2024 Olympic updates: Renishaw delivers bespoke aluminium parts for new Hope-Lotus track bike

Renishaw, a global engineering technologies company, has collaborated with British Cycling and other partners to develop the new Hope-Lotus track bike as part of its ongoing partnership with the Great Britain Cycling Team. The experts have decided to use aluminium and titanium parts to make the bike sturdy.

This cutting-edge bike will be used by Great Britain's track cyclists at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

To design and optimise its latest track bike, British Cycling has continued to work with the best of British engineering. They have improved on the bike that won the top spot on the track cycling medal table at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. British Cycling, with the help of its partner engineers, has created bespoke aluminium and titanium components using Renishaw technology. This includes forks and handlebars from Lotus Engineering that allow for increased aerodynamic porosity and the HBT Paris frame from Hope Technology, which has helped refine headstock and seat stays.

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. They ensured that the parts were light, geometrically correct, and strong enough to endure the strain from the riders. Once the viability of the parts was confirmed, Renishaw used its RenAM 500Q AM systems to manufacture aluminium and titanium parts, including handlebars, for the competition bikes, with parts customised for individual athletes.

The Director of Additive Manufacturing at Renishaw, Louise Callanan, narrated: "We have been busy designing, testing and building components for the new bike, and we are really excited to see it in competitive action for the first time at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships."

"Working with British Cycling is a fantastic opportunity to showcase how our additive manufacturing technologies can help improve the performance of the bike and ensure that it is optimised for individual riders," Callanan spoke out.

The Great Britain Cycling Team Performance Director, Stephen Park CBE, announced: "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," Park added.

Renishaw's AM expertise enabled the team to create lightweight, complex parts for the upgraded bike to help reduce drag and improve overall speed. Ensuring that track bikes are light, geometrically correct, and strong enough to endure the strain from riders is vital when racing in the velodrome. With less than a year until the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the cycling squad, including five track cycling medallists from the Tokyo Games, are set to compete on the new bike at the World Championships.