Using Arcam's Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing technology, the Mercury Centre designers were able to make subtle corrections swiftly and without needing to create new moulds to form each piece, giving enough time for the parts to be tested rigorously and adjustments to be made ahead of the record attempt.
James Hunt, research associate at the Mercury Centre, said: "The key is to manage the airflow around the bike so the different components of the bike disrupt that flow as little as possible. Because the handlebars hit the airflow first it's absolutely critical to perfect that part of the design – 3D printing allows us to make shapes that optimise this aspect that would be very hard to achieve using other manufacturing techniques."
The titanium 3D printed handlebars were tailored to Sir Bradley's body size and cycling style. In order to do that a number of design variations had to be produced and tested in a very short timeframe, something that would be difficult to achieve in carbon fibre, which the rest of the bike frame is made of.
The research group at the Mercury Centre have been creating scientific research on these processes since 2007 and have previously worked with Formula 1 teams and aerospace companies in the past, so were the perfect partner for this world record attempt.
