Case Study: Robot Bike Company achieves lightweight, mass‑optimized, fully customizable additively manufactured mountain bike frames with Altair ProductDesign

Developing a Fully Customizable Additively Manufactured Mountain Bike

Robot Bike Company, a UK startup founded by aerospace engineers and mountain biking enthusiasts, set out to create fully customizable, lightweight, high-strength bike frames by joining carbon-fiber tubes with additively manufactured titanium nodes. Facing tight timescales and the need to meet demanding downhill loading conditions while keeping parts AM-ready, Robot Bike Company engaged Altair (via Altair ProductDesign) and its SolidThinking Inspire tools to optimize the critical joints—head tube, seat post and chainstay lugs—for weight, strength and manufacturability.

Altair used SolidThinking Inspire to run load-case-driven topology optimization and incorporate AM and supplier constraints (HiETA Technologies, Renishaw), redesigning parts such as a three-piece chainstay lug into a single, additively manufactured component. The work delivered mass-optimized, organic geometries fit for AM, reduced frame weight, ensured stresses stayed below specified limits (enabling a lifetime warranty), and included a technology transfer so partners could apply Altair’s simulation methods in future development.

Robot Bike Company

Ed Haythornhwaite

Co-Founder