- Innovative new bike meticulously designed and engineered to deliver
outstanding track performance
- Lotus Engineering has created the unique front forks and handlebars,
with Hope Technology developing the frame
- Will be on show in London from Thursday, and makes competitive track
debut with the Great Britain Cycling Team at the weekend
Lotus Engineering and Hope Technology have unveiled their exciting bicycle
collaboration – an innovative new track bike designed to deliver medals for the
Great Britain Cycling Team at next summer’s Olympic Games.
The new bike will be on public display later this week at London’s Rouleur
Classic event and make its competitive debut with the Great Britain Cycling Team
this weekend. Riders have been testing the bike in secret over the past weeks,
and will continue their evaluation with a view to riding it at the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics.
Lotus Engineering is the internationally recognised automotive consultancy
division of Group Lotus, best known globally for its iconic British performance
cars. Its industrial design innovation and expertise has been seen in sectors
including aerospace, medical research, furniture and boat-building.
Lotus Engineering has created the unique front fork design and handlebars for
the new bike, working with Hope Technology to integrate these components into
the overall package. This has included a full programme of wind tunnel
evaluation on both bike and rider, plus testing to maximise the strength while
minimising the weight. Lotus has also worked on improving stiffness and front
end feel to improve rider confidence.
Lotus has a highly successful history in cycling through its Lotus
Engineering division. In the Nineties, Lotus was instrumental in the design and
development of Lotus Sport bikes for cycling legend Chris Boardman at the 1992
Olympics in Barcelona, where he won gold, and in the 1994 Tour de France, where
he won the prologue time trial to take the famous yellow jersey.
Miguel Fragoso, Executive Director, Lotus Engineering, commented: “Lotus has
always been at the very cutting edge of lightweight racing performance with its
cars, and now – after 25 years away from cycling – we’ve collaborated to apply
the same Lotus core values to this new track bike. We look forward to working
with British Cycling as testing continues towards next summer’s Olympics.”
Hope Technology has been designing, creating, manufacturing and testing
innovative components for bikes at its Lancashire HQ for 30 years. Countless
British bikes and riders have benefitted from Hope products and today the
business exports around half of its output. After years of success in racing, it
has recently moved into making complete, ready-to-ride bikes.
Ian Weatherill, Managing Director, Hope Technology, said: “We have created the
frame using high-modulus composites with fabric woven in UK, the in-house team
has unrivalled engineering expertise with 30 years of composite experience and
two Olympics behind them. Together we have refined the manufacturing method to
make a superior product”.
A large proportion of the development of the bike’s aero features were done
following the 2016 Olympics, when the UCI – cycling’s governing body – changed
the rules on bike development. At that point a knowledge transfer was made by
the English Institute of Sport (EIS) to key UK suppliers, in this case Hope
Technology and Lotus Engineering. The pair have worked closely together to
refine the design and perfect the manufacturing processes of the new bike.
Tony Purnell, head of technology for the Great Britain Cycling Team, said: “It’s
a dream team of engineering prowess – Hope Technology bring high quality
manufacturing standards and Lotus Engineering is renowned for lightweight design
and outstanding aerodynamic efficiency. Both have been supported and advised by
additive manufacturing experts Renishaw, who have ensured that Lotus and Hope
have access to the most modern and fastest turnaround process from design to
usable pieces.
To qualify to be ridden at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the bike’s design must be
approved by the UCI and it must be ridden during the 2019/2020 Tissot UCI Track
Cycling World Cup series by the Great Britain Cycling Team before the end of
2019.
This means the bike will be ridden by British Cycling athletes at the
Minsk-Arena velodrome in Belarus this weekend (1-3 November). UK cycling fans
will be able to see it in action on home ground for the first time at the Sir
Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow, the following weekend (8-10 November).
Tony Purnell added: “Following a terrific effort from our sponsors to bring this
bike into reality, we have the task of evaluating the bike together with the
English Institute of Sport to ensure it’s going to have the right performance in
Minsk and Glasgow, and of course in Tokyo, and providing feedback to Hope and
Lotus engineering teams.”
Images and text copyright Group Lotus PLC
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