LOCAL engineering firm Renishaw has been celebrating after helping Team GB reach gold at the Olympics. 

Renishaw - which is based in Wotton, Stonehouse, Woodchester and Charfield - helped make the bikes used by track cyclists for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

At the games, Team GB brought home 65 medals, including 11 in cycling, eight of which came from the track. 

A notable highlight was Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, and Emma Finucane who won gold in the women's team sprint.

The team came from behind to break the world record for a third time in one day.

British Cycling's partnership with Renishaw included creating a new first-of-its-kind aerodynamic seat post.

Great Britain’s Track Bike for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games - photo by SWpix.com (t/a Photography Hub Ltd) (Image: SWpix.com / Renishaw)

The seat post features a hollow centre and backwards leaning design, allowing airflow through the centre of the bike. 

Additive manufacturing also facilitated the rapid production of unique titanium seat posts to the exact measurements of the individual riders. 

Over the course of the project, Renishaw manufactured over 1,000 parts to support 32 track bikes plus spares.

Ben Collins, lead additive manufacturing applications engineer at Renishaw, said: “We are delighted for British Cycling to have another successful Olympic Games and to be able to play a part in this. 

“It's a fantastic achievement and a great showcase of the benefits of additive manufacturing.”

 

3D printed titanium crank on the British Cycling track bike  (Image: SWpix.com / Renishaw)

He added: “After determining that the British Cycling team could not produce core crank and seat posts components in carbon fibre within the shorter time frame required, we began creating some additively manufactured prototypes in plastic.”

“Additive manufacturing enabled us to create complex geometries that removed any unnecessary weight while delivering the strength required for the athletes to reach racing speed.

“To develop a more aerodynamic seat post, engineers designed more free-form geometries to hollow out the part as much as possible, something that would not be achievable using traditional methods.”

Great Britain's Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane during the Women's Team Sprint  (Image: David Davies / PA)

Great Britain's Katy Marchant, Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell with their gold medals won in the Women's Team Sprint finals (Image: SWpix.com / Renishaw)