The Painted Edge

BobsledMuch is being made about the technology that is helping the U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation at this year’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi Russia. The BMW designed sleds have also gotten a boost from the paint!

The national teams are using AERAO Advanced Paint Technology, a film-based paint currently in use on high-performance professional racecars and commercial jetliners, and it is being employed on all team competition vehicles – including the two-man bobsleds.

AERO is a disruptive, green technology paint applique system, created and applied without solvents or sprayers, eliminating the fumes and environmental impact of harsh chemicals.

“In our sport, every hundredth of a second counts,” said USBSF CEO Darrin Steele. “We went with AERO paint because it is lighter and more durable than other materials we’ve used. This allows us to shave fractions of a second over the mile-long course and provide a competitive advantage to our teams.”

AERAO Official Website
U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation Official Website

Olympic Preview: Jamaica Back on the Sled

JamaciaAfter a 12 year absence from the Olympics the now famous Jamaican Bobsleigh Team has qualified for the Sochi Winter Olympics. The team is looking to head to Russia next month and recently launched an Indiegogo project to help get it there! The team is looking to raise $80,000 to help cover travel expenses. The Indiegogo crowd funding efforts ends later today.

Jamaica Bobsleigh Team Indiegogo Site

Under Armour Arms the USA Olympic Bobsled Team

USA-Olympics

Riding on a track of ice takes skill but it also takes nerves of steel. While the USA Bobsled team won’t be suited up like Ironman they’ll have another kind of armor. Under Armour has signed on to provide the bodysuits that will help reduce drag for the racers. This includes specialty clothing for the bobsled teams and the skeleton – which is probably the only sport that seems even more crazy that the bobsled!

Under Armour Official Website
[Via GearJunkie: Olympic Uniforms From Under Armour]

 

Weekend Reading List (03.09.2013): Bobsled Run Cycling, Bike Summit, Snow Numbers, Slow Damage

Bobsled Run Cycling

From Vimeo: The new Radon Slide 130 29″ is chasing James Bond 007 in the bob run!
If life gets boring…. German downhill star Andreas Sieber and his team mate Julian Gerhardt had the ultimate adrenaline kick at the bob run in Winterberg (GER). The channel was an extraordinary location for riding the new Radon Slide 130 29″ and the Radon Swoop 175! Continue reading Weekend Reading List (03.09.2013): Bobsled Run Cycling, Bike Summit, Snow Numbers, Slow Damage

BMW Bobsled Ready to Run

Last November we heard that German automaker BMW was developing a bobsled through its BMW DesignworksUSA branch, and this week the first photos were released. Apparently two prototypes have been built and while the first one race, this was reportedly to test the aerodynamics. The second prototype has just started racing.

It won’t be used in next year’s 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, but the prototype will help the Designworks team make tweaks to build a production sled. And there seems to be room for improvement. Continue reading BMW Bobsled Ready to Run

BMW’s Cool Runnings

While the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games won’t be another 15 months the US Bobsled Team can look forward to making their cool runnings in luxury style as they’ll be using BMW-made sleds. While there was much of an uproar about where some Olympic equipment used by the U.S. team at the recent summer games was made, in this case the BMW DesignworksUSA group is responsible for creating the bobsled.

In fact the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation called in BMW since the Americans haven’t won a gold medal in the sport since 1936, when the team won in the two-man event. Ironically that was when the games were held in the German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen , located in Bavaria – the home of BMW no less! Perhaps the USBSF sees the irony as well.

No actual bobsled has been demonstrated yet, but reportedly the prototype features “lightweight materials, optimized aerodynamic and chassis dynamics to leverage the energy output of the two-man team, increasing overall sport performance.” Press release after the jump

Weekend Reading List (10.27.2012): Human-Powered Flight, Phoning it in, Jones’in to Sled

Human Powered Flight

httpv://youtu.be/emK-qIbuJ-k

From NPR: A Human-Powered Helicopter: Straight Up Difficult
“I grew up wanting to fly,” says Graham Bowen-Davies. “I guess I just settled for being an engineer.” Continue reading Weekend Reading List (10.27.2012): Human-Powered Flight, Phoning it in, Jones’in to Sled

BMW Drives Multi-Year Olympic Sponsorship

U.S. Olympic skater Apolo Anton Ohno welcomes new sponsor BMW.

Years ago it was BMW Films. Short pideos of theater-quality storylines that highlighted the auto brand and were fun to watch. Now BMW is putting money behind the United States Olympic Committee.The six-year deal makes BMW the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee and of four National Governing Bodies: USA Bobsled & Skeleton, U.S. Speedskating, USA Swimming and USA Track & Field. This is multi-million dollar agreement isn’t just a monetary commitment. The sponsor will provide the USOC with fundraising opportunities and the four NGB groups will gain access to BMW Group technical expertise. BMW group will use its experts, deep technology base and facilities to help the Olympic and Paralympic Teams improve their training and performance. Teams will get to use the auto manufacturer’s facilities including the wind tunnel to test aerodynamics.

via: MediaPost