Search for
Search for
Search forDerbyshire company build Olympic gold medal bikes
Thursday, August 21, 2008, 07:30
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."
Click on the button to share this story with a friend
light fantastic: Steve Barbour holds the frame of one of the Olympic Bikes with just one finger as they are so light and, below right, Jamie Johnson, composite fitter at the handlebars made for medal-winning bikes
Comment on this story