British Cycling, in partnership with Team GB, has revealed the new bikes the squad will be riding at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
The new bike builds on the revolutionary Hope-Lotus track bike that Team GB used at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. This latest generation of the Hope-Lotus bike has received input from British Cycling’s team of in-house experts as well as external collaboration from Hope Tech, Renishaw and Lotus Engineering.
Although the silhouette of the bike might look similar to the striking bike that was first launched four years ago, there have been some significant developments. At the front of the bike, the wide-stance fork has been redesigned to incorporate a wavy profile to the trailing edge in an attempt to further increase the aerodynamic efficiency of the bike and rider.
Further down on the bike, a new 3D-printed titanium crankset can be found that has been designed and manufactured by Renishaw.
In a press release ahead of the bike’s launch British Cycling said, “Every component of the bike has been designed to work as one with the rider, bringing the machine and athlete together perfectly. Once again, our partners have pulled together at every stage of development, testing and manufacture to condense the project into a three-year Olympic cycle.”
Ben Collins, Lead Additive Manufacturing Application Engineer at Renishaw said, “We have been able to refine the design even further and showcase how additive manufacturing can deliver strong, yet lightweight parts for cycling while demonstrating these benefits to other industries.”
“Our aim for this Olympic bike is to push the boundaries with AM technology further, whilst still achieving high-performance components that are tailored to the riders and meet Olympic requirements for strength and weight.”
The Hope-Lotus track bike is a culmination of British engineering that has been supported by both UK Sport and National Lottery funding. Contributing to the design of the bike is also the UK Sports Institute which has worked closely alongside British Cycling and the Team GB cycling team to research and develop the bike’s design.
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