As part of its continuing partnership with the
Great Britain Cycling Team, global engineering technologies company
Renishaw has collaborated with British Cycling and other partners to develop the new Hope-Lotus track bike. The new cutting-edge bicycle will be ridden by Great Britain’s track cyclists at the
2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow before competing at the
2024 Paris Olympic Games.
British Cycling has continued its work with the best of British engineering to design and optimise its latest track bike, improving on the one that took the top spot of the track cycling medal table at the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. To build the optimum track bike, British Cycling and partner engineer firms created bespoke components using Renishaw technology, including forks and handlebars from Lotus Engineering that allow for increased aerodynamic porosity and the HBT Paris frame from Hope Technology that has helped refine headstock and seatstays.
To further develop the enhanced track bike, Renishaw used its in-house additive manufacturing (AM) expertise to rapidly produce plastic and metal prototype parts to undertake aerodynamic testing of the new design and ensure that parts were light, geometrically correct and strong enough to endure the strain from riders. Once it confirmed the parts were viable, the company then used its RenAM 500Q AM 3-D printing system to manufacture aluminium and titanium parts, including handlebars, for the competition bikes, with parts customised for individual athletes.
Fantastic opportunityLouise Callanan, director of AM at Renishaw, said: “We have been busy designing, testing and building components for the new bike and we were really excited to see it in competitive action for the first time at the
2023 UCI Cycling World Championships earlier this month. Working with British Cycling is a fantastic opportunity to showcase how our AM technologies can help improve the performance of the bike and ensure that it is optimised for individual riders.
Stephen Park, Great Britain Cycling Team performance director, said: “Our relationship with Lotus Engineering, Hope Technology and Renishaw is going from strength-to-strength. Their combined high-quality manufacturing standards, renowned lightweight design, aerodynamic efficiency and their keen eye for finer details help us to unlock valuable marginal gains, which make all the difference come race day. This is the most advanced bike that has ever been ridden by British athletes.”
Ensuring track bikes are light, geometrically correct and strong enough to endure the strain from the riders is vital when racing in the velodrome. Renishaw’s AM expertise enabled the team to help create lightweight, complex parts for the upgraded bike to help reduce drag and improve overall speed. With less than a year until the
2024 Paris Olympic Games, the cycling squad, including five track cycling medallists from the
2020 Tokyo Olymic Games, competed on the new bike at the recent World Championships.