Pedal to the Metal Gears

As the second and final Action Project for the class Design and Engineering comes along, I've found myself assigned to innovate what most people think is already perfect; a bike. Now what was difficult was imagining how exactly to improve upon such a staple idea. Bikes have most aspects needed for transportation, but to assist in the quest for innovation, we (alongside a partner [mine being JR] ) were assigned a persona to make a bike for. In other words, we had a short profile about a person that has certain struggle they wish they could overcome with their bike, whether it be weather or storage. We had a 15 year old named Malia that lives 5 miles away from her school, residing in Logan Square (Chicago, IL), and she'll often times go grocery shopping with that bike on her route through the 606 [a large, highway-like bike lane].

JR Bike Model & Cyclist 2015

After completion of the project, I can admit that I'm proud of the unique aspects that me and JR added to a standard bike, which included extendable handle bars that could come off and act as an independent u-lock. A second addition was a built in fender (and chain protector) that had indentations/extensions on them that act like pockets for perhaps text books and water bottles. Also sporting a stretchable, detachable basket in the front of the bike for groceries was thought of for the sake of convenience, since Malia does go grocery shopping after all. Now during this unit, there was also an External Investigation assignment that revolved around interviewing a cyclist of sorts, and I interviewed my brother. When making this new bike, I kept what he had said in my mind "I hate having to worry so much about my bike getting stolen" and that made me remember about security of bikes being a great issue amongst people who casually use bikes.

During this project, I also learned that there are bikes that exist which feature suspension systems for a smoother ride, which inspired me and my partner to create a bike that added comfort. While not shown on the full model, you can see in this fully labeled drawing that the original bike concept is supposed to feature a seat that has some back support that also has pockets for heat packs, since winters are so harsh here in Chicago. The drawing also shows off the idea of pedals that have a simple, set, immovable, metal strap so there's less chance of the rider's foot slipping.

VG Labeled Drawing 2015

Going into detail about how the bike is in terms of wheels and gears, the bike's wheels are about 28 inches in diameter, which means that it has an 88in circumference (since diameter•π=circumference). Thinking about that, the distance from school being 5 miles (316,800inches), it would take our bike 3,600 rotations of its wheel to cover that (total distance÷circumference). Speaking of the wheels, our model has 2 inch diameter wheels, which, when translated to the 28in diameter wheels for it's real life counterpart, you'd get a scaling of the bike being 14 times bigger than the model. Going on to other aspects, we have multiple gears on our bike as well, With 2 driver gears (in the front) and 3 driven gears in the back, each one has a certain amount of teeth, 12 then 16 in the front. 24, 36, 48 teeth for the back gears. With that, all possible gear ratios (written out as driven gear:driver gear) are 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 3:2, and 9:4. This makes for easy riding through diverse terrain, as different gear set ups help adapt to different kinds of slopes.

Now when thinking about how different types of energy are incorporated throughout the bike, it would have potential and kinetic energy when going down a slope, as gravity is pulling it down, making it move (kinetic), but that same gravity is also contributing to adding more potential energy, as it can get faster.

VG Handle Lock Showcase 2015

VG Handle Lock Concept 2015

Seeing as how there are different routes Malia could be taking to school, the general time it would take for her to cover those 5 miles would be around 15 minutes by bike. Converting that to miles per hour is simple, as we just take 60(one hour)÷15 minutes (which equals 4) and multiply that to the distance, giving us time over distance, or 20mph.

So with security, comfort, storage, and convenience, our bike would be best for long distances that have you carrying things, plus, with that handle bar lock, you've even got some unique storage options. I hope you enjoyed this informative analyze own how me and JR designed a unique bike through multiple engineering methods. It was no doubt difficult trying to add things to what we never though of changing, and then only to scrap certain ideas (like a navigation system), but in the end, this is the result of our hard work.