bike stand survey.

thejavlinman

for my GCSE DT project i have decided to design and make a bike stand. as part of the designing process we have to do a product survey. my product is a bike maintanance stand that lights up the bike as you work on it.

1) what colour would you like this product? colored, black or silver?

2) would you prefer the bike was clamped on the frame or the seat post?

3) do you need the height to be adjustable?

4) if given the option, would you have lights from bolow as well as above?

5) does the stand need to fold up for storage?

thank you for awnsering. any extra feedback or ideas are welcome.

nicklouse

1 NA
2 only one way works.
3 Duh
4 and get light in your eyes.

Sounds like you have never worked on a bike.

maybe try it and try again.

also using an online survey (monkey) would be a half decent idea

The Northern Monkey

How would you light it?

You'd need to make the lights point from the front, not the rear otherwise it'd be working in shadows.

Colour... not too bothered... its a stand!

Clamp with a soft clamp area.

Height adjustable... a ratchet system would be awesome but heavier. Allen key adjustment is ok, just fiddly.

Nah, lights pointing where you are looking is all you need.

Make a tool holder shelf 1/2 way up, I hate having to put my tools down out of the way and I always lose them!

Needs to fold away!

cooldad

Trouble is all those options, except the lights, which are pretty pointless as general non directional lighting works best, are already available.
Think it's back to the drawing board.

Briggo

thejavlinman wrote:

lights up the bike as you work on it.
.

Bit late mate on the old invention front, the lightbulb has already been invented.

scarbs85

Crikey fellas ease up. The lads doing a GCSE project. Its not market research for the latest state of the art bit of kit to revolutionize bike maintenance.

Black or silver would be better colour for majority of people. It's safer, electric pink wouldn't suit all that many folk.

Height adjustment is a definite otherwise the stand is no good for people of diff heights, or for working on different sections of the bike without having to reach up/bend down.

Clamps do a bit of research on bikestands that exist on the market already to get ideas for design and clamp styles.

Lighting would be tricky without dazzling the worker. I personally use a normal light and a headtorch if I need extra lighting.

Briggo

scarbs85 wrote:

Lighting would be tricky without dazzling the worker. I personally use a normal light and a headtorch if I need extra lighting.

Exactly, it simply wouldn't work realistically. The light would have to be placed up high to shine downwards and, well, we already have that with normal housing lights.

Just giving him a bit of dragons den style feedback, tough love

cooldad

Not being difficult or tough at all.
Simply that there are plenty of bike stands out there, and any number have all the features people want.
The only unique point is lighting, and consensus is that it's not a good idea.
I don't know if the idea has to be 'new', long time since I was at school, but if so, needs some more thought.

wordnumb

A bike stand that brews tea and serves biscuits on the other hand... or a bike stand that tells you when you're doing it wrong. But yes, unfortunately if the good lord had intended to us to have illuminated bike stands he wouldn't have given us christmas trees.

Deputy Dawg

Colour doesn't bother me so long as its functional.

I personally prefer the BB style mount for ease of working on both sides of the bike but the standard seatpost/downtube mount could give enough clearance if far enough from the upright.

Height adjustable is handy not just for people of differing heights but also when working on different parts of the bike.

If using a good diffuser (to avoid blinding) a light from below could be handy but I'd prefer a directional spot on a flexable stalk to be honest.

A magnetic tool / part tray is a good idea as is the ability to fold away.

Good luck with the project.

concorde

Jesus the kids doing a GCSE project not going on the Dragons Den! Give him a break. No need to go back to the drawing board. You'll not make anything great in a D&T project anyway. Make sure you ditch the lights shining up though!

cooldad

I thought it would have to be something unique. What's the world coming to?
The youth of today etc etc.

amyabcd

As its for a GCSE project have you though about putting a holder on for a bike maintenance book or magazine article. Granted most home mechanics know what they are doing btu it might be more use to some than a light anyway. Just a though I know you will have to do a write up, dont be put off by the negative comments on here. Its not dragons den, and you will be limited on time and resources if it anything like my school was. Try to make it something you want to keep and use yourself long term.

thejavlinman

brilliant, thanks for all the feedback guys.
keep it coming.

i will have a look into designing a tool holder.
and look into the lighting isues.

whitestar1

thejavlinman wrote:

i am embarking on my GCSE DT project. im looking for some feedback on my idea. my product is a bike maintanance stand that lights up the bike as you work on it.

what colour would you like this product? colored, black or silver?

would you prefer the bike was clamped in place or hung from the seat?

would it be of use to you for the height to be adjustable?

if given the option, for an extra few pounds would you have lights from bolow as well as above?

thank you for awnsering. any extra feedback or ideas are welcome.

I am currently looking for one
1 colour not an issue but black is ok
2 ok with the clamp on the seat
3 would love adjustable height if no compromise on storage
4 adjustable positioning on the light? that would be nice

101_North

A light on a flexi stalk would be handy - especially if it could be moved and located behind/in front of the brake calipers. A well diffused light would help no end in aligning the calipers by eye - the light making it easier to judge the gap between rotor and pads. At the minute I set a lamp on the garage floor when I'm doing it in the evening as the garage is fairly dark.

101

paulbox

I like the idea of a light on a flexi stalk, however, my current workstand is used most often for when I'm cleaning my bike. Therefore the light and wiring would need to be easily attached/removed for me to be iterested.

apreading

1) As others, dont give a monkeys about colour

2) Rather not clamp the seat post as that puts all the weight of the bike on the tiny clamp holding the seatpost to the frame - just clamp the frame and be done with it. Allow the clam to be rotated so that it could do any of the tubes in the main triangle and so the bike can be held at an angle.

3) No need for height adjustment - just make it spot on for a 6' 2" bloke - oh hang on you are not all the same height as me...

4) I actually think lights would be great but tricky as they would need to be on a long arm to get right round the bike and light the area you want. Alot of my maintenance is in the evening by the garage light which is not enough and does not light up from underneath. I also find it fiddly trying to see the brake pad alignment and would love a well lit card behind to help. I think a long flexible arm like the gorilla pods would be great, with the option to put a diffuser box on the light. Not sure it is really practical but for a design project I would throw one in for interest.

5) Needs to fold and stow somewhere in the garage - or the missus will notice it and realise I have bought another item she doesnt think we need!

As others have said, a tray would be useful too. Come to think of it, you could put the tray on a long flexible arm to, so that it was always close to hand.!

stubs

I have always thought it would be nice to have a rack and pinion height adjustment with a nice comfy handle to wind the bike up and down. That way you could adjust the height easily with out taking the bike out of the stand. It might even be a good idea to have it so you could clamp the bike whilst its on the ground and then just wind the handle so it goes up to working height. No lifting bikes up with one hand and trying to do up the clamp with the other.

Also like the light on a flexi arm idea I have flexi neck light clamped to my stand with zip ties but it could be a lot better the arm is too short and the light is a bit crap needs to be more diffuse.

Colour not bothered as long as its powder coated and wont rust when I wash the bike.

Must be stable and able to work on a floor that isnt perfectly level.

Tool holder a must have.

Hope it goes well I think the work stand needs a good makeover some of the cheaper ones are crap beyond belief and even the expensive ones arent brilliant.

freddiegrubb

:oops: Make it to clamp on the seat post (usual reasons) but fit a second support arm with a soft pad to fit under the b/b. I hate the bike wobbling around when it's only held by the seat post . This arm would have to be telescopic & rotate for ultimate adjustment.The best of luck & you deserve encouragement, it's nice to see a youngster trying to solve a problem.

Devastazione

A Cycloc would be cool.....

bike-a-swan

I like the idea mentioned somewhere of a manual/guide holder- even if just a flexible arm with a bulldog clip! I like the idea of a lighting option too- I do a lot of work on the bike outside in the winter with no permanent light, so have to use a big halogen lamp. I often find myself either using a torch or holding up the lamp to see into awkward places- a little spotlight on some sort of flexible arm to shine light into the nooks and crannies would be really useful!

nicklouse

bike-a-swan


now that brings about an idea. an iPhone/iPad holder/charger (or android phone things) so that people who want a Youtube playback vid or online distructions.......

Eyon

1) what colour would you like this product? colored, black or silver?

Not too fussed, Black is generic and works, but parktools blue one looks nice, but they can get away with it due to branding, but any non specific colour works well

2) would you prefer the bike was clamped on the frame or the seat post?

A rotating head like my Minoura stand is great, simple to design and means you can clamp on TT or ST. I always clamp on TT, but my mate who is shorter finds clamping on ST easier as its a better working height

3) do you need the height to be adjustable?

Its a nice feature, but not always necessarily, i dont miss not having it. I'd rather a sturdy fixed height stand than a flexy bendy weak adjustable one.

4) if given the option, would you have lights from bolow as well as above?

I would not want fixed lighting. A flexible spot would be nice, so you can move the spot to where you want it to be to get some detailed light. To be really honest though, I've never required extra lighting on bike work, they aren't fiddly enough to need it.

5) does the stand need to fold up for storage?

either make a light weight folding stand or a nice burley non folding one, dont try and make a cross of the two![/b]

benpinnick

Copy the minoura stand with a tray. It's nearly perfect.

Sturdy
Rotating head
Vaguely height adjustable (2 heights)
Folds up (upright splits in 2), legs fold up
Tool tray

Only things I would change:

Magnetic section in tray
Deep section (to hold spray can) in tray.

Job done.

cooldad

benpinnick wrote:

Copy the minoura stand with a tray. It's nearly perfect.

Sturdy
Rotating head
Vaguely height adjustable (2 heights)
Folds up (upright splits in 2), legs fold up
Tool tray

Only things I would change:

Magnetic section in tray
Deep section (to hold beer can) in tray.

Job done.

FTFY

blablablacksheep

thejavlinman wrote:

for my GCSE DT project i have decided to design and make a bike stand. as part of the designing process we have to do a product survey. my product is a bike maintanance stand that lights up the bike as you work on it.

1) what colour would you like this product? colored, black or silver?

2) would you prefer the bike was clamped on the frame or the seat post?

3) do you need the height to be adjustable?

4) if given the option, would you have lights from bolow as well as above?

5) does the stand need to fold up for storage?

thank you for awnsering. any extra feedback or ideas are welcome.

1:dark colours last longer than white and dont show dirt as much, personallly, navy blue
2:Seat post
3: Yes
4:no need for lights
5:ofc storage is a key


Personally i suprised you can make a stand for GCSE DT when i did mine i had to pretty much do Injection molding Or making/design of a router drill bit getting easyer now me thinks :P