Japanese steelmaker Sumitomo Metal Industries Limited has announced that Sumitomo Metals Naoetsu's 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.