One Final Year

White Line

I'm a Product Design and Innovation student at the University of Strathclyde, and about to begin my fourth (and final) year in September. Seems like a long time away, but I have to start my Final Year Project proposal now.

Naturally, I want to do something cycling related. The suggestions from the department are clearly conjured up by non-cyclists as they make up problems that don't exist.

I'm at a loss for ideas. I love cycling so much that I can't think of any problems that need fixed. Surely all you lot must have an endless list of problems that need fixed.

At first, I was thinking of some sort of mudguard for bikes designed to not take mudguards. But it seems that has all ready been done.

So, hit me with it! I want to hear all your cycling related complaints and problems!

alan_sherman

A decent, waterproof but lightweight holder for a phone for the bike. Make it non-phone specific (instead of the million iphone specific ones).

Requirements:
Secure
Waterproof / dirtproof
Small / lack of bulk
Light
Ability to plug a cable in to phone to charge or for a headphone for GPS directions
Ability to use touch screen / buttons (on a wide range of devices)
Mountable on bars or stem, portrait or landscape.


I reckon a silicon cover (think like the Knog lights) has some possibilities. Get it in for £15 and I think you are on a winner. I want some royalties from your profits though!

MattC59

I did a similar thing design project for my dissertation back in............... eeerm............ '93-'94 !!!

I spoke to a few companies and a few wheel builders came up with the issue of losing spoke nipples inside deep section rims, and then having to waste time fishing them out. They wanted a tool or process which could speed up the existing process. The solution, get a gullible final year student to design a tool to securely hold the nipple, whilst attaching it to the spoke. Being into biking, I jumped at the chance and got somewhat sucked in.

End result, it was a royal pain in the ar*e, was a solution to something that wasn't really a problem, I knocked up the dissertation in 10 days and got a 2:1.

My advice, it's a great idea wanting to do your project on something you love, but you'll probably get more out of it, if the subject is something you're not familiar with. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but I think it's the best way forward.

MattC59

alan sherman wrote:

A decent, waterproof but lightweight holder for a phone for the bike. Make it non-phone specific (instead of the million iphone specific ones).

Requirements:
Secure
Waterproof / dirtproof
Small / lack of bulk
Light
Ability to plug a cable in to phone to charge or for a headphone for GPS directions
Ability to use touch screen / buttons (on a wide range of devices)
Mountable on bars or stem, portrait or landscape.


I reckon a silicon cover (think like the Knog lights) has some possibilities. Get it in for £15 and I think you are on a winner. I want some royalties from your profits though!

You mean like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bicycle-Cycle-Waterproof-iPhone-Smartphone/dp/B0051DZPC4/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1309447599&sr=8-16
but not phone specific. (There's loads out there)

alan_sherman

Ultimate addons stuff is close but no cigar.

The example given is phone specific - so no good if you change device and there isn't one for a humble nokia N78
The clamp won't fit oversize bars - unless you buy the motorbike version.
The phone is about 2 inches up off the bars - not very aesthetic.
Is the clip secure? There was a bad review on the web somewhere.
All that hardware looks quite heavy - is there a simpler, more elegant solution?

I've been close to buying this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ULTIMATEADDONS-Bicycle-Motorbike-Waterproof-iPhone/dp/B004BAVJLO/ref=pd_cp_ce_3 but the mount is too small for OS bars.

Their pro motorbike version will fit OS bars but is an even uglier mount:
http://www.buybits.com/product/9768.aspx


So I think there is a gap in the market - especially with the proliferation of endomundo / sportstracker / sat nav and other tracking applications.

White Line

Cover is a good idea. Unfortunately there is a limit to the range of shapes and sizes that a single case can cover. Plus, then the areas to plug in chargers and headphones would likely be different.

Matt, a 2:1 in ten days?! Well done. I have a habit of leaving things to the last few days. Last year I slept for a total of six hours in ten days, and spent the rest of the time doing CAD. Don't want to be doing that again.

To be honest, I'm not too fussed about it being bike related or not. But, I do know that if it were I would enjoy doing the work. Don't want to be spending the year doing something I don't enjoy - I've had enough of that due to the way Scottish universities love to teach you irrelevant subjects. They have a name for it, but I can't remember what.

So far on my list, which has taken a few weeks, I have:

clip-on deep section rim covers (like those clip on discs) A crankset for both 110BCD and 130BCD (although I think Look have already done this) Something to stop your drivechain getting all dirty Something to prevent punctures Redesign of headset/BB

mr_goo

A fully waterproof SS or LS Jerey, that is also able to be worn in blazing heat and is fully breathable. Surely there is some new technology in materials available that can meet this requirement.

lifeform

The only suggestion I can think of is a road helmet with a small integrated visor which slides up (akin to a fighter pilot's helmet)

Other than that - have a butchers at the iF Mode (Pacific Cycles) - it's the best looking folder on the market, which is damning it with faint praise. See if you can redesign it to look less contrived?

secretsqizz

alan sherman wrote:

no cigar.

.

Lighter?

Stiff_Orange

Something to stop your drivechain getting all dirty

Looks like you a road rider but this is from the MTB world but is something you could look at.

The positioning of the front mech means that it frequently gets cover in crud which eventually prevents it from working.
What we need is a light weight, clip on, protective cover that we can use in bad conditions, that stops fouling of the mech.

mattsaw

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

rothers_bikeo

Design a workstand head clamp that will securely and safely grip sculpted and taped non-constant section carbon frame top tubes. It's like trying to grip a bar of soap in the bath

Standard parallel action jaws slip sideways far too easily on my Cube Agree GTC Race.

unixnerd

Redesign of headset/BB

I've often thought the current headset design is pants. I liked the old quill stems because they were easy to adjust the height. Maybe something that takes a normal stem but is still easy to adjust the height on. Be nice if it only fit in one position too, save guessing if it was pointing forwards or slightly squint.

MattC59

White Line wrote:

Matt, a 2:1 in ten days?! Well done. I have a habit of leaving things to the last few days. Last year I slept for a total of six hours in ten days, and spent the rest of the time doing CAD. Don't want to be doing that again.

Yeah, wasn't one of my better ideas !! I spent 10 days going to bed at 2am, getting up at 5am, geting to the library / CAD suits for 7am, working through until 8pm, going home, working until 2am, then repeating. I ended up in a right state, still, I got the result !!!

jamm13dodger

Some sort of rear view mirror? Integrated into a helmet, or maybe using a camera to screen?

nakita222

clip on deep section deep rims for me.

Ands

Mattsaw wrote:

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

I said exactly this to my OH a few weeks ago - there should be one with dual record that records front and rear at same time.

The Ors

jamm13dodger wrote:

Some sort of rear view mirror? Integrated into a helmet, or maybe using a camera to screen?

Ands wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

I said exactly this to my OH a few weeks ago - there should be one with dual record that records front and rear at same time.

Combine these two ideas...

mattsaw

Maybe lights as well, you could stick everything into one massive helmet that you plug into the mains every night to recharge.

I think someone has already done the initial design concept

lifeform

The Ors wrote:

jamm13dodger wrote:

Some sort of rear view mirror? Integrated into a helmet, or maybe using a camera to screen?

Ands wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

I said exactly this to my OH a few weeks ago - there should be one with dual record that records front and rear at same time.

Combine these two ideas...

You can't really put anything in a helmet that can focus the energy it's supposed to disperse around the shell.

Crapaud

The Ors wrote:

jamm13dodger wrote:

Some sort of rear view mirror? Integrated into a helmet, or maybe using a camera to screen?

Ands wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

I said exactly this to my OH a few weeks ago - there should be one with dual record that records front and rear at same time.

Combine these two ideas...

I't's not the first time I've heard this idea, but I'd be interested to know whether an integrated camera would compromise the integrity of the helmet and, in the event of an impact, whether there is any risk that the camera could cause damage to the rider's head.

The rear view mirror idea's been done. I got the chance to try one: it was a sort of periscope affair with multiple mirrors. It made the lid front heavy, had a pisspoor letterbox view that didn't cover a wide area. In short, it was shite.

lifeform

Crapaud wrote:

The Ors wrote:

jamm13dodger wrote:

Some sort of rear view mirror? Integrated into a helmet, or maybe using a camera to screen?

Ands wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

I said exactly this to my OH a few weeks ago - there should be one with dual record that records front and rear at same time.

Combine these two ideas...

I't's not the first time I've heard this idea, but I'd be interested to know whether an integrated camera would compromise the integrity of the helmet and, in the event of an impact, whether there is any risk that the camera could cause damage to the rider's head.

I'll expand on my last post.

A helmet - be it a motorbike helmet, horse riding helmet, workman's safety helmet, soldier's helmet, cycle helmet - is basically an energy transfer device. It's designed to transmit (not absorb) the kinetic energy of impact around the shell of the helmet, rather than through the soft squishy bit mounted within the helmet.

In a cycle hat, the shell isn't much of a shock absorber - that's dealt with by the cradle inside, and the rider's head (because the impacts are assumed be relatively low compared with, for example, a motorcycle helmet.) The shell itself is the transmission device - the kinetic energy of the impact is transmitted and dispersed around the shell.

How much force, and of what type, a helmet can transmit depends on what it's been designed for - so a Workman's Safety Helmet is very efficient as dispersing the high energy of something like a brick dropping on it from above; the shell is very hard, and the wearers head is fully removed from the shell by the crade. Similarly, a soldier's helmet is also hard and detached from the wearer's head. Cycle and motorbike helmets are designed to absorb lower specific pressure across a wider area (a road, basically), so they're much softer and often connected directly to the head. A horse helmet is an oddity in this as they have to cope with both cycle type impacts, and half a tonne of horse stamping on them, so whilst they're connected to the wearers head, the shell is extremely hard.

Anyway, all helmet designs rely on shell integrity to do their job - it's why your supposed to replace a cycle, horse, workmans or biker helmet in the event of it ever being used, and ideally if you drop it onto a hard surface from any height.

A deformed shell can do funny things to the energy dispersion - even if you don't directly hit the deformed part. The deformation can change or even amplify the energy of the impact.

Sticking things to the shell is equally bad - in simplest terms (as it's easy with an extreme example), if you stuck a 1/2" x 6" steel rod to the front of your cycle helmet and then headbutted the road at 25mph+ what would happen? You've taken the broad force of hitting the road, and focused it into a 1/2" area - the helmet shell won't be able to disperse that energy around the shell, hence the rod penetrates the helmet shell whereupon it meets the next energy dispersion cage (your skull) and the same rather one-sided physics equation occurs.

Now sticking something like a camera in or on your helmet has an minute chance of changing your survival rate in the event of an accident - however, the professional busybodies who test the things and let the manufacturers put them on the market aren't concerned with the variables - in the lab, the helmet with the camera will perform worse than the same one without under certain conditions, ergo it's not safe.

Personally I wouldn't stick anything to a helmet which could concentrate that energy - but then I've had numerous practical demonstrations when I was riding motorbikes of what helmets can and cannot do for the wearer.

pedylan

The Ors wrote:

jamm13dodger wrote:

Some sort of rear view mirror? Integrated into a helmet, or maybe using a camera to screen?

Ands wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

I'm surpristed there aren't any helmets with integrated cameras

I said exactly this to my OH a few weeks ago - there should be one with dual record that records front and rear at same time.

Combine these two ideas...

This was launched years ago as a cycling helmet with rear view mirror but it looks like the comopany now concentrate on motorbike designs.

http://www.reevu.com/

White Line

At first thought the helmet with integrated camera(s) does seem like a good idea. One would assume it wouldn't be too different from those with integrated lights. Hell, even half the market research is already done for you with those as I can imagine it would be the same types of people buying them.

Although, the safety would be a massive concern, and rightly so. Lifeform's post sums it up much better than I had even realised. I often wonder about the people who strap a chunky camera to the side of their head; what would happen if they landed on it? Not good for your neck I would imagine.

Also, if a helmet had an integrated camera, on the event of a crash you would have to replace the helmet. This would cost a lot more than just replacing a cameraless helmet. At least with strapping a camera to the helmet you can move it from one helmet to the next helmet if it is undamaged.

I think, say, a rear view camera with a display on a screen on the stem/ handlebars would be a good idea. But, I personally feel a bit weird about this and mirrors. Nothing can replace actually having a look to see what's behind you. I'm pretty sure than when learning to ride a motorbike you are told to look behind you, despite the fact that they have mirrors. Same goes with cars. A blind spot is a blind spot. Doesn't matter how big or small. Either way it's somewhere you can't see in a mirror. Plus, then some mirrors and camera focal lengths can give an odd impression of distance.

rothers_bikeo, I thought standard practice was to clap the seatpost. Saves people the worry of over tightening and crushing a carbon frame.

Mattsaw wrote:

How many weeks have you been waiting for the opportunity to post that? Haha! Almost soaked my keyboard with tea!

kieranb

how about something that allows handlebars to be quickly and easily twisted sdeways (tool-free) for storage? maybe some modified stem so that you can use your current handlebars? When putting away my bike in our shed the handlebars always catch on the other bikes or get in the way.

How about a little clip-on aero shield for your front brakes for all those TTers trying to save a few seconds? It would also protect it from dirt etc

wobblerthe1st

kieranb wrote:

how about something that allows handlebars to be quickly and easily twisted sdeways (tool-free) for storage? maybe some modified stem so that you can use your current handlebars? When putting away my bike in our shed the handlebars always catch on the other bikes or get in the way.

How about a little clip-on aero shield for your front brakes for all those TTers trying to save a few seconds? It would also protect it from dirt etc

+1 on both of these ideas

White Line

I like the idea of being able to twist the bars sideways for storage. Perhaps coupled with the ability to have them returned to a position perfectly perpendicular to the wheel. Then you wouldn't have to worry if it was straight or not, just like unixnerd said.

Somebody last year don't some sort of indoor bike storage for urban accommodation, I think, and the somebody (can't remember who, but they have a say in your results) recommended it for a possible brief this year.

I don't get when you mean with the aero brake lever shields. Do you mean for normal STI type shifters one a road bike for old school TTers or for aero brake levers on a normal TT rig? Surely some thing like that would create a lot of turbulence. :?

Plus, once the UCI find out about it ...

I'd like to do something that would involve a fair bit of prototyping. Over the last few years I've done much less modelling than I would like, and with all the different prototyping machines, and of course blue foam, that we have it seems a shame to waste the opportunity.

kieranb

No, not the levers but the brakes themselves (the bits down near the wheels), I think TTs in the UK are run by CTT ao so not run under UCI regs? So TT bikes have modified the position of the front brakes to try reduce drag but something that can be retro fitted to existing set ups would be better.

GiantMike

What about a small motor hidden in the down-tube to be used in races. It would need to be small and discrete so that it couldn't be detected by the relevant authorities. Apparently, this hasn't been tried before.

I've got it (serious one this time). What about a rear brake light. Use cabling in the pads to form a switch using the rim in the circuit so that whenever the front/rear brake is applied, the circuit is made and the light comes on. Ideal for those times when you don't want somebody to ride/drive into the back of you. Also fit a normal night time mode switch so it's also a normal night light.