Bradley Wiggins to Attempt World Cycling Record with 3D Printed Custom Handlebars

May 28, 2015 by adlughmin 3D Design 3D Printing

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Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

The one hour, world cycling record was just set several weeks ago by a man from the United Kingdom, named Alex Dowsett. He was able to bike an incredible 52.937 km (32.894 miles) in just one hour. This broke the previous record (52.491 km) set in February by Rohan Dennis of Switzerland. Now just a few weeks later, another Briton, named Bradley Wiggins will attempt to “shatter” Dowsett’s record, next month in an event being held at the Lee Valley velodrome on June 7.

“It sounds a bit horrible to say, but I think I could break the record tomorrow,” Wiggins told the Times on Wednesday. “But I don’t just want to break it, I want to put it right up there, as far out of reach as I can. “I’ve got 55km in my head and I believe that’s realistic. And I think if I do that it will stand for 20 years.”

Wiggins will be attempting to break the record on this Pinarello Bolide HR bicycle, one which has been a bit of a secret as of late. Earlier today, a 2-second video clip was released by Pinarello, showing Wiggins speeding around track on the Bolide HR.

In collaboration with Jaguar, Pinarello’s bike has been modified in order to aid in helping Wiggins break this well respected record. One of the unique new features is a set of 3D printed titanium handlebars which have been custom made to fit Wiggins’ forearms just perfectly. 3D printing allowed for Wiggins’ bike to become extremely aerodynamic in ways which probably would not have been possible before the use of this technology.

Ultimately all of the details of this new modified bike probably won’t be available until Wiggins is ready to ride it on race day. While he believes that he will shatter the record, and completely put it out of reach for a couple decades, only time will tell if that will actually be the case. With the speed in which 3D printing is allowing for more custom, lightweight bicycle frames and parts to be fabricated, it wouldn’t surprise us one bit if the technology leads to more records being broken within the coming years.

What do you think about this record setting attempt? Will 3D printing play a role in allowing Wiggins to “shatter” the current record? Will this technology continue to play a role within the competitive cycling arena? Discuss in the 3D printed bike handlebars forum thread on 3DPB.com.