Pinarello 3D prints Hour Record frame: Ganna be epic

We’re now somewhat used to the idea of 3D printed parts and components, ranging from frame lugs, to saddles, and TT bars.

So when Mr ‘Top Ganna’ himself took aim at the UCI Hour Record we knew Pinarello would go all out to find every conceivable advantage (because nobody wants to be slower than Dan Bigham on a live global broadcast….).

Fair to say the bike Ganna will ride – the Bolide F HR 3D – is like nothing that came before it, with an entirely 3D printed frame, optimized to deliver the rumoured 460W it will take to push the Hour Record beyond 57Km (further than Boardman in the long outlawed Superman position).

As the team at CyclingTips highlighted, “This is not Pinarello’s first foray into 3D printing and the Hour Record. The Italian brand worked with English-based Metron Advanced Engineering to manufacture the handlebars used by Bradley Wiggins for his successful Hour back in 2015. Pinarello has once again partnered with Metron AE, headed up by Dimitris Katsanis, this time to 3D-print an entire frame, fork, and cockpit for the new Hour Record rig.”

“The new bike is printed using Scalmalloy, an aerospace material specifically designed for 3D printing. Metron is well familiar with Scalmalloy, having used the high-strength scandium-aluminium-magnesium alloy in its Mythos Elix 3D-printed stem announced back in May.”

The Princeton CarbonWorks double disc set up for this Hour Record attempt sees Ganna continue his use of the fastest available wheelset option, having previously used Princeton CarbonWorks wheels at the World TT championships.

In the UK Richard Hemington and team represent Pinarello.

Ison Distribution are the UK distributors for Princeton CarbonWorks.