waste

The first carbon bike 'made in Airbus' is already being produced in the factory of the Nantes start-up Petit·Breton. Just a few kilometres from the Airbus site in Nantes, Robin Cojean, the founder of Petit·Breton, remembers his first encounter with Airbus: 'It was in 2013. I was doing my end-of-studies engineering internship in the composite repair workshop at Nantes. I saw a lot of unused carbon offcuts. I was passionate about bicycles at the time and the idea of producing carbon bicycles in France was already on my mind.'

After a 5-year career as an aeronautical engineer in France and abroad, Robin finally decided to make his dream come true and to produce, in Nantes, an 'eco-designed' monocoque and customized bicycle, in carbon and flax fibre. He created his company Petit·Breton - a name in recognition to the first double winner of the Tour de France, Lucien Mazan, known by his nickname 'Lucien Petit Breton' - and designed his first model, a gravel bike (mixed road/mountain bike). He sources all his materials locally, and is a 100% French manufacturer.