The Bike Makers’ Maker

The MADE Bike Show

After 10+ years of making 10,000+ bike parts… this is a first for RAM3D, attending MADE, in Portland Oregon, an event featuring custom / artisan handcrafted bicycles and their makers, as well as others in the bike industry. RAM3D is looking forward to meeting frame-builders, component manufacturers, and other companies exhibiting at the show – many of whom we have worked with already, but not yet met face-to-face. It will be a great opportunity for bike makers to meet their maker – of 3D printed parts!

[Check back here after August 2025 for updates about RAM3D’s trip to MADE]

How to 3D Print Custom Bike Parts

With all of our customers (in the bike industry or otherwise) our part of the process starts when we receive the 3D CAD model of your design. (If your CAD file is all ready to go, you can submit it for quoting here.) If you are still in the design stages, there are several considerations for how to best optimise your parts for metal 3D printing, known as DfAM – Design for Additive Manufacturing.

We have more resources on DfAM here, but general considerations are:

Remove any unnecessary material from your design (for example, by hollowing the part if possible), since the mass of the part is a major driver of the cost. By reducing material, 3D printing in metal can create lightweighted components with high strength-to-weight ratios.

Avoid sharp corners, steps, or other sudden changes in mass, as well as large flat surfaces or thin areas (which could warp or buckle during printing). Tubes and cylinders also often require extra work and support structures to keep in shape, and may not achieve perfect roundness.

Instead try incorporating curves, cones, spheres, fillets, etc; organic blended shapes work best. Additive manufacturing allows for complex, intricate structures that are otherwise difficult or even impossible to achieve using more traditional (i.e.’subtractive’) manufacturing methods.

Allow for post processing. For critical surfaces, you may need to add machining allowances into your design. Be aware that some support structures will be added to your part for printing. We remove these in post processing, which may alter the surface finish of your part in those areas.

metal 3D printed bicycle parts on a machine build plate

a bar chart of the materials, by year, that RAM3D has produced bike parts in

What kinds of bike parts can be 3D printed?

Of the 2,000-3,000+ parts we print every year for bike makers, more than 90% are Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V). The rest are generally 15-5PH Stainless Steel. (Why not so much in 316L Stainless Steel? Read one bike maker’s experience here: www.44bikes.com/builds/snakedriver-design-and-development/ )

In those materials, we have printed a whole range of frame set parts, as well as other components, peripherals or accessories… e.g. bottom brackets, brake levers, chain stays, cranks, drop outs, extensions, forks, handle bars, head tubes, lugs, mounts, seat posts, seat stays, stems, yokes, etc.

The bike makers, builders and designers we work with around the world are using 3D printed parts for every type of bicycle as well. From mountain bikes (MTB and ATB) to road bikes, gravel or touring, endurance and racing, commuters, cruisers, ebikes, and more. The additive manufacturing process allows for production of bespoke and customised designs that can cater to diverse specifications.

The secrets of a successful bike maker…?

Each year we work with ~20-25 makers worldwide, everyone from individual enthusiasts designing a dream project, to career custom builders or teams making high spec bikes or even elite performance equipment for high-level sporting events (eg. Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Ironman, triathlons).

Passion for cycling is always a unifying thread; most of our bike clients also have some background in engineering, mechanics, fabrication, or even as competition athletes. Those kinds of experience often translate best into the long-term partnership framework that we like to have with our customers.

If you’ve never used metal 3D printing before, it still follows the usual process of product development, which could mean a few reprints and design changes to get the part perfect for what you are trying to achieve. This is exactly in the nature of additive manufacturing: We can print 1 part, or 100 parts – or even the 100th iteration of a design. Ultimately, we want your bike parts to succeed as much as you do.

(For more about our work in the Cycling & Sports Industry – including a case study with UK bike maker Sturdy Cycles – click here.)