A German outfit called Vorvaertz has made a fascinating track frame using carbon tubes and intricate stainless steel lugs made by the 3D printing technique.

Most recently road.cc featured the Bristol Aerospace Innovation Centre who demonstrated the modern engineering method of building parts layer-by-layer – in effect 3D printing – by making an all-nylon bicycle claimed to be as strong as steel.

What is interesting is that Vorwaertz appear to be using that very material – steel or CL 20ES stainless steel to be precise – in powdered form along with a laser to fuse complicated shapes in this case frame lugs which are then bonded onto mitred carbon tubes in a technique that will be otherwise familiar to followers of carbon framebuilding. There is an excellent video below showing what an interesting combination of cutting-edge technology and Ye Olde World skills this Vorwaertz VWRZ 1.1 really is.

Although it will inevitably lead to cries of “What’s the point if Parlee, Colnago, Viner and others can do this with carbon already and probably – certainly – lighter?” we applaud this pushing of the engineering boundaries.

As ever, you have to wonder where it will all lead and if nothing else it’s a super light alternative method of doing what the legendary framebuilders like Bill Hurlow were doing for Condor in the late 1940s period. And you don’t need to learn how to braze which is a fiendishly difficult skill to master.

Details: vorwaertz.com

VRZ 1. a tack bike frame with 3d printed lugs from Ralf Holleis on Vimeo.

Via road.cc

Working closely with Autodesk, and 3D Systems, WB Engineering provides the best solutions for your design challenges, with an offering which includes everything from Autodesk training, to design process automation & ERP integration, to 3D Printing. Located in Miami focused on the manufacturing and industrial markets, we are an engineering services company, combining talented people and business processes to provide Digital and Rapid Prototyping solutions (products and services). All of our efforts are focused on helping companies compress time to market, and decreasing design cost to add to our customers bottom line. Our approach to Digital Prototyping and Rapid Prototyping is scalable and cost effective, which can help your organization boost design efficiency — while delivering more innovative design ideas.