Bike and bike parts maker Hope Technology’s first foray into the manufacture of an all mountain/trail style bike was with its HB160 back in 2017, for which Ceratizit UK & Ireland also provided tooling an expertise. That bike is now joined by HB130.
With the HB160, Hope Technology re-wrote the rules of bike production and that ethos continues with the HB130 to result in a bike that the company suggests is the ‘ultimate all-rounder’. Hope bikes are recognisable by their performance, but also their aesthetics, particularly the familiar Hope CNC look that incorporates beautifully machined components that retain that machined look.
As part of its long-term relationship with Hope Technology, Ceratizit UK & Ireland has optimised the machining process not only on parts that fit to the bike, including pedals, crank arms, hubs, stem bracket and disc brake spiders, but also for the intricate moulds used to create the carbon fibre frame, which are all produced in house at Hope’s Barnoldswick factory.
Says Shaun Thornton, technical manager, Ceratizit UK & Ireland: “Our role was to maximise productivity across a range of components and materials while achieving the consistency of tolerance and surface finish demanded by Hope Technology.
“We had the full Ceratizit catalogue to call upon and made use of a variety of machining techniques from solid and indexable insert drilling, ripper milling and finish milling, thread milling and tapping, as well as a variety of turning tools.”
With around 60,000 item in its cutting tool portfolio, ranging from HSS drills to the latest in High Dynamic Turning with its Freeturn tooling, the Ceratizit Group and its four competence brands of Cutting solutions by Ceratizit, Komet, WNT, and Klenk has a solution to virtually every machining application, along with the technical expertise to support them.
Hope benefits from the extensive technical support team employed at Ceratizit UK & Ireland, with over 40 technical sales, applications sales, and industry solutions engineers available to support customers in the field, these are in turn backed up by internal sales staff who can provide instant advice where required. “Technical support and next-day delivery are central to our customer service activities, and irrespective of the size of the customer they can call on this expertise to ensure that they maximise their productivity,” says Tony Pennington, managing director, Ceratizit UK & Ireland.
