Lotus has created a new bike which is hoped to be raced by Team GB at next year's Tokyo 2020 Olympics – 25 years after the Lotus 108 helped Chris Boardman win a gold medal.
The new HB.T is the result of a collaboration between Lotus Engineering, based at Hethel, specialist bike firm Hope Technology and engineers Renishaw, three British companies collaborating to provide the best possible equipment for the British track squad.
Reports out today by British Cycling say it is a 'radical-looking' bike with a wide seat and a widely spaced fork design, the work of the English Institute of Sport, who were responsible for the original Team GB track bikes that were first introduced in 2002. The fork and handlebar were designed by Lotus using its aerodynamic expertise, which Hope then integrated into the bike.
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No details have been given about the wheels. It's has been wind tunnel tested in Southampton with both bike and rider, but it still needs to be approved by the governing body, the UCI, to qualify to be ridden at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It'll have its first outing at the Minsk-Arena velodrome in Belarus this weekend.
Everything is focused on getting the weight as low as possible with not even any paint nor filler on the raw carbon parts.
Triple Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy tweeted: "I err, 'Hope' to be racing this beauty at some point next year....please excuse my 6am face, I was a lot more excited than I look. Top Engineering."
Lotus itself tweeted: 'Lotus Engineering returns to world-class track cycling with new bike to deliver Olympic success.'
Chris Boardman rode to Olympic gold in a Lotus-designed bike in 1992.
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