Preparations are underway for the 2028 LA Olympic Games, with British Cycling renewing its partnership with Renishaw, one of its most high-tech collaborators.
This will be the third Olympic cycle in which British Cycling has worked with the British manufacturing company, after the two organisations joined forces ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Now, with the next Games only three years away, British Cycling says it will work with Renishaw on a “new wave of technical developments”, focusing on aerodynamics, mechanical optimisation and strength-to-weight engineering for the track.
“We have built a strong partnership with Renishaw over the past two cycles, and that trust is critical as we head into LA,” says Stephen Park CBE, the performance director for the Great Britain cycling team.
“The team's engineering insight and capabilities help us stay ahead of the competition and this makes a real difference when it comes to winning on the world stage,” Park adds.
Ben Collins, Renishaw’s lead additive manufacture engineer, says: “This is the point where we start rethinking what's possible. In these early stages, we are not just tweaking existing designs – we are challenging ideas, experimenting with form and function and asking how engineering can once again move the needle for the Great Britain Cycling Team.”
For the Paris 2024 Games, Renishaw supplied Team GB with more than 1,000 precision components across 32 track bikes. This included 3D-printed titanium cranks and the striking split seatpost, which allows air to flow directly through the centre of the bike.
Following an initial research phase, Renishaw will manufacture a series of low-volume production runs for the newly developed parts and components.
“This enables rapid iteration and ensures every component meets performance demands and delivers uniformity and reliability at competition level,” British Cycling says.
Last year, we had an up-close and personal look at Team GB’s hyper-expensive Olympic track bike, which featured Renishaw’s cranks and seatpost. Dr Oliver Caddy, lead project engineer at British Cycling, said that creating the parts using additive manufacturing enabled the team to customise seatposts and cranksets for each rider.
We also spoke to Caddy about Matthew Richardson’s custom Hope HB.T track bike for his 200m flying start world record. Caddy said the Renishaw cranks were the best-performing cranks Team GB had “ever had”, but he divulged they were working with Renishaw to create a new version of the crank that will include a power meter.
This could be a hint of the kind of developments we’ll see from British Cycling and Renishaw’s renewed partnership – but there is a bigger question for Team GB right now.
The UCI recently announced a range of tech regulations that will limit the internal fork width of road bikes from next year and track bikes from 2027, outlawing Hope’s track bike due to its wide fork and seatstays.
In September, cycling's governing body also announced that it will cap the price of track bikes and equipment at the LA Games, which will help curb the spiralling costs of track bikes and equipment.
As it stands, we don’t know what the price caps will be. But it might jeopardise some of Renishaw and Team GB’s groundbreaking work.
