The Comfortable Distance

 

BKJ, Bike Sketch (2014)

This project is my second project for the Design And Engineering course. The purpose of this project was to design a bike to fit a certain user’s needs. At the very start of this project we got a persona sheet which explained the user’s needs, how far this person travels, and where they live in Chicago. We learned about many types of bikes like electric, cargo, Divvy, etc. and also how all of those bikes work and what's unique about them. I was personally proud of our initial design because I feel that we took everything into consideration when designing for Travis and I feel that we really fit his needs. The purpose of this assignment was to design a bike for a persona that was assigned to us. The assigned persona came with needs that you had to meet and certain obstacles your persona had to overcome. Then we had to take all that into consideration and design a bike for that persona.

When we first started designing our bike we looked up parts on the internet but then we learned that we don't have to do something that has already been done. We also learned that it doesn’t really matter how the frame is set up as long as it still has the components to make up a bike. Another important thing I learned is that handlebars can make the bike more aerodynamic. An example would be the drop down handlebars which would make you sit in a crouching position and make you more aerodynamic. When designing the bike for our assigned person we had to make the bike fast, comfortable, and stable for the ride. My partner interviewed Anne and she said “I need to be able to ride fast, comfortable, and stable when I’m riding.” which is basically exactly what our persona needed. Our targeted user is a 17 year old high school student named Travis. Travis lives on the third story in the South Side of Chicago. His day includes carrying a bike up and down three flights of stairs and traveling 10 miles to school and back on a bike. With that being said we knew that he had to have a bike that was fast, aerodynamic, and light.

The bike that we came up with is great because it is ultra light which makes it easy to carry. That is important because our persona lives on the 3rd floor and has to carry his bike down the stairs every day. Our bike is also extremely easy to lock because it has a retractable lock that is built into the frame. The lock is five feet long so it is easy to wrap around the whole bike so people can't even steal individual parts. Our bike has built in shocks under the seat and by the front to make the ride even more comfortable. Another reason the ride is comfortable is because we added a memory foam seat that is still slim enough to be aerodynamic.

Our bike holds some unique benefits. Our bike is a road bike with shocks, a storage compartment, and a built-in, retractable lock. The shocks combined with the road bike type frame induce a very comfortable ride while keeping it aerodynamic. The carbon frame and wheels make it extremely light and easy to carry up and down three flights of stairs at the end of a long ride. The retractable lock makes it extremely easy to lock up anywhere. For more comfort we added a bag to the frame that is slim but can still hold everything our persona needs for school. Travis should believe in this design because it is made to be easy to carry up and down three flights of stairs, is aerodynamic to fly against the wind, and is easy to lock up when he gets to school. The road bike type frame allows him to travel at high speeds. On top of all that he doesn't have to carry a book bag on his back anymore, he can just store it in the compartment attached to the frame.

We did run into some obstacles while designing the bike such as, we had to make the bike light and fast. To fix the speed part we wanted to make the bike electric but when we were on FE we learned that electric bikes are very heavy so we quickly ruled that out. Another thing that made the process harder is that we wanted to add drop down handles. However, one of the considerations was that the bike had to be comfortable and those type of handlebars force you to sit in a crouching position, which is not very comfortable at all.The estimated time that it would take our persona to get to school from his house is about 56 minutes to an hour. Travis is travelling 10 mph 4.47 meters per second. The Comfortable Distance Tire’s diameter is 31 inches. The circumference is 97.34 inches around. The Comfortable Distance’s wheel will rotate 6501.46 times from Travis’s house to his school.

 

BKJ, Bike Terrain (2014)