The University of Bristol has a long-standing interest in the performance of chain drives for industrial and bicycle applications. Since 1999, research has been conducted by Professor Stuart Burgess in partnership with Renold Chain. Chris Lodge (PhD 2002) and Torquil Pyper (PhD 2009) completed doctoral research in experimental and analytical work on characterizing efficiency and wear in industrial chains. Since 2014, research has focused on chains for application to track bicycles, and researchers have worked with both Renold and the Great Britain Cycling Team at British Cycling to develop novel chain technologies for track cycling at the Olympic games.
A novel Renold chain was developed for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic games in 2016 and used in both track cycling and BMX racing to great effect, including a record medal haul in the velodrome (6 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze). GBCT also started using larger sprockets for the same gear ratio, empirically demonstrated at Bristol to be more efficient by reducing the pressure in contact points on the articulating chain links. These technologies were validated with specially developed pendulum test equipment at Bristol which was designed, built and validated by Robert Wragge-Morley, Stuart Burgess, Richard Lock, Clive Rendall, and Ben Alexander. This technology has since been reproduced in the Sports Science industry at Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub.
A new dynamometer was developed by Robert Wragge-Morley alongside electric machines expert Jason Yon to expand the testing capability at the University in 2017. The injection of expertise and facilities of the Electrical Energy Management Group (EEMG) has resulted in a world-leading chain dynamometer, capable of testing up to 153 Nm input torque continuously. The subsequent doctoral research by George Barnaby (PhD 2023) examined the holistic performance characterisation of bicycle transmissions with this equipment, with a particular focus on the uncertainty of measurement and simulating real-world loading conditions for the chains under test. Within this research, a small-pitch chain was developed by Renold and validated with extensive testing on the chain dynamometer in Bristol for use by GBCT at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The new chain technology was part of a suite of new equipment with which British riders won 7 Olympic medals (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze).
In the lead up to the Paris Olympics and Paralympics in 2024, Robert Wragge-Morley and George Barnaby conducted a test campaign examining the performance of novel chain lubricants developed by scientists at Shell Lubricants. Team GB won 8 Olympic medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze) and 14 Paralympic medals (5 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze) at Paris 2024 with lubricant validated in these tests, applied to the hardware tested and validated previously.
Ben Hicks and Robert Wragge-Morley are now the research head and technical lead on this project.