FREIGHT BIKE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDIO 3
RESEARCH AND PROJECT SCOPE RADICAL MARGIN DRIVER SCENARIO
BY AHIL KUMAR, MISSAKA HEMACHANDRA, SHAFIQ MUHAMAD, DANIEL NGUY
Briefing Phase: The main objective of the freight bike project is to research and develop innovative bicycle orientated ideas in the area of sustainable transportation. The direction of ‘Project Four: Radical Margin Driver Scenario’ is to explore the opportunities in transforming and commercializing BMX street culture into a form of sustainable load transportation.
Context: Who? The directed audience is targeted towards the sporting societies and lifestyles. Ages 15 – 30. What? A BMX based freight bike that is designed to carry the loads of sporting equipment. It may also be used to carry day-to-day gear. Where? Suburban areas, metropolitan areas where sporting culture thrives. This is including small community sporting events all the way to professional sporting events. Why? To convince the broader public of the validity of load carrying bike.
Key Constraints: -
Fit to existing BMX frames without making any alteration to the frame or its ride geometry. Be able to take a 20” BMX type rear wheel and be designed to sit as an af termarket product for BMX bicycle products. Provide an appropriate load capacity. Maintain Drive from rear wheel. To retain the image of a BMX bike as a recreational form of transportation. To use sustainable, viable, accessible materials. Uphold Australian standards for BMX. Retain the BMX’s extreme sport heritage yet diversify its opportunities in usage.
PROJECT SCOPE - BRIEFING PHASE
Opportunities: -
Expansion of the bicycle industry to recreational cargo carrying Commercialization of freight bikes into the area of sport Future prospects; development through better designs may further the capabilities of BMX bikes. In terms of business, the industry will hopefully increase sales as the target audience will definitely broaden. The use of the product may change, from just carrying sports equipment to other day-to-day activities e.g. carrying groceries It could evolve into specific sporting codes such as tennis equipment, portable golf caddy etc. Expansion of the BMX market Transformation of the product as more idea will eventually evolve the indus try, therefore evolving the product. Branch out towards both bike industry and the sport culture. Promote eco-friendly sustainable living.
PROJECT SCOPE - BRIEFING PHASE
Design Phase: Concepts: -
Bike can be extended, which means the rear wheel must be repositioned. The extension could be added to the rear, while keeping the rear wheel in the same position. This could make the bike a bit more unstable The rear pegs will be an intuitive way of attaching the freight to the BMX. The design trailer will need to be a certain height from ground clearance, this will be designed around the 20� bmx wheel as it is a standard size. The ground clearance required will have to keep in mind the space required for the redirection of the chain. To save space and weight, the freight bike could have detachable containers for easy storage. Utilise existing sport carry bags and integrate them into the freight design.
PROJECT SCOPE - DESIGN PHASE
Detailed Design Phase: Concept Analysis: -
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The freight will need to be short in order to maintain the manoeuvrability of the BMX, however also needs enough space to carry the equipment. This lack of length will need to be made up by the additional height. The width of the freight will have to be considered as having it too wide will result in tipping over and clearance between traffic space. Chain needs to be redirected according to the design of the trailer. By shifting the rear wheel back, force will be naturally exerted to where the position of the old wheel sits. This force needs to be countered by some sort of clamp attached to the top of the trailer. An extension will be added to the rear, which means that the rear wheel must be moved to the back of the extension. This also means that the chain must be lengthened and repositioned. The rear wheel must still drive the bike, so for the chain to drive the rear wheel, it must be directed in a way that doesn’t in terfere with the extension. This can be done by directing the chain below the freight and back to the rear wheel which would be placed at the back of the extension. Materials: Aluminium, Iron, corrugated stainless steel, titanium, thermoplas tic, bamboo, PVC, styrene board, carbon fibre, fibre glass.
PROJECT SCOPE - DETAILED DESIGN PHASE
Final Reporting Phase: During the concept development, our group had come across certain amount of problems such as; -
Developing a structurally sound frame in order to cater the repositioning of the rear wheel. We did some concepts to try solve the problem however, we need to start constructing frames and testing them before we can solve it Redirecting the chain to suit this shifting. From research we decided best way is to bring the chain back to the rear wheel below the frame of the BMX bike, so there is less interference. Creating a practical and versatile containment area for the suitable sporting applications.
In spite of these problems, whilst conceptualizing, the team had to keep in mind that the product could be subjected to future developments for example: branching out into other recreational activities.
Factors we had to take into consideration: -
Designing for mass production, not making the product impossible to produce in a large scale. Keeping in mind cost of materials so that large scale production isn’t to ex pensive for the company and the customers. Make the product user friendly, easy to use. The materials used should be sustainable. The materials should be suitable for use as an attachment on a BMX bike.
PROJECT SCOPE - FINAL REPORT PHASE
APPENDIX INCLUDING SCENARIOS AND RESEARCH
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Recreational and daily use of local inner city or suburban towns which will aid in the help of transportation and fitness. The Freight bike will have a base structure of a standard BMX.
BMX Bike Diagram
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tensegrity bikes at coroflot
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A Cargo Bike for Uganda
A Cargo bike for Uganda, Bicycle design.com, 3/12/2009, viewed on 3/15/2009 http://bicycledesign.blogspot.com/
Old-fashioned Dutch freight tricycle Traditional Dutch cargo tricycle
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Modern long-wheelbase freight bicycle from Amsterdam
Danish Long John freight bicycle
Industrial Trike produced by International Surrey Company
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Freight bicycles, carrier cycles, freight tricycles, cargo bikes or work bikes are human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting large loads. Vehicle designs include a cargo area consisting of a steel tube carrier, an open or enclosed box a flat platform, or a wire basket. These are usually mounted over one or both wheels, low behind the front wheel, or between parallel wheels at either the front or rear of the vehicle. The frame and drivetrain must be constructed to handle loads several times that of an ordinary bicycle. Other specific design considerations include operator visibility and load suspension. Many, but not all, cycles used for the purpose of vending goods are cargo bicycles.
RESEARCH DIRECTLY FROM WEBSITES Freight Bicycle, wikipedia, (2009-03-15) viewed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_bicycle
Development The first freight bicycles were used for delivering mail, bread, milk etc. An early example of freight bicycles was heavy-duty standard bicycles, with heavy carriers at front or rear, sometimes with a smaller front wheel to accommodate a large front carrier. During the early part of the 20th Century these were commonly used by tradespeople for local deliveries (in the UK this style is still sometimes known as a butcher’s bike, although the Post Office have by far the largest fleet). Modern freight cycles vary much more widely, often being tailored to particular applications. With the domination of the combustion engine in the industrialized countries after World War II, in freight bikes were relegated to factory floor duties and public park novelties such as ice cream bikes. In the rest of the world, they continued to be manufactured and heavily used. In the 1980s in Europe, and the 1990s in the US, ecologically-minded designers and small-scale manufacturers initiated a revival of the freight bike manufacturing sector.
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A more recent development is the ‘longtail’ bike. It has a very long wheel base, with the additional space behind the rider, for more space on the rear luggage rack, and strong frame and wheels to carry more weight on and around the rear wheel. This avoids the complications of a steering linkage found on cargo bikes with front loading cargo area, but does not provide a single large storage area. It is also more stable due to its long wheelbase. As of 2009 Kona (the ute) and yuba (the mondo) manufacture complete bicycles; Surly Bicycles a frameset called the Big Dummy; and Xtracycle offers a kit to convert a regular frame into a longtail. Pros and cons An obvious limitation of a human-powered utility vehicle is the relative weakness of its “motor”, leaving a very narrow scope for balancing tare weight, payload, geographical and topographical range against each other. Because of the unavoidable physical demands on a driver who also has to propel the vehicle, and the lack of protection against either the elements or other traffic, there is also a potential for working conditions becoming a serious problem. This can be very real in the Third World, which also has by far the greatest proportion of human-powered transport. Technical efforts to improve conditions are hampered by the need for low weight and sturdy simplicity to achieve low costs in small-scale operations. In some countries the use of cycle lanes is restricted to two wheelers and small width trailers only. Yet, they have much to commend them. Non-motorized vehicles are particularly attractive where motorized vehicles would: • become stuck in traffic congestion • create air pollution problems (e.g. enclosed warehouses and industrial plants) • create safety problems (e.g. crowded pedestrian areas) • cost too much to operate at a profit • be limited by fuel availability • be limited by the availability of on-street parking • be restricted for environmental reasons (e.g. protected lands) • prove inefficient for short order production or distribution schedules or for the last mile phase of delivery Non-motorized vehicles do not generate sparks (having no electric components or combustion engines), therefore, they are used in refineries, chemical, petrochemical, and many other industries where due to fire hazard and presence of combustible chemicals, only non-motorized bicycles or tricycles can be used for transportation.
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Common Usages Common usages include: • delivery services in dense urban environments • food vending in high foot traffic areas (including specialist ice cream bikes) • transporting trade tools, including around large installations such as power stations and CERN • airport cargo handling • recycling collections • warehouse inventory transportation • mail (The UK post office operates a fleet of 33,000 bicycles, mainly the Pashley MailStar) • Food collection, • Child transport, its estimated that 90% of the freight bicycles sold in Amsterdam are used primarily to carry children. In Amsterdam it common to rent a worktrike to move one’s belongings, have a party in a park or promote a new product. Furniture retailer IKEA is also testing a freight bike rental program to allow residents of Copenhagen to transport new purchases. Because of the strong economic advantageous realizable by widespread proliferation of freight bicycles, Oxfam has designed the OxTrike and established local production at community workshops in non-industrialized countries for use in non-industrialized countries worldwide. Dangdang, China’s biggest online bookseller, uses 30 bicycle courier companies in 12 cities to deliver goods and collect payments. Karaba, a free-trade coffee co-op in Rwanda, uses 400 modified bicycles to carry hundreds of pounds of coffee beans to be processed. Types The Amsterdam, Netherlands and Copenhagen, Denmark freight bikes are extremely popular. In Amsterdam many residents simply fit large front carriers to sturdy city bicycles. There is also a broad variety of specially made freight bikes including lowloading two-wheelers with extended wheelbases, bicycles with small front wheels to fit huge front carriers, tadpole-type three wheelers with a box between the two front wheels. Varieties used elsewhere include a platform, basket etc. instead of the box, the loading area between two rear wheels (delta-fashion), small-wheel two wheelers loading both back and front. An occasional four wheeler can also be seen, especially within a plant, warehouse or the like, where demands on stability and loading capacity are higher than on range. In the USA Worksman has built strong delivery bicycles since 1898 and they are still popular in factories and NYC street delivery work.
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Prospects As cities become busier and less accessible to autos, and fuel increases in cost, freight bicycles will likely continue to become more popular.
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About BMX Fundamentals and History BMX is the acronym for Bicycle Motocross. It’s a kind of fun- and extreme sport that came from California in the early seventies. In those days the children wanted to imitate the Motocross riders with their 20 inch bikes and built their own trails and ramps and after some time the first contests were held. The sport became popular more and more, the NBL (National Bicycle League) was founded. Nowadays BMX gains importance in Europe too and contests are held nearly in all European countries. The biggest events are the x-games and the gravity games, where also other fun and extreme sports are performed; both events are held in USA. In all competitions the goal is to impress the judges by showing difficult stunts with style. An exception are BMX-Races where the riders are racing on a course and certainly the fastest rider wins. About BMX Categories BMX can be devided in the following sections: Dirt Jump, Street, Ramp/Vert/Halfpipe, Flatland and Race. There are contests for all sections and of course special bikes and different areas to ride. Here are the different sections with descriptions: Dirt Jump: At dirt jumping the riders are riding on lanes consisting of doubles and tables and they try to make stunts while they are off the ground. Doubles and tables are made of soil and are shaped like ramps but they are often bigger than street ramps. A double consists of a two soil ramps, the first is is for jumping off it and on the second you land. Between the two is a gap. The lengths of the gaps can be up to 30 feet. Tables are similar to doubles but the gap is filled with soil, that’s why they especially are suitable for dirt jump beginners. Street, Park: Street and Park riding is quite versatile. In parks you can do tricks over/on funboxes, rails, banks, quarters, spines, walls and some other obstacles. The obstacles are mostly made of plastic. Street riding, is just riding, for example in the city and jumping off stairs, grinding on rails or walls, doing manuals etc. Ramp, Vert, Halfpipe: Here the riders do their tricks in halfpipes made of lumber or plastic. Halfpipe or ramp are the generell names but there are Miniramps, Vertramps and Quarterpipes. Miniramps are less high than 6 feet and they haven’t got a vertical part. Vertramps are much higher, about 12 feet, and they have, as the name already says, a vertical part below the coping. Quarterpipes are half halfpipes, so they only have on coping. The goal in all ramps is to get above the coping, do tricks and to land again in the ramp. In miniramps tricks like tailtap, nostap and grinds are usual. Usually the riders make 180° rotations during the jump to land “right” again. Flatland: Flatland was almost the first thing done with the 20” bikes. The good thing about flatland is that you can do it nearly everywhere because all you need is your BMX and a flat ground (for example a parking place). All flatland tricks are done one the ground and a lot of them only on one wheel. Therefore you need a very good sense of balance and you have to practice a lot. Its also not as spectacular as, for instance, dirt jump or race. However it’s not very dangerous and you don’t need to wear protective gear. Race: At race contests several riders (usually 8) start simultaneous (like MotoX) and ride on a Race Tracks with doubles, Tables and some smaller gaps (up to 13m gaps at downhill BMX races). The fastest rider wins, so there is no need to show stunts
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About BMX Bikes Basically all BMX bikes have 20 inch Wheels, no gearshift (only one gear, so they aren\’t suitable for long trips) and smaller forks than MTBs. There are of course different bikes - each one is suitable for a certain section. Dirt bikes usually don\’t have a front brake, only a back brake. They are quite solid, they normally have 2 piece handlebars and dirt mantles with a deep profile for a good footing. Street and ramp bikes usually have pegs to grind, 4 piece handlebars and smoot surface at the tyres to have a better footing. Flatland BMX are usually straight spoked, have a smaller pinion and likewise axel pegs. Race Bikes are quite lightweight and have both front brake and back brake. Freestyle bikes are allround bikes. They are in principle Street bikes with front brake and are suitably for those who do not yet exactly know what they want to do with their BMX (dirt/street/ flatland). But don’t take this definitions to exactly due to you can do alsmost everything with a common BMX (of course it shouln’nt be too cheap) About BMX Tips
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BMX and bass from Queens, NY This is a special type of freight bike; the point of it isn’t to carry objects but to carry with it, music. Made by a group of teenagers living in Queens, NY.
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HARVARD STYLE REFRENCE Websites: - Freight Bicycle, wikipedia, (2009-03-15) viewed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_bicycle - A Cargo bike for Uganda, Bicycle design.com, 3/12/2009, viewed on 3/15/2009 - http://bicycledesign.blogspot.com/ Bicycle diagram, (2001) viewed on 3/15/2009. - www.whycycle.co.uk - http://www.core77.com/blog/news/tensegrity_bikes_at_coroflot_12833.asp (200903-17) viewed - BMX Article, bmx-zone.com, (2002) viewed on 22/3/09. - http://www.bmx-zone.com/en-about_bmx.html viewed on 22/3/09 - BMX BASS DESIGN - QUEENS, NYhttp://images.google.com.au/ imgres?imgurl=http://www.huckmagazine.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/ bmx2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.huckmagazine.com/blog/queens/&usg=__qFDFLj 4IEWNmijZGMYjXls2oQxk=&h=263&w=350&sz=33&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=DU r179NbPvQUCM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbmx%2Bqueens %26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den (18/3/09) veiwed.