3.4 Summary

In this section you were introduced to some basic materials science, including the internal structure of solids. You saw that the way in which atoms are bound to each other in a solid affects the overall properties of that material. You also saw how the structure of carbon fibre gives the composite material its lightweight and strong properties. You then carried out further research into the history of cycling by searching the internet to find out when carbon fibre became commonly used in track cycling.

In the next section, we ask you to use the results of your internet searches to analyse the impact of new techniques and new technology on performance in cycling.