The manufacture of a complete bike was the dream of Hope Technology’s founders Ian Weatherill and the late Simon Sharp (www.hopetech.com).

This dream is now reality with the launch of the Hope HB160 All Mountain/Trail bike. With a full carbon-fibre frame, the bike’s development saw a virtual rewriting of the rules relating to bike production.

Mr Weatherill said: “We didn’t deliberately set out to create new standards, but our ethos of ‘no compromise’ resulted in a bike that uses very few current standards.

"This may not be the best solution for compatibility, but because we make every part at Hope Technology, we had full control over the entire project and created what we see as the perfect bike.”

Hope Technology also maintained its ‘Made in Barnoldswick’ philosophy by producing the mould tools for the carbon-fibre frame in-house, with the help of Sheffield-based tooling supplier WNT (UK) Ltd (www.wnt.com).

Hope Technology’s works and production manager, Lindley Pate, said: “Producing the mould tools was one of the easiest parts of the project, as we already have extensive machining capability and experience gained over 25 years of manufacturing cycle components.

“We rely on our tooling partner WNT to ensure that we are maximising machine performance, and they played an important role in developing the machining strategies for these mould tools. The results can be seen in the high standard of finish and fit of the finished bike.”

Tony Pennington, WNT’s UK and Ireland managing director, said: “WNT’s long-term relationship with Hope Technology is definitely a two-way street; while we continue to support the company’s manufacturing activities with technical and logistical support, Hope in return is a partner of Team WNT Pro Cycling — our UCI Womens’ professional cycle team — for which it provides a range of components, including hubs and wheels.

The HB160 will make its WNT debut at our next customer mountain-bike event.”