Pinarello creates 3D-printed aero-bike for Ganna’s Hour Record attempt

Image 1 of 5

Filippo Ganna will attack the Hour Record using what Pinarello claims is a world-first 3D-printed track bike, made from a high-strength scandium-aluminium-magnesium alloy and made to measure for the Italian.

The Bolide has been made in collaboration with UK-based 3D printing company Metron Advanced Equipment and is the first 3D-printed aerodynamic bike to be UCI compliant, while also passing ISO4210 safety tests after being sent to an independent lab in Germany.

The new Bolide F HR 3D takes advantage of new UCI tube profile rules, which no longer enforce the 3:1 ratio rule, to offer a new elongated airfoil tube design. Alongside that, Pinarello has deployed narrowed wheel hubs and a narrowed bottom bracket to reduce frontal area. Opting for 3D printing also reduces development time. 

The seat tube and seat post have a ridged or tooth-shaped design that Pinarello calls Airstream technology. The design feature is said to minimise the drag created by an area of the frame.

Ineos Grenadiers engineer Dan Bigham rode a prototype of the Bolide F HR 3D when he set the current record of 55.548km this summer. Ganna hopes to use his power and track experience to go even further. He will start his Hour Record attempt on Saturday 8th October at 20:00 CET on the Grenchen velodrome in Switzerland, where Bigham set the current record. 

The bike will also go on sale, as regulated by the UCI for all Hour Record bikes, but will only be built only on demand and is expected to be expensive.

“Constant innovation and research are the foundations of success if you want to build the fastest time trial bike for the track. From Miguel Indurain’s World Hour Record to the recent gold medals in the team pursuit in Tokyo, Pinarello has always set the gold standard in this segment,” said Pinarello chairman Fausto Pinarello when unveiling the bike.

“Working closely with Filippo Ganna and the Ineos Grenadier’s team to develop this revolutionary product is part of our company DNA. And the result of that extreme research, the spirit of innovation it engenders, and the technology it produces is then spread through the whole range of Pinarello products.”

Pinarello's initial imagery also reveals some of the specific spec at work on the Hour attempt bike - the disc wheels are made by Ineos favourite Princeton Carbonworks while the chainset appears to be Wattshop's £770 Cratus Aero. The chain is said to be Izumi's Kai model, which will have been optimised by Muc-off for the record attempt.

The handlebar, meanwhile, is a newly designed Bolide F HR 3D printed titanium design. The build is rolling atop Continental GP5000 TT TDF Edition tyres.

Whether or not Ganna smashes the current Hour record, he can be safe in the knowledge that he is probably attempting it on the most expensive track bike ever made for the task.