A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to enable athletes to win an Olympic gold medal, and there was certainly a lot of hard work put in by BBF member MHP who designed the highly effective cycle helmets for the British Cycling Team at the Olympic Games.
MHP was commissioned by the British Racing Cycling Team to design and produce new cycle helmets that would enable British cyclists to fly the flag for Britain as quickly and as aerodynamically as possible. They certainly delivered – 8 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals were won by athletes wearing MHP helmets.
The company worked closely with former Olympic champion Chris Boardman, who was Head of Research & Development at British Cycling before leaving after the London Olympics. Prototype after prototype was developed, with numerous design changes needed to adapt to the demands of the British team.
The helmets were a real feat of engineering, created in one piece and therefore being as aerodynamic and streamlined as possible. In fact, MHP had to design the tooling to manufacture the helmets as per the designs, such was the challenge they faced.
Eventually, all parties were satisfied, and the sample helmets were sent off for official testing. After passing the tests, the British team placed an order for the designing of 2 sets of helmets; Sprint & Pursuit.
MHP was established 40 years ago as a Pattern and Toolmaking company quickly moving into plastics and is now one of the leading vacuum forming companies in the UK.
