Additive manufacturing underpins cycling accessories business

Established in 2012, the man behind RaceWare has the perfect background. Martyn Harris has been a keen cyclist since he was 14 and represented Team GB in 2011, when he won the Track Cycling Masters World Championship in the scratch race for the age category 35 to 39. And he is an expert in additive manufacturing, having been employed at 3T RPD in Newbury since 2000, where EOS additive manufacturing machines are used to build prototypes and fully functional components from plastic and metal powders, directly from CAD models. RaceWare is next door to 3T RPD. The new venture came into being in early 2012, after Mr Harris tried to buy a mount to secure a computerised power meter safely and neatly to his aero extension TT bars (forward facing extensions to a bike's handlebars that improve aerodynamics in time trials). "All I could find was a horrible adaptor kit, which included cable ties to lash up the instrument to the bars, so I thought I would make my own mount, using the EOS additive manufacturing machines at work. The CEO at 3T RPD, Ian Halliday, was very supportive of my venture and still is. "I quickly discovered, via the Internet, that a lot of other people were looking for ways to mount power meters, global positioning systems (GPS), cameras and other instruments to their bikes, without using the manufacturers' clunky bracketry. The interest came not just from the TT racing community, but also from road bikers and leisure cyclists."