In addition to an almost superhuman physical effort, the search for marginal gains part of the myth of the world hour record for almost 40 years. Filippo Ganna continues that tradition on Saturday with a time trial bike that has been 3D printed. How will that help the Italian?
38 years ago Francesco Moser (pictured) changed the laws of the world hour record. In 1984 he was the first to beat Eddy Merckx’s legendary record from 1972, but as you know he had some extra weapons to do so (a full rear wheel, a time trial suit and a modified handlebar).
Merckx set his record on a traditional racing bike.
The UCI abolished the use of hyperaerodynamic bicycles in 2000 and all records from the 1984-1996 period (by Chris Boardman and Miguel Indurain, among others) were placed in a separate category.
It wasn’t until 2014 that the UCI relaxed the rules again and allowed certain aerodynamic modifications to the bike.
The laws of art thus again became more and more the laws of the marginal gainswhich can be found in position, material and height.
Ultimate “freedom of form” as marginal gain
In 2019 Victor Campenaerts sought refuge in his particularly good aerodynamic position and in the low air pressure of the Mexican highlands to successfully attack the world hour record.
Filippo Ganna opts for “the fastest track close to home in Europe” in Grenchen (Switzerland) on Saturday, but has a different weapon. The Italian will blast for an hour on a bicycle that rolled out of a 3D printer: the Pinarello Bolide F HR 3D.
A small part of that bicycle was printed by a Belgian company: Materialize from Leuven, a global player in 3D printing. The company provided the saddle clamp for Ganna’s bicycle.
The bicycle frame, bicycle fork and seatpost were 3D printed by a British company. The marginal gain that Ganna has to get from his printed bike mainly has to do with what they call “freedom of shape” at Materialize.
With a normal production process you have an ideal shape in mind, but you have to take practical feasibility into account.
“With a normal production process you have an ideal shape in mind, but you have to take practical feasibility into account,” explains Innovation Manager Mathieu Cornelis.
“When you print something, you have to make a lot less compromises. You insert a shape into the computer and it comes out of the printer.”
That freedom of form is an enormous weapon.
Personalizing a bicycle becomes more efficient and faster. Printing is millimeter efficient and seatpost, stem etc. do not have to be adjusted step by step as with a traditional bikefitting. An adjustment is made in 3D printing with the push of a computer button.
Moreover, according to producer Pinarello, 3D printing allows to give new shapes to the bicycle. For example, the ridges on the seat tube and pin stand out (photo). According to the manufacturer, these two parts are responsible for 40 percent of the air resistance of the bicycle frame and fork.
By looking at the way the humpback whale uses similar ridges on its fins to cut through the water more efficiently, Filippo Ganna should get a little further during his hour on Saturday.
A bicycle that rises from a tub of metal powder
We can imagine something with a normal printer, but printing a bicycle (frame) sounds like an invention of professor Gobelijn from Jommeke’s comics.
However, in the case of 3D printing, fiction and reality are not that far apart. The production process is almost as fabulous as the world hour record itself.
During printing, the bicycle frame emerges from a container full of metal powders. Laser beams cause the powder to melt in certain places and start to stick together. The bicycle is built up layer by layer (see video).
The Pinarello Bolide F HR 3D is made of Scalmalloy, an alloy of scandium, aluminum and magnesium. This composition was developed in aerospace to enable 3D printing of parts. In the meantime, it has also found its way into Formula 1.
By now you had already understood that the printed bicycle of Filippo Ganna is an extremely expensive toy.
Yet at Materialize we hear that the technology of 3D printing is no longer a distant show.
The Leuven company annually prints 24,000 saddle clamps for the Dogma F, the showpiece of the Pinarello collection. Printed seatposts turn out to be sturdy and lighter, just what the Italian manufacturer was looking for.
“The time when 3D printing was only used in the design phase and for prototypes is over,” says PR manager Kristof Sehmke. “Printed materials have proven their strength and reliability in the meantime.”
“In principle, a bicycle for Paris-Roubaix can also roll out of the printer soon.”
Is 3D printing the holy grail?
Whether all bicycles will soon come out of the printer perfectly tailored and in their entirety, on the other hand, is unlikely, we hear in Leuven.
“In theory, anything can be printed, but in practice, for each product, it is necessary to consider whether there is an economic and/or technological added value to printing,” says Materialize.
For Team Ineos, the economic investment in a printed bike is worth it for Filippo Ganna, but which manufacturer will find enough customers who can afford the price tag of a fully printed bike?
And technologically it is probably possible to print something that can replace the rubber bicycle tire, but nothing tells us that the printed version also bolts better than rubber.
Printing bicycles… so it remains something for very special occasions for the time being.
In theory, anything can be printed, but economic and technological considerations have to be made.
