New Lotus Track Toy Is A Lightweight Carbon Fiber Extravaganza

Lotus has teamed up with the Great Britain Cycling Team (GBCT), Hope Technology, and Renishaw to debut the second generation of the radical Hope x Lotus track bike. The bike, which features ridiculously wide set fork legs, looks like something out of a designer's sketchbook brought to life, and it arrives with the best parts of Lotus engineering from theLotus Evijahypercar, ready for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It's one of thestrange creations automakers buildthat aren't car-related.

Many may not know this, but Lotus has a storied history in biking that culminated in the Lotus 108 bike ridden by Chris Boardman in the 1992 Olympics. Lotus, with all of its lightweight sports car expertise over the years, had found a niche for itself, and over the next 25 years, it went silent until releasing the first Hope x Lotus bike for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

This second-generation bike now features a revised front fork and handlebar design to allow for greater aerodynamic efficiency, along with new refinements to the headstock and seat stays. It was heavily tested in a wind tunnel, where all three companies' work was fine-tuned over time. Lotus used its 75 years of expertise to improve front-end feel and stiffness to give the riders the confidence they need to go as hard as possible.

It's pretty apparent why the British sports car company was brought on board, but where it's saving weight on track bikes, it's struggling to save weight anywhere else, and Colin Chapman's philosophy of "Simplify, then add lightness" seems like it's been relegated to the history books.