Carbon DLS and QDP: How Our 3D Lattices Are Really Made (and Why Not Everything 3D Printed Is the Same)

"3D printed" has become a marketing hook. You'll find it on 30-euro saddles, on bargain-bin accessories and on parts that deform after two months. The problem is that it lumps together two worlds that have nothing in common: a home fused-filament printer… and the industrial technology used to make our lattices.

At CarboXtrem we don't improvise that part. We design the lattices (the geometry, the density by zone, the fit for each rider) and the manufacturing is carried out by our partner QDP, in the Netherlands, a member of the Carbon Production Network and a specialist in Carbon DLS technology. That is where the NEXUS saddle, the Race Days grips and the aerobar arm rests come from. We explain how and why it matters.

What Carbon DLS (Digital Light Synthesis) is

Carbon's DLS technology doesn't "deposit" plastic: it makes the part with light. A liquid resin is cured continuously by projecting ultraviolet light through an oxygen-permeable window. The result is an isotropic part (equally strong in every direction), with no visible layers or the typical fracture planes of FDM printing.

What matters for a contact lattice is this: with a mould you can't create millions of interconnected hollow cells, and neither can you with a filament printer at that level of detail. With DLS you can. That makes it possible to build lattice structures that are impossible to mould, in which every cell does its job: stiff where you need to push, soft where you rest, and hollow so it breathes.

EPU 41: the material that changes the rules

Our lattices are printed in EPU 41, an elastomeric polyurethane from Carbon designed for parts that flex and spring back. Its properties, set out in the official case study Carbon published about our products, are exactly what cycling calls for:

• Light and highly elastic, with a grippy feel.
• Flexible down to -10 °C: it doesn't turn into a brick in the cold.
• Quick-drying: key for triathletes and duathletes in transition, and on rainy days.
• Biocompatible: it passes the ISO 10993-10 skin sensitisation test, suitable for prolonged contact with the skin.
• Recovers its shape: it doesn't pack down or sink permanently like EVA foam or gel.

And what's coming: the new EPU Pro resins

Carbon's chemistry doesn't stand still. Beyond EPU 41, the elastomer family is evolving towards the new EPU Pro resins, a generation aimed at fine-tuning the balance between elasticity, strength and recovery even further. At CarboXtrem we are already working with QDP to incorporate them, which opens the door to even better-tuned lattices and new products. We'll dedicate an in-depth article to them when they reach the catalogue.

The design is CarboXtrem's; the manufacturing is European (QDP)

Here is the difference you can't see in the photo. CarboXtrem (Reus, Spain) designs every lattice: it defines the lattice geometry, tunes the density zone by zone and adapts it to the rider's weight and contact point. That part —the product's "brain"— is ours.

Production is handled by QDP (Duiven, Netherlands), a member of the Carbon Production Network —which features this collaboration in its own case study. It isn't a printer in a garage: it's a qualified industrial manufacturer within the Carbon ecosystem, which guarantees repeatability, quality control and consistency unit after unit. In-house design + certified European manufacturing = a part you can trust, not a generic "3D print".

Which products come out of this technology

Everything at CarboXtrem that touches your body in position —where comfort and pressure are what matter— uses this lattice:

They are all customisable, with multi-zone cushioning and a breathability that is impossible in solid foam.

Why this matters to you (and isn't marketing)

When you see a "3D printed saddle" at a bargain price, it's almost always FDM or a shaped foam: it sinks, packs down, doesn't breathe and doesn't fit anyone. Ours is the opposite: Carbon material (EPU 41), DLS technology, manufacturing within the Carbon Production Network and a design we fine-tune for each rider.

This isn't theory: thousands of units of each product have been sold and they have been tested by professional cyclists in different disciplines. A well-made 3D lattice isn't a fad; it is simply the best known way to be light, comfortable and breathable at the same time.

In short

Carbon provides the technology (DLS) and the material (EPU 41). QDP provides qualified European manufacturing. And CarboXtrem provides the design and the fit for each rider. That chain is what separates a real 3D lattice from just any "3D print".

Want to feel it where it matters most? Start with the contact point that covers the most kilometres: the NEXUS 3D Carbon Saddle.