Will Your Next Bike Be 3-D Printed?

Dutch students at Delft University have created a fully-functional bicycle out of steel using a 3-D printer. Here's the BikeRumor story.

The motivation behind building this bike was to demonstrate the potential within a new method of 3-D printing metal objects using a welding process, a concept the Delft University of Technology has been researching on a broader scope. It is the world’s first bike to be 3-D printed using this new welding-based technique.

It's not the first 3-D printed bicycle, though. This bike earned the creators the 2015 Eurobike Award for its bio-degradable, compostable frame.

And this designer is making plans for a carbon-fiber 3-D printed bike!

These guys decided to just make lugs for the bike using a 3-D printer. Maybe they should talk with the Dutch students!

This is clearly a technology not quite ready for the mainstream. But perhaps the time is coming when you can get a fully-customized frame made up of some composite material that is light, stiff, and usable in all conditions!