3D Printing Is Changing the Bicycle Industry – Here Are a Few Ways How

The recent explosion of 3D printing technology has led to all sorts of components, vehicles, and applications that a few years ago seemed downright science fiction. With the level of versatility 3D printing presents, manufacturers have begun to not only incorporate this method in their products, but even turning the process towards entire products. Here you’ll find a few examples of how 3D printing is changing and even saving the lives of cyclists all over the world.

Bikes

If there is one thing that 3D printing allows for, it’s unleashing creativity and design. Take the Superstrata bike as the perfect example of what can be achieved. The Superstrata is a bicycle made of carbon fiber and printed into the shape you see.

Now, carbon fiber bikes are nothing new, but the Superstrata isn’t completed using layers of sheets of carbon, but rather from one continuous carbon fiber feed/thread. This results in a fully customizable bike that can easily be modified to fit your body size. Not to mention light, strong, and only going to run you $2,800 (€2,310 at current exchange rates) for the basic Superstrata C.

Another company that has been running with 3D printing is German based, Urwahn Bikes. Their approach is a bit different than Superstrata as Urwahn prints its frame in pieces then assembles it after. This team decided to take classical welds out of the game and are creating components via 3D printing and finally “welding” tubes and said components in place using Selective Laser Melting.

Components

Another way 3D printing is affecting the industry is through component manufacturing. Because programs like CAD and other 3D projection software are used to create components, the sky is literally the limit in terms of what can be done.

Exploring the applications of 3D printing is bicycle manufacturer, Atherton. Unlike Superstrata or Urwahn, Atherton is exploring bicycle construction with components produced by U.K. based Renishaw. Renishaw is currently a leader in additive manufacturing and 3D printing and are producing titanium sleeves in which the rest of the bike’s tubes are to be connected.

To make these components, 3D printers lay “down 3500 layers of titanium powder and is melted in place by four lasers ono a titanium build plate.” This differs from component to component and manufacturer.

Gear

Another sector of the bicycle industry that has been affected by 3D printing is gear. When I say gear, I mean things like helmets, water bottle holders, and even chain guides.

One company fully exploring the benefits of this technology is KAV Sports. They are looking to build a fully customizable helmet using nothing more than 3D printing. Built with a honeycomb construction, each helmet is designed to be strong without any added weight, resulting in a helmet under 300 grams.

This idea has been so well met that the company’s Kickstarter campaign still has 25 days to go (at the time of writing this article), and already they’ve nearly tripled their pledged goal.

As for things like water bottle cages and chain guides, you won’t need to look for a manufacturer to get one. By doing a quick search on Google, you’ll find endless designs that you yourself can download and create, if you own a 3D printer that is.

Afterthought

One thing is for sure, the fact that you can buy a 3D printer and set it up in your very own home and get to printing, the number of designs you’ll be seeing in the future are bound to be endless.

At this time, there are countless websites like thingiverse that allow you to download designs from creators of different industries, some free of charge, others for a fee, and you can get to printing right now. Heck, maybe the next article I write will be about you, and how you designed a gear set or some handlebar that’s paper light.