Finishing touches

Macclesfield-based Sabbath only makes titanium racing bikes.

Although it can be a challenging material to work with, it also provides a number of advantages.

Titanium doesn't rust or degrade, is light and strong and, from the standpoint of a cycle manufacturer, has rigid yet dynamic properties making it efficient at converting rider effort into road speed. It is also said to be comfortable, even over the longest rides, and long lasting – other components will need replacing as they wear but unlike carbon fibre or steel, titanium won't deteriorate.

So, given a frame that lasts it's no surprise that most titanium frames are not painted or coated in any way. Sabbath offers its bikes in a range of finishes; from natural to brushed or polished. The bikes can be further finished with a range of coloured decals and applied branding graphics but whilst this may be cosmetically pleasing, they are prone to damage and deterioration over time.
Greg Roche, founder of Sabbath, was looking to find an equally high-tech method to mark his titanium frames. Seeking a mark which looked the part and was permanent, he approached ES Technology, a laser marking specialist. “ES has many different laser types in its product portfolio but we opted for a multimode Q-switched YAG laser to mark the titanium frames,” he explains. “The result is a smooth, black, shiny annealed graphic which won't degrade or wear. ES turns around batches of various frame types dispatched by Sabbath to its jobshop.”

Mr Roche adds: “The other advantage of ES' service is that they build custom machines and have an extensively equipped machine shop to manufacture dedicated fixtures to present the parts to the laser for marking. A bike frame isn't the easiest part to manipulate without such a fixture to ensure positional repeatability.”
ES Technology is based near Oxford and builds special purpose industrial laser systems as well as operating a laser marking service for decorative, functional and identification marks on metals, plastics and ceramics.

ES Technology
www.estechnology.co.uk

Sabbath
www.sabbathbicycles.co.uk

Most recent Articles

Renishaw highlights career pathways in engineering

There is not one singular blueprint that can lead to a career in the engineering industry. It offers a variety of roles, open to people from diverse backgrounds. To highlight the diversity of skills and experiences in engineering, global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has created the ‘Employee perspectives’ series.
9 hours ago News

Login / Sign up