X2_ TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATION TO THE OLYMPICS

X23: THE GAME CHANGER. “We didn’t design a new bike, we designed the cyclist, each cyclist on his bike”. Romolo Stanco X2_ is a constantly evolving concept of cutting-edge track bicycle born from disruptive ideas and the search for extreme performance, designed around the needs of the athlete, developed with innovative technologies and engineering processes. X23 SWANIGAMI is the first true prototype of the X2_ project, the result of the collaboration between BIANCA Advanced Innovations, TOOT Racing, COMPMECH and 3DPROTOLAB laboratories of the University of Pavia, with the aim of taking track cycling to the next level. The bike, following the guidelines outlined by the THEFALCON project - already a winner in world-class competitions - was conceived with a typical motorsport approach, combining research, design, innovative materials, aerodynamics and additive manufacturing technologies to offer unparalleled performance on track. Romolo Stanco, founder of T°RED bikes and director of BIANCA Advanced Innovations, has for years been considered one of the leading designers of bikes and components with a high-performance content. Two-time winner of the “Best Track Bike Award“ at NAHBS in the USA, he boasts experience in motorsport, applied research, laboratories and design in various fields. Considered by the press as “the Adrian Newey of bicycles“ he is the Chief Technical Officer of TOOT Racing, and Team leader of the “Road to Olympics“ project with the direction of the 3D modeling lab of the Argentine professional athlete and tester of the Factory Development Team Facundo Lezica, the direction of the engineering and 3D sector of prof. Gianluca Alaimo, the engineering supervision of prof. Ferdinando Auricchio and the management of the T°RED BIKES CEO Erica Marson. Technical synergies and skills with companies such as HP ITALY, AP Works, Litem have allowed a unique “disruptive“ development in the performance cycling sector. The search for the optimal balance between the athlete’s comfort zone and aerodynamics is the absolute priority around which Romolo Stanco began working on X23 SWANIGAMI involving internationally renowned companies, so much so that the project was chosen as an emblematic example by ITIR - Institute for Transformative Innovation research. Thanks to the adaptive design and the “digital twins“ bicycle/cyclist simulation systems with 3D scans and modeling compared to simulations in the wind tunnel (virtual and physical), it is possible to control the complex and dynamic system of the athlete’s body since the beginning of the design phase by conceiving the custom as a new standard. The ultimate X23 SWANIGAMI frameset will be constructed using an aerospace grade aluminum alloy (Scalmalloy® printed by APWorks) for its high strength to weight ratio, making it perfect to use in high performance cycling disciplines. TOOT RACING has been working on the optimization of three-dimensional models obtained through 3D scanning since 2016. The possibility of creating 3D models of each individual cyclist on the simulator allows you to design the geometry of the bike by balancing the relationship between: · the athlete’s dynamic and mechanical performance in terms of power · the reduction of the CdA and the aerodynamic efficiency for each specialty · the sensations and feeling of the athletes looking for the comfort zone in which to best express their characteristics. The shapes of the X23 frame in the front triangle are designed around the search for an aerodynamic effect called “washout“. In many cases the focus is on optimizing the frontal area to reduce the frontal surface, while working on a dynamic 3D model allows the athlete’s body to be “used“ as a wing by directing the flow of air passing under his chest where best to relieve the air pressure. “Lift“ effect in cycling as in the new “foiling“ boats of the America’s cup? “The true bodywork of the binomial bicycle/cyclist is the athlete: he is the engine and the “fairing“ at the same time and therefore it must be designed as a technical part: it must perform at its best from a mechanical point of view and interact better with the components to optimize aerodynamics.“ The strong sloping of the top tube has very strong motivations (patented) and finds references in the “hyperbikes“ of Graeme Obree with his “old faithful“ and the Hotta but also in Mike Burrows’ Lotus 108 for Chris Boardman. The X23 SWANIGAMI frame complies with the new UCI rules and will be registered with the UCI to participate with the Argentina national team in the World Championship in Glasgow, United Kingdom, next August and to obtain registration for the Paris 2024 Olympics. X2_ concept track bike and the various “releases“ of which X23 SWANIGAMI represents the first stage have the ambition to be an accessible and sustainable project to create high-performance bicycles that can also allow athletes and smaller federations to aspire to prestigious results.
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