British Cycling’s track bikes have been described as “the best of British engineering talent” with a view to “working as one with the rider”.
The design has been created in partnership Hope, Lotus and Renishaw, and is an evolution of the bike seen at the Tokyo Olympics rather than any sort of design revolution.
Many of the bike parts have been created using 3D printing with Formula 1-style technology.
It is not a sense that Team GB have somehow got the jump on their rivals in that regard - with the other powerhouses of the sport having taken similar approaches.
But British bikes have already crossed the line to one gold at the Paris Olympics with more set to follow in the coming days.
The bikes used between the sprint and endurance programmes are effectively the same, although the handlebars are wholly different when it comes to assuming the pursuing position.
The main area of change on the bikes is the seat post, which basically is split to create less disruption of airflow around the legs and therefore more aerodynamic.
There had been tweaks to the handlebars too, which further enhances the riders’ bike and body position, and there are new-for-Paris skinsuits.
Trying to work out the advantage the collective changes gives to British riders is hard to quantify but it starts with a psychological one according to six-time Olympic champion Chris Hoy.
“Getting the skinsuits, the bikes, all the kit always felt to me like the final piece of the jigsaw,” he recalls. “It was like an additional feel-good factor.
“You were in the form of your life, rested, fresh, tapered, this was just the latest in the culmination of all the pieces of the jigsaw.”
But he stresses this is not like Max Verstappen in a Red Bull and Alex Albon in a Williams in terms of the disparity of the technology.
“Some people might say it’s just like Formula 1 and it’s the bikes win the medals but the answer to that is ‘no’,” he said. “It’s part of the tools of the trade and you want the best tools you possibly can which is why teams invest.
“And it’s hard to say which team has the best. Unless you line them all up with the same rider in a wind tunnel, you don’t know. Plus, the advantage of a nation’s skinsuit can vary from one rider to the next with the different body shapes.”
