Custom 3D-Printed & Carbon Bike Parts – DIY Inspiration and Free Designs!

[Komarov]

Thank you for your kind words; they are very motivating. I might have some questions for you later.

Thank you! Always happy to chat about making stuff

[MichaelE89]

After spending some time thinking about what to improve on the Aerobars, I came across the Canyon Speedmax handlebar and really liked the concept. I figured I didn’t need all the adjustability it offered and wanted to go "more aero" by designing armpads as a wing with winglets.

A few hours in CAD, and I had a 3D model ready to print. I tested the position on the trainer and quickly realized… it was terrible. Within one minute, my shoulders were stiff and cramping. After a bit of experimentation, I found the problem: the narrow armpads combined with a “wide” hand position put too much strain on my shoulders.

To fix this, I hopped back on the bike and raised my arms naturally to see where my hands wanted to go. Turns out, they wanted to rotate further inward. So, the two “horns” in front had to be completely redesigned. I saw that the GOAT bars went mono and was appearently allowed. So I modeled my own version, aiming for better ergonomics for me. The new design also had to accommodate shift buttons and let my left hand quickly access the front brake. Prototype was a wrench covered in plastellin

Time flew by, as it always does, with training and other things taking priority. Before I knew it, race day was here. At 11:00 AM, I still had unfinished bars with parts fresh off the printer and unrouted cabling. My hilly Sprint triathlon race started at 4:00 PM.

I quickly assembled everything, went for a 10km road test, and to my relief, everything felt smooth. It wasn’t perfect, but it was ready to go. Let’s just say I won’t mention the downhill speed I hit in those bars…

After the race, I finalized the design, adding the winglets and finishing the mono grip. The grip isn’t symmetrical—you fold your left hand over your right, and the thumbs naturally fall into place for shifting.

3 mold parts per winglet and one very thin printed innlet

Inlet prepared with Carbon fibre on the edges. Carbon placed with spray glue and weted before going into the mold

finished winglets, 45g each but with 8mm foam pad

on the table are different TPU caps, they are flexible and allow to cover the buttons and also press to shift
For getting the shifting work I have used a DI2 cable, cut in half to get two plugs. Then connected it to normal push buttons. It is mainly a Ultegra 8050 groupset.

pre finished before further improvements... it worked but didn't race

[MichaelE89]

And here we are—putting the finishing touches on this project!

The latest addition is a mono armpiece "wing," constructed as a carbon-foam sandwich. In theory, it should offer better aerodynamics, though I can’t say for certain. What I do know is that it’s significantly more comfortable!

The only thing missing to make it absolutely perfect is a hydration system or bottle.

I can now fit it on four bikes—Orca, X-Lite, SL8, and Crux—with shifting working seamlessly on three of them. It’s performing great so far!

The total weight, including all screws and cables, is just 390g. That makes the SL8 one seriously lightweight triathlon machine.

X-Lite:

On a flat course; 225 Watts average results in 40,6kmh average speed

SL8:

It survived a Gravel time trial with no issues. This was for sure a rough test

So triathlon parts are for now off the table, next will be seatposts