Mercury Centre
Bradley Wiggins' Handlebars
Bradley Wiggins' Handlebars designed specifically for him
He was the Mod King hero of the 2012 Olympic Games and his latest attempt for hall of fame recognition will be guided with some 3D printed handlebars.
Sir Bradley Wiggins or Wiggo as he is affectionately known to his fans, will attempt to ride 221 laps of the 250km track in one hour to beat fellow Brtion Alex Dowsett's record of 52.937km. In order to help him achieve what is thought of as one of cycling's most gruelling feats Wiggins' team have enlisted the help of the University of Sheffield's Mercury Centre in creating super lightweight, aerodynamic handlebars.
Using Arcam's Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing technology, the Mercury Centre designers were able to make subtle corrections swiftly and without needing to create new moulds to form each piece, giving enough time for the parts to be tested rigorously and adjustments to be made ahead of the record attempt.
James Hunt, research associate at the Mercury Centre, says: “The key is to manage the airflow around the bike so the different components of the bike disrupt that flow as little as possible. Because the handlebars hit the airflow first it’s absolutely critical to perfect that part of the design – 3D printing allows us to make shapes that optimise this aspect that would be very hard to achieve using other manufacturing techniques.”
The titanium 3D printed handlebars are perfectly tailored to Sir Bradley’s body size and cycling style. In order to do that a number of design variations had to be produced and tested in a very short timeframe, something that would be difficult to achieve in carbon fibre, which the rest of the Pinarello Lab bike frame is made of.
Mercury Centre
Design features of the handlebars
Design features of the handlebars
Pinarello Lab approached Sheffield’s Mercury Centre, a research institute within the University’s Faculty of Engineering, that works closely with industry to facilitate the use of new processes such as 3D printing. The research group at the Centre have been creating world leading scientific research on these processes since 2007 and have worked closely with Formula 1 teams and aerospace companies in the past, so were the perfect partner for this world record attempt.
Dimitris Katsanis, chief designer in Pinarello Lab, says: “Bolide HR is the most aerodynamic bike in the world. When it came to the handlebars, we needed them to be as good in terms of aerodynamics, but we also needed them to be a perfect fit for the rider. We’ve already seen our design working well in trials and Sir Bradley is cycling faster than ever.”
