14 DAY TRIAL // 3D printing technology may have started out as just a new way to shape plastic into various forms, by heating it, but the technology has come far since then, and now we even have bike frames being printed out of metal.
Empire Cycles and British AM pioneers Renishaw have formally introduced the world's first 3D printed mountain bike frames.
We did have 3D printed bike parts in the past, and there have been many bike accessories too, but this is the first time a mountain bike frame is fully 3D printed out of metal.
Renishaw, in partnership with the British design firm Empire Cycles, made the frame through additive manufacturing.
According to them, the frame is 33% lighter than the original prototype, but no less durable thanks to the EN testing it was put through.
Keep in mind, though, that there is no way to actually 3D print the whole thing at once, and it wouldn't be recommended anyway.
Instead, the team individually printed the frame segments and then sleeved and bonded them together.
They have also used “topological optimization” to make sure that the finished product (it's made of titanium by the way) has denser parts than what can be produced with normal casting methods.
Thus, topological optimization can be considered a process by means of which parts are made specifically to take advantage of the exact amount and position of the material.
In layman terms, it means that there is no excess material and, thus, the finished product weighs less.
The Empire MX-6 mountain bike was used as a basis for the 3D printed frame, although it was redesigned with tube shapes.
Sadly, there is no price for it yet. The original MX-6 retails for almost $7,000 / €5,175 though, so a bike using this new frame will probably be more expensive.
