The man who put Great Britain in frame for gold
IT HAS been described as “the ultimate racing machine” and has helped make Great Britain’s cycling team at the Beijing Olympics the most successful ever.
And crucial to that success has been former Cammell Laird worker Terry Dolan, who, from his assembly shop in Ormskirk, built the bike frames used by gold medal winners Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins in their domination of the Laoshan Velodrome.
Mr Dolan worked on the original design which was first used by Chris Hoy – whom he also sponsors – to win the Commonwealth games kilometre time trial title in 2002. Now Hoy has used the latest incarnation to earn the tag “superman” after a triple gold medal performance, while Wiggins earned two golds.
As well as being adviser to the British cycling design team, Mr Dolan also provides frames for many other racing teams taking part in the Olympics, such as Russia, Lithuania, Chile, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Poland.
The aluminium and steel frames are built on site and sent out from the warehouse at Ormskirk Business Park.
Among those who helped develop the world-beating model were former Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman from Wirral, and composite engineer Dimitris Katsanis. So secretive was the project that they were known as “the secret squirrel club”.
Two prototype models of the new frame, called the DF3, were sent to the British Sprint Academy for testing, and after extensive further development the new racing bike was ready.
The bike retails for £3,000, but the model used by Team GB is worth £30,000. This is because of all the wind tunnel testing and research and development which goes into every bike, including individual tailored handlebars for each rider.
Mr Dolan said: “We have been making the bikes for the British team since the time of Chris Boardman at the Barcelona Olympics, but this year they needed a custom-made bike.
“Although it is basically the same frame as the one used in the Commonwealth Games, it has been greatly improved on.”
Hoy and Wiggins ride track frames branded with the Dolan name when they are not on international duty. However, there is strictly no branding on the frames used in Beijing, which are funded by Sport England and the National Lottery.
Mr Dolan said of the British cycling team’s performance: “They’ve worked really hard and they deserve it. I can’t get over how well they’ve done, and I hope they get a civic reception here in the North-west when they get home.
“It makes me especially proud that I have been involved in the development along the way.”
