3D printed bikes are reshaping the cycling industry with remarkable performance features. A modern 3D printed titanium road bike frame weighs just 1.2 kilograms. This matches high-end carbon fiber models and offers excellent durability. Titanium’s impressive strength-to-weight ratio makes it perfect for high-performance cycling.
The combination of titanium and additive manufacturing opens up new possibilities that traditional production methods can’t match. Manufacturers can now create complex, lightweight designs by tapping into the full potential of titanium and the flexibility of 3D printing. These designs would be impossible to achieve through conventional methods. The technology allows for advanced features like integrated handlebars and fork blades that have internal airflow channels to improve aerodynamics. These advanced bicycles come at a premium price point—most customers spend between £10,000 to £12,000. But fully 3D printed titanium frames have some limitations that hybrid manufacturing approaches want to address. Still, 3D printed titanium could reshape the scene for custom and high-performance bikes.
Titanium as a Base Material for 3D Printed Bikes
Titanium alloys are the life-blood of high-performance 3D printed bikes. These materials offer an exceptional mix of properties that make them perfect for advanced cycling. The metal’s unique features let designers create frames they couldn’t build with traditional methods.
Strength-to-Weight Ratio of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy
Ti-6Al-4V, also called Grade 5 titanium, is the most accessible titanium alloy in 3D printed bikes. This alloy contains about 90% titanium, 6% aluminum, and 4% vanadium. Cyclists love it because it strikes a perfect balance between performance and durability.
Ti-6Al-4V’s density sits at just 4.43 g/cm³, which reaches only 60% of steel’s weight. Bike frames benefit directly from this lighter weight without losing any strength. Designers who pair topology optimization with 3D printing can create frames weighing just 1.4kg – a game-changer for competitive cyclists.
3D printed titanium parts often outperform their traditionally made counterparts. Tests on bike parts made with advanced 3D printing equipment showed impressive mechanical properties:
- Tensile strength: 1035 MPa
- Yield strength: 998 MPa
- Elongation at break: 13.5%
Premium applications can employ enhanced Ti-6Al-4V versions. ELI (Extra Low Interstitial gas purity) grade titanium creates seamless tubes with tighter tolerances, pushing ultimate tensile strength up to 1150 MPa. Premium frames that need peak performance typically use this grade.
The alloy proves 28.4% stiffer than chromium-molybdenum steel, which ensures better power transfer from pedaling. Titanium can flex three times more than aluminum and twice as much as steel without damage. Engineers use these unique properties to design frames that respond well and feel comfortable.
Corrosion Resistance and Fatigue Life in Bike Frames
Titanium’s exceptional corrosion resistance stands out in bike frames. This comes from titanium’s quick reaction with oxygen, creating a thin, impermeable oxide layer (TiO₂) on the surface. This protective shield improves oxidation and corrosion resistance, making titanium frames virtually rust-proof even in harsh conditions.
Titanium’s corrosion rate in seawater reaches less than 0.005 mm yearly, beating other metals by a lot. Cyclists who ride in coastal areas, rain, or mud value this feature. Unlike steel or aluminum frames that need protective coatings, titanium frames work great without paint.
Fatigue resistance in titanium alloys beats other frame materials. The metal has a set fatigue limit – if the tubing stays below this limit and undamaged, it won’t fail. Ground evidence backs this up, as many titanium frames stay strong after decades of use and thousands of miles.
Titanium’s fatigue limit doubles that of steel, giving these frames incredible durability. Frame builders can create lighter, more compliant frames without risking breaks. These alloys handle repeated stresses well, keeping their structure and ride quality intact for decades.
3D printed bikes take these properties to another level. The printing process allows strategic internal support throughout the frame, giving manufacturers precise control over ride quality. They can boost stiffness in high-load areas like bottom brackets and head tubes without adding much weight, keeping titanium’s famous ride quality.
3D printing technology combined with titanium’s natural properties creates frames that excel in both performance and longevity. These bikes prove to be lifetime investments for serious cyclists.
Additive Manufacturing Techniques Used in Bike Production
Advanced additive manufacturing technologies are revolutionizing high-performance bicycle production. Engineers can now create complex components that traditional methods cannot match. This new approach gives them better control over how materials are distributed and how strong the parts become.
Selective Laser Melting (SLM) for Frame Components
Selective Laser Melting, also known as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), leads the way in metal bicycle component production. The process uses a powerful laser that fuses metal powder particles layer by layer with great precision. A thin powder layer spreads across a build platform, and a laser melts the powder at temperatures above 1600°C to create each section. The platform then drops down, gets a fresh powder layer, and the cycle continues.
SLM technology has opened new possibilities for titanium bicycle frames. The Canyon circular bicycle frame serves as a prime example – it was built using SLM technology with recycled aluminum powder, which proved both eco-friendly and high-performing. The entire frame consisted of just three pieces, each taking six hours to print and weighing about 2 kg total.
Titanium bicycle parts made through SLM show remarkable strength properties. Tests show these parts reach a tensile strength of 1035 MPa, yield strength of 998 MPa, and can stretch 13.5% before breaking. These numbers are a big deal as they mean that the parts last longer and perform better than traditionally made components.
Production speed has taken a huge leap forward. Modern quad-laser SLM systems can make 38 titanium bicycle seat stay yokes in 24 hours – that’s 60% faster than traditional casting. Bicycle makers can now test and launch new designs much faster.
Lattice Structures for Weight Optimization
Lattice structures represent additive manufacturing’s greatest gift to bicycle production. These intricate internal patterns take inspiration from nature – like dragonfly wings and bones – creating strength-to-weight ratios that traditional manufacturing cannot achieve.
3D printed bicycle components with lattice designs serve multiple purposes. They cut down material use in less critical areas while keeping the part strong. Parts become lighter without losing strength. Manufacturers adjust lattice density and cell types to control heat flow, flexibility, vibration absorption, and impact resistance.
Bicycle components commonly use two lattice types: TPMS (triply periodic minimal surface) gyroids and strut-based diamond lattices. Engineers can fine-tune these structures to meet specific standards for porosity, surface area, weight, or mechanical performance. Bicycle frame joints often feature internal lattice patterns that reduce weight while maintaining strength.
Material Efficiency in Powder-Based Printing
Powder management systems play a crucial role in making powder-based printing efficient and sustainable. Traditional manufacturing wastes up to 90% of raw materials, but SLM allows unused powder to be collected and reused. This recycling ability cuts down metal 3D printing costs.
Powder quality needs careful monitoring during recycling. Scientists have found that oxygen traces in the building atmosphere can react with melted material and create oxide deposits. Multiple powder reuse cycles might increase oxide levels in printed parts, which could change their mechanical properties.
Successful bicycle component printing depends on specific powder features like size, shape, and distribution. L-PBF processes in bicycle manufacturing work best with particles sized between 15-45 µm [6]. Gas-atomized spherical particles flow and pack better than irregular shapes.
Modern additive manufacturing, combined with proper material handling, helps bicycle manufacturers create parts with amazing performance features. This approach reduces waste, speeds up production, and leaves a smaller environmental footprint.
Limitations of Fully 3D Printed Titanium Frames
Titanium 3D printing brings amazing benefits to bike manufacturing. Yet bikes with fully printed frames face technical hurdles that limit their widespread use. Let’s look at why manufacturers lean toward hybrid approaches for high-performance bicycles.
Post-Processing Requirements: Heat Treatment and Machining
The costs and timelines of producing fully 3D printed titanium bikes go up due to extensive post-processing needs. Parts need stress relief heat treatment right after printing. This helps deal with internal stresses from quick temperature changes during printing. The process heats components to 600-800°C for 1-2 hours while they stay on the build plate. Skipping this vital step can lead to warping, cracking, or complete failure when the bike bears weight.
The parts need more heat treatments after stress relief:
- Solution annealing makes changes to the microstructure to boost ductility
- Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) gets rid of internal holes and makes the material denser – a vital step for high-performance uses
- Aging (H900) makes the metal’s microstructure more stable, which leads to better hardness and tensile strength
These heat treatments can create new problems. Titanium develops “alpha case” when heated around even tiny amounts of oxygen. This creates a brittle, oxygen-rich layer on the surface that’s really tough to machine. Making threads or fitting parts with precision becomes a real challenge. You need special progressive taps, and the tooling costs rise.
Surface Roughness and Tolerance Issues
Surface quality poses a big challenge for 3D printed titanium bikes. Fresh-off-the-printer parts show surface roughness (Ra) values between 4-10 μm. These numbers are much higher than parts made the traditional way. The layer-by-layer printing process causes this roughness, along with powder particles that stick to surfaces without melting completely.
Rough surfaces cause more than just looks problems. Research shows rougher surfaces lead to weaker mechanical properties and shorter part life. Tests on 3D printed titanium implants proved this point. Rougher samples failed much earlier under repeated loads, lasting only 140,657 to 262,142 cycles instead of the target 5 million cycles.
Getting exact measurements remains tricky. Parts like bearing seats, threaded connections, and tube joints need CNC machining to meet size requirements. This extra machining takes more time, costs more money, and might remove helpful surface features that were printed on purpose.
Production Time vs Traditional Welding
Making fully 3D printed titanium bikes takes longer than traditional methods. A complete frame needs days of non-stop printing. Skilled welders can put together a traditional frame in hours.
Post-processing makes the timeline even longer. Removing supports takes lots of manual work with wrenches, picks, and mallets. Getting the surface smooth enough adds more time.
Traditional welding works faster but limits design options. The time difference matters a lot in production settings, which makes 3D printing less practical for mass manufacturing. Right now, 3D printed titanium makes sense mainly for premium custom frames where unique designs matter more than production speed.
What is Hybrid Manufacturing in Bike Engineering?
Hybrid manufacturing marks the latest advance in bicycle frame engineering. It combines traditional methods with advanced additive manufacturing to overcome single-material construction limits. Premium bicycle manufacturers have widely adopted this approach to maximize performance and minimize the drawbacks of using just one material or production method.
Combining 3D Printed Lugs with Drawn Titanium Tubes
Hybrid bike construction starts with 3D printed titanium lugs – the vital junction points that shape the frame’s geometry and performance. These lugs connect to standard titanium tubes and create a structure that keeps the metal’s unique properties. This method avoids the long print times needed for fully 3D printed frames. Bastion Cycles leads this innovation by using 3D metal printers to make titanium lugs that define their bikes’ custom geometry and stiffness.
3D printed lugs offer unmatched customization options. Bicycle designers can engineer each lug with specific performance features to optimize flex patterns throughout the frame. The process allows features you can’t get with regular welding, like internal cable routing, aerodynamic shapes, and varying wall thicknesses in one part.
Use of Carbon Fiber Tubes in Hybrid Frames
Many hybrid systems match 3D printed titanium lugs with carbon fiber tubes instead of titanium ones. This creates a powerful combination that uses the best of both materials. Carbon fiber tubes provide excellent torsional stiffness and reduce the frame’s overall weight compared to full titanium builds. Bastion bonds 3D printed titanium lugs with carbon fiber tubes. They make some components in-house, including chainstays, fork blades, and handlebar tops.
Advanced processes like filament winding produce the carbon fiber parts. This computer-controlled method precisely lays carbon fibers on a mandrel. Engineers can control fiber orientation layer by layer to create tubes with specific directional properties. Such control helps fine-tune vertical compliance while keeping lateral stiffness – a balance that’s hard to achieve with single materials.
Joining Techniques: Welding vs Adhesive Bonding
The way components connect in hybrid frames plays a big role in performance. Traditional welding, though standard for metal bicycle frames, has several drawbacks. These include alignment issues, extra weight, and possible structural variations. Adhesive bonding has become the preferred method for hybrid frames.
Adhesive bonding offers several advantages over welding:
- Improved production efficiency – adhesive bonding speeds up and simplifies assembly
- Enhanced accuracy – bonded frames maintain precise pivot locations and design specifications
- Weight reduction – eliminating welds reduces overall frame weight
- Stress distribution – adhesives distribute forces evenly across the bonded interface, unlike welds, which can create stress concentrations
- Material compatibility – enables joining of dissimilar materials, such as titanium and carbon fiber
Bonding requires careful preparation. Bastion Cycles uses “quite an elaborate bonding process” and ensures components are spotless before applying two-part epoxy. Research shows that this attention to detail matters a lot to achieve the best strength in bicycle frames.
Hybrid manufactured bicycles achieve unique performance characteristics through this integrated approach. The combination of advanced materials, precise manufacturing, and specialized joining techniques creates results impossible with traditional or purely additive manufacturing alone.
Mechanical Benefits of Hybrid Manufacturing
Bikes made with both 3D printing and traditional manufacturing create amazing mechanical benefits. These bikes combine 3D printed titanium lugs with carbon fiber tubing to achieve performance levels that neither material could deliver alone.
Carbon Fiber Makes Rides Smoother
Bikes that use carbon fiber components absorb vibrations better than pure titanium frames. Carbon fiber naturally dampens vibrations, which leads to a smoother and more comfortable ride. The combination of titanium and carbon fiber creates the perfect balance between stiffness and comfort.
Research on composite materials shows how well they absorb vibrations. Tests prove this is a big deal as it means that hybrid laminates with short fiber cores perform 39% better at dampening compared to standard quasi-isotropic laminates with similar flex stiffness. The dampening happens because of friction where the fiber meets the matrix – this is what absorbs the energy.
Titanium already works great at absorbing shock. Yet combining it with carbon fiber creates even better results. These frames soak up road vibrations while still transferring power efficiently. This works especially well for endurance cyclists who need both performance and comfort on long rides.
How 3D Printed Lugs Handle Stress
3D printed titanium lugs revolutionize stress distribution throughout the bicycle frame. Old-style welded frames often concentrate stress at tube joints. But 3D printed lugs spread these forces evenly by using different wall thicknesses and internal supports.
Engineers can use 3D printing’s precision to strengthen high-stress spots without adding weight where it’s not needed. The design starts with analyzing how forces move through the frame during different riding situations. Then the material goes only where the frame needs structural support.
This smart approach to managing stress helps hybrid frames stay super stiff in key areas like bottom brackets and head tubes – spots that need precise steering and power transfer. Other frame parts flex just the right amount, so the bike responds differently to various forces.
Lighter Than Full Titanium Frames
Hybrid bikes weigh much less than full titanium ones. Titanium weighs 45% less than steel and stays just as strong. Using carbon fiber tubes instead of titanium drops the weight even more.
Studies show that “carbon fiber has significantly reduced the weight of hybrid bicycles, making them more efficient and easier to handle for users”. These bikes stay strong and ride great despite weighing less.
Three main things make these bikes lighter:
- Carbon fiber naturally weighs less than titanium
- Carbon tubes can have different wall thicknesses
- Material goes only where the frame needs it
The lighter weight helps cyclists climb better, accelerate faster, and ride more efficiently – crucial advantages for competitive riders looking for every edge.
These mechanical benefits show how hybrid bikes combine titanium’s strength and durability with carbon fiber’s light weight and smooth ride. The result outperforms single-material bikes in many ways.
Design Flexibility and Customization in Hybrid Bikes
Modern bicycle customization has reached new heights through the revolutionary combination of computer-aided design and advanced manufacturing. Bike frame designers can now create uniquely tailored rides that blend beauty with function in ways traditional methods never could.
Custom Geometry with CAD-Driven Lugs
CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software sits at the core of hybrid bike customization. This technology lets engineers model complex titanium lugs with incredible precision. Riders no longer need to settle for standard sizes as custom bike makers like Métier Vélo now use 3D-printed titanium lugs with internal channels and serviceable separations to create fully customized frames.
Frame builders have gained the ability to design lugs for specific tubing diameters and angles. They can even tackle once-difficult features like sloping top tubes. This technology has changed how prototypes come to life:
- Designers can first print their digital designs in plastic to see how they look before final production
- Parametric modeling lets them fine-tune dimensions without starting over
- Socket-style lugs set all angles precisely, which eliminates complex jigs during assembly
Companies like Bastion Cycles make use of these features to control frame geometry and stiffness with precision. Their carbon-tube frames deliver exceptional ride performance with greater customization options.
Integrated Cable Routing and Aero Profiles
3D printing has brought elegant solutions to internal cable routing in bicycle design. The No22 Reactor Aero showcases this advantage by combining 3D printing with in-house fabrication. The result is aerodynamically optimized profiles made purely from titanium. These frames achieve better aerodynamics while preserving titanium’s renowned ride quality through fluid dynamic analysis.
Hidden brake and shift lines inside the frame structure create cleaner, more attractive bicycles. “Integrated is clean. Integrated is sexy,” as one industry expert puts it. This design approach makes it easier to attach accessories since external cables don’t get in the way.
Semi-integrated options strike a balance between looks and practicality. They deliver most aesthetic benefits while staying compatible with standard aftermarket parts.
Personalized Fit Based on Rider Biomechanics
Biomechanics-based design represents the cutting edge of hybrid bike customization. Manufacturers use advanced fitting systems with 3D motion capture to collect precise positioning data. This information helps them create frames that match each rider’s unique physiology.
These systems track at least 256 body positions during pedaling with up-to-the-minute data analysis. They measure contact points with amazing accuracy—down to 1/10th of a millimeter. Designers can build the bicycle around the rider’s actual movement patterns instead of static measurements.
Custom geometry proves invaluable for cyclists with specific needs or physical limitations. Frames can adapt to limited flexibility, past injuries, or unique body proportions. This keeps cycling available to riders, whatever their physical constraints. Personalization includes detailed discussions about riding priorities, data collection, and design adjustments until the perfect fit emerges.
This detailed approach to customization marks a transformation in bicycle design, moving from standard products toward truly individual cycling experiences.
Cost and Scalability Considerations
Cost factors are vital to adopting hybrid manufacturing technologies in bicycle production. These advanced systems’ economic viability depends on material choice, equipment costs, and production efficiency.
Titanium Powder Cost vs Carbon Fiber Tubing
Material costs substantially affect hybrid bikes’ final price. Titanium powder costs between $10-20 per kilogram and provides better cost efficiency than carbon fiber at $60-120 per kilogram. This price gap shapes manufacturing decisions.
Latest market changes have worked in titanium bike production. Manufacturers have cut their top-level frame prices by $600-1000 as raw titanium costs have dropped. Some companies now sell entry-level titanium models $1000 cheaper than earlier versions.
SLM Printer Investment and Maintenance
Industrial additive manufacturing machines need heavy capital investment, from $115,000 for simple configurations to $1.9 million for advanced systems. Regular operating costs include:
- Annual maintenance contracts: $10,000-$30,000
- Argon gas consumption: $12,000 yearly
- Peripheral equipment: Industrial compressors ($30,000), sand blasters ($12,000), and industrial vacuum cleaners ($18,000)
Batch Production Feasibility for Custom Frames
Production viability has improved through better efficiency. Manufacturing time has dropped to 4 days compared to the traditional 3-4 weeks. This faster timeline cuts costs and allows quicker design iterations for custom geometries.
Real-World Examples of Hybrid 3D Printed Bikes
Manufacturers are bringing hybrid manufacturing techniques to market through commercially available bicycles that show these technologies’ practical benefits. Their products demonstrate how theoretical advantages turn into measurable performance gains.
Superstrata’s Monocoque Carbon-Titanium Frame
Superstrata has created what they call the “world’s first 3D-printed custom unibody carbon fiber composite bike”. Their unique manufacturing process builds frames without joints, glue, or bolts—just continuous carbon fiber composite. The frame’s strength-to-weight ratio is 61 times higher than steel. These frames weigh less than 1.3kg (2.9 lbs), which is lighter than two water bottles. Thermoplastic carbon fiber composites give the frames exceptional resistance to damage. Each bike is custom-built using 18 precise measurements and can fit riders from 4’7″ to 7’4″.
Sturdy Cycles’ 3D Printed Lugs with Ti Tubes
Sturdy Cycles creates custom titanium road bikes with 3D-printed components from Metron Additive. Their Fiadh model combines drawn titanium tubing with 3D-printed junctions to create a structure that blends monocoque efficiency with titanium’s natural properties. The company also produces custom 3D-printed titanium forks, stems, cranksets, and seat posts. Their fork design features sophisticated geometry that handles different stresses along its length. The 3D-printed stem allows cable integration for electronic groupsets without needing oversized head tubes.
Pinarello Bolide’s 3D Printed Cockpit Components
Pinarello Bolide F HR 3D showcases innovative technology in hybrid manufacturing, built specifically for Filippo Ganna’s hour record attempt. The bike features a custom 3D-printed frame, fork, handlebars and extensions. Its design includes unique aerodynamic “tubercles” on the seat tube—bumps inspired by humpback whale flippers that cut drag by about 40%. These create streamwise vortices between bumps that keep airflow attached behind peaks. Narrowed wheel hubs (89mm rear, 69mm front) and a 54mm bottom bracket reduce the bike’s frontal area.
Conclusion
Hybrid manufacturing marks a most important step forward in bicycle engineering by combining additive manufacturing’s strengths with traditional materials and techniques. This approach works well to fix many problems of fully 3D printed titanium frames while keeping their core benefits. The combination of titanium 3D printing and carbon fiber technology creates bikes that excel in strength-to-weight ratios. These bikes also provide better vibration damping and optimized stress distribution.
Companies like Superstrata, Sturdy Cycles, and Pinarello show real-life applications of these technologies. They build high-performance bicycles that perform better than traditional ones. Their innovations prove how smart material placement and advanced joining techniques create frames that shine in multiple performance areas at once.
Bicycle manufacturing’s future looks increasingly personalized. Computer-aided design paired with additive manufacturing helps create frame geometries that match each rider’s unique biomechanics. On top of that, it lets manufacturers build complex internal structures and aerodynamic profiles without sacrificing structural strength, which opens new doors for cycling performance.
Production costs and scalability remain challenging. Raw material prices continue to drop, and manufacturing gets more efficient. These improvements make state-of-the-art bicycles more available to riders. As hybrid manufacturing techniques get better, production times decrease while maintaining the premium quality cyclists expect.
The progress in hybrid manufacturing enhances bicycle production rather than revolutionizing it. This technology keeps the craftsman’s touch in frame building while adding computational design and advanced materials science. The result gives riders bikes that combine strength, weight, comfort, and durability in ways never seen before—bringing together the best of traditional craftsmanship and engineering innovation.
Key Takeaways
Hybrid manufacturing revolutionizes bicycle engineering by combining 3D printed titanium lugs with carbon fiber tubes, creating frames that outperform single-material alternatives in strength, weight, and ride quality.
• Hybrid frames overcome pure 3D printing limitations – Combining 3D printed titanium lugs with carbon fiber tubes eliminates lengthy print times while preserving design flexibility and customization benefits.
• Superior mechanical performance through material synergy – Carbon fiber integration provides 39% better vibration damping while titanium lugs enable precise stress distribution and weight reduction compared to full titanium frames.
• Unprecedented customization capabilities – CAD-driven 3D printed lugs allow custom geometry, integrated cable routing, and biomechanics-based personalization impossible with traditional manufacturing methods.
• Economic viability improving rapidly – Titanium powder costs ($10-20/kg) are significantly lower than carbon fiber ($60-120/kg), while production times have decreased from 3-4 weeks to just 4 days.
• Real-world success stories validate the technology – Companies like Superstrata, Sturdy Cycles, and Pinarello demonstrate commercial viability with frames achieving strength-to-weight ratios 61 times that of steel.
The future of high-performance cycling lies in this strategic fusion of advanced materials and manufacturing techniques, delivering truly personalized bicycles that maximize both performance and rider comfort.
FAQs
Q1. What are the main advantages of hybrid manufacturing for bicycle frames? Hybrid manufacturing combines 3D printed titanium lugs with carbon fiber tubes, offering superior strength-to-weight ratios, improved vibration damping, and optimized stress distribution. This approach allows for unprecedented customization while overcoming limitations of fully 3D printed frames.
Q2. How does the cost of hybrid manufactured bikes compare to traditional frames? While hybrid manufactured bikes are generally more expensive due to advanced materials and processes, costs are decreasing. Titanium powder is more cost-effective than carbon fiber, and production times have significantly reduced from weeks to days, making these high-performance bikes increasingly accessible.
Q3. What level of customization is possible with hybrid manufactured bikes? Hybrid manufacturing enables extensive customization. CAD-driven 3D printed lugs allow for precise frame geometry tailored to individual riders. This technology also facilitates integrated cable routing, aerodynamic profiles, and frames designed based on a rider’s specific biomechanics.
Q4. Are hybrid manufactured bikes more durable than traditional bikes? Hybrid manufactured bikes often exhibit superior durability. The combination of titanium’s corrosion resistance and fatigue life with carbon fiber’s strength and vibration damping properties creates frames that can maintain structural integrity and ride quality for decades under normal use conditions.
Q5. Which bicycle manufacturers are currently using hybrid manufacturing techniques? Several leading manufacturers have adopted hybrid manufacturing. Notable examples include Superstrata with their monocoque carbon-titanium frame, Sturdy Cycles producing bikes with 3D printed titanium lugs and tubes, and Pinarello incorporating 3D printed components in their high-performance Bolide model.
