In the frame: the 3D printed bike

Since additive manufacturing (AM) has become more mainstream, the hallmarks of its use are increasingly familiar: radical curves, branching structures, shapes reminiscent of bone and coral. A cursory glance at the frame of the Emery e-bike reveals none of this: it’s quite a different shape from a traditional bike, but the geometry seems quite simple and it’s based around the familiar triangular structure that has formed the basis of frames for over a century. The viewer might think that perhaps the frame has some exotically-shaped reinforcing structure inside its tubes. But no, like any other bike frame they are hollow. Why then, you might ask, bother 3D-printing it at all? It looks like it could be made perfectly well using conventional manufacturing methods.

The frame came about because of a desire by Silicon Valley additive manufacturing specialist Arevo to find a commercial product to demonstrate the advantages of the process it has pioneered for printing carbon fibre-reinforced composites, which it has until now employed for aerospace components.