Ed Clancy on the Hope Lotus track bike 2024

As official additive manufacturing (AM) partner to British Cycling, global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has provided components for the newly unveiled Olympic track bike for Paris 2024. Renishaw, along with Lotus Engineering and Hope Technology, has continued its collaboration with British Cycling to develop and manufacture integral components for the track bikes, with a focus on reducing part weight and improving aerodynamics.

Renishaw has helped to design and manufacture a number of components on the bike, including the crank, seat stay bridge and dropouts, as well as a first-of-its-kind seat post created in aluminium. Using AM to manufacture these parts allows the British Cycling team, alongside Renishaw, to change the design throughout the process and create complex and aerodynamic geometries that would not be possible using traditional manufacturing technologies.

Renishaw helped to design the internal structure of the titanium crank, to deliver an optimised lightweight part. By using an internal lattice structure that is not possible using other manufacturing methods. The goal was to maintain the strength of the part, while keeping it lightweight enough to accommodate the overall weight limits for the bike.

Ben Collins lead AM application engineer at Renishaw, said: “After Team GB brought home seven Olympic medals from the Tokyo Olympics, we were delighted to be asked to continue our partnership with the British Cycling team and develop components for the Paris 2024 bike. Bringing together the best of British engineering talent, we have been able to refine the design even further and showcase how AM can deliver strong, yet lightweight parts for cycling, while demonstrating these benefits to other industries. Every bike is tailored to the measurements of the athletes, which is more difficult and costly using traditional manufacturing techniques, so it is a great example of the role AM can play in bespoke manufacturing.”

Pushing the boundaries
He added: “It was great to see the success of Team GB and the bike in the last Olympics and we are excited to see how the bike performs in Paris 2024 after creating the split seat post, seat bridge, dropouts and crank. Our aim for this Olympic bike is to push the boundaries with AM technology further, while still achieving high-performance components that are tailored to the riders and meet Olympic requirements for strength and weight.”

Oliver Caddy, lead project engineer at British Cycling, said: “As industry leaders in additive manufacturing, Renishaw has provided support in design and production of wind tunnel models and prototype parts during the development of the Paris Olympic bike. However, Renishaw’s contribution is not limited to development as crucial elements of the bike, including the seat posts and crank, have now also been produced by AM, showcasing its power in the cycling industry.

“The Renishaw team has been incredibly reliable throughout the entire process of developing parts ahead of Paris 2024. It is clear that they are as committed as we are to delivering excellence on this project. It is also appreciated by the athletes that are working hard to ready themselves for their events in the summer.”

The new cutting-edge bike will be ridden by Great Britain’s cyclists at the Paris 2024 Olympics track cycling events. These take place between 5-11 August at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games National Velodrome.