Scotch egg

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Carbon fiber bicycles are becoming increasingly more popular due to their high strength/stiffness and lightweight properties. The majority of these bikes are produced on expensive steel tooling (moulds) that require ahigh capital investment and commitment to a design before prototypes have been built and tested. RockyMountain Bicycles is interested in developing a technique for rapid prototyping carbon fiber bicycles forevaluation before production tooling investments are made.The focus of this research project is to investigate the potential use of 3D printed tooling for rapid prototypingcarbon fiber composite bicycle frames. Rocky Mountain Bicycles Ltd. is a world leader in designing andmanufacturing high end, full suspension, carbon fiber and metallic bicycle frames. To bring a new metallicframe design to market, a number of handmade prototypes are built (welded and machined) and tested beforethe design goes into production. This is not the case for carbon fiber bicycle frames. Due to the high cost oftooling, prototypes are typically not made from carbon fiber. The same geometry (ie, location of pivot points,seat post, crank, etc.) is created with metal, and once the geometry is determined the company must commit toexpensive tooling for a production run before anyone has even ridden a carbon fiber version. New technologieslike 3D printing can be used to develop a method of prototyping carbon fiber frames. This would help RockyMountain Bicycles Ltd. reduce time to market, increase the speed of innovation and provide a competitiveadvantage.This project will support Rocky Mountain Bicycles Ltd. by bring products to the market quickly, therebyincreasing innovation, while at the same time reducing financial risk by increasing certainty in a design beforeinvestments are made in tooling. The design of these highly technical products will require continuouslong-term investment in research and development and the establishment of long-term relationships withresearch groups in the field of materials science.