A DERBYSHIRE company helped to make the bikes that the Great

British Cycling team have ridden to gold medal glory in the

Beijing Olympics.

Advanced Composites, in Heanor, is responsible for making

some of the ultra-light parts that make up the team's bicycles,

which have helped them notch up 14 medals – seven of them

gold.

Staff at the firm have been eagerly watching the games, and

Olympic analysis has replaced any discussion on Derby County's

weekend performance as the top conversation topic at work.

Steve Barbour is general manager of Advanced Composite

Engineering, which is the branch of the company that makes

parts for the bikes.

He said: "It is exciting watching the bikes and knowing that

they were made here in Derbyshire.

"Everyone has been glued to the games, especially the

cycling, and it's one of the main topics of conversation round

here at the moment."

This is the second time the company has contributed to the

GB Olympic effort, having supplied parts for the bikes that

were ridden in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens.

The advanced composite materials created by the company are

usually used to make parts for Formula 1 cars and aircraft.

But they are now proving to be a hit elsewhere in the

sporting world.

Being extremely light-weight, but also incredibly strong,

means they are the perfect material for equipment such as

tennis racquets, sailing boats and racing bikes.

The bikes used by the Olympic athletes weigh just 6.8kg and

are light enough to be lifted using one finger.

They can be made even lighter and extra weights have to be

added to conform with strict Olympics guidelines.

Mr Barbour said: "The minimum weight the bikes can be is

6.8kg, so because the material is so light we have to add

weight inside.

"The material used is made from a mixture of carbon fibre

and resin which is then put under huge amounts of heat and

pressure to create a strong but lightweight finished

product.

"It's certainly an industry which is growing very rapidly

and in the future I'm sure we will see this type of material

being used even more widely."

It is not just the GB cycling team's bikes which originate

from Derbyshire – British Cycling's performance director David

Brailsford MBE comes from Ilkeston and has been instrumental to

the country's Olympic success this year.

As team leader of the cycling squad at the Beijing 2008

Olympic Games he has helped his team pick up an incredible 14

medals, both on the road and in the Velodrome.

Speaking from Beijing earlier this week he said: "There is a

great vision to be number one in 2012."

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