Senior Industrial Design Thesis

Adam Carlson Table of Contents

About Me

2 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 3 is an area of the bike industry that has grown immensely from the point of its birth some thirty years ago. Development of advanced suspen- Project sion systems allowed riders to take their bikes to the unknown territory of off oadr discovery. Today four different sports or subtitles exist under the Aim title, they are: Downhill, Enduro/Techical, Singletrack, and Cross Country. Downhill being the most technical and demanding of a bikes suspension and Cross Country The vision of this project is to give being the easiest to ride and small amounts of suspension needed. Current mar- mountain bike users a new system ket strategies have developed multiple lines of bikes to satisfy different design and to improve comfort and usability of suspension characteristics of each category. The result is bikes that excel in their riding off road full suspension moun- designed category but lack characteristics to succeed in other categories. tain bikes. Ideally the final solution will allow new riders the ability to After working in the bike industry for an internship, one thing stood out. A gap, come into the market at a lower price point and be able to ride on tougher which could be filled with a new type of mountain bike concept. The gap provided more technical terrain without the that there was no one bike that could take advantage of all or many of the sports need of lots of prior experience. under the mountain bike name. The concept would include a suspension system that could change to fit its surroundings. For a suspension system to be success- My personal motivation for design- ful it must change in length of travel, tune of the suspension, and control settings ing such a system has come from like rebound, and compression. Current technology in fork design allow users to love to ride and my past working change all of these settings to fit the surroundings, full suspension bikes do not experiences at Trek bicycles. It is have the same capabilities in rear suspension. To achieve such attributes this con- the combination of both these ex- cept must include a changing geometry frame to create a frame that can attack periences that drive me to push the technical rocks of an Enduro course to the flowy trails of cross-country. the boundaries of what has been done before in the bicycle industry. The design problem is simple. If an athlete or hobbyist does more than one sport under the mountain biking realm, s/he is required to have multiple bikes to suit each event or sport. A bike with changing attributes would allow for less specifica- Abstract tion for riders and more opportunity to do what they love the most: Ride.

4 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 5 Moutain BIke History & Sports

6 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 7 MTB History

These pages will look at the history and main people who have had a great influence on the moutain bike sport. From the birth in 1970’s to today a brief but correct hsitory will help to continue the development of questions and show insight to potiental answers.

People to look into: Keith Bontrager Charlie Kelly

8 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 9 MTB Terminology

These pages will talk about the both riding jargon and specific technical terminology associated with the frame and manufacture of a bike.

10 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 11 MTB Standards

Here will be some of the standards in the bike industry, wheel size, frame sizes, gear ratios, shifting techniques.

12 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 13 Cross SingleTrack Country

Cross Country is a sport centered around Racing. The bikes are built for speed and taking on small rocks and obsticles. Suspension setups are setup for 100 to 110 mm of travel. Wheel sizes tend to be 29inch wheels due to there nature of rolling over obsticals easier and faster diameter.

Each of these specific sports will need backgroud and photos.

14 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 15 Enduro Downhill Technical

16 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 17 Research Methodology

18 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 19 MTB WORDS The main research question I wish to find an answer for is: Can one mountain bike be designed to cover multiple areas of the market in all or some of these different types of riding situations and morph or change to do excel in these types of situations? To come to an answer of this question I must answer some sub questions along the way: Describe what moutainbiking is in a few differnt terms or words: How can the bike be designed to look like a futuristic but still viable concept?, Will the geometry work with a changing suspension set up bike?, Can new users be attracted by Freedom an all terrain type bike?, and lastly, What can be done to make the bike easier to ride for the user?. Answering these sub questions will be done by utilizing Research Methods Expression learned in an earlier class. I plan to utilize: Gap Analysis/Competitive Product Scaling for Marketing questions, Researching and using Affinity diagrams for Technical and Creativity Material questions, and trend analysis for understanding current aesthetic trends.

Pushing human nature

Problem Questions

20 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 21 Explain why certain design research is better than others for specific things. Link questions to single research types

Methodology Selection

Lotus Blossum Diagram

22 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 23 Design Plan

The design of this bike will be a balance of different types of constraints which will overall drive the out- come of the final form. First will be that of a technical side in which the geometry of the frame must work properly to gain a realistic final model. Along with this is the opposing side of aesthetics. A true balance of form and function will create a product that not only looks great but also feels and works properly. Lastly the incorporation of new or future technology will help intertwine these two and help bring a futuristic feel to the new concept.

Gannt Chart and show the schedule at which you want to do things. Which method are you going to use for what.

Potiental work with trek designers.

24 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 25 Market Analysis

V10 Speed Concept 303 World Cup Boone AI Session Cyclox Nomad Large Market Single Spo rt SB95 Bronson Remedy Compulsion

Madone SB75 SB95 Trek Virtue Santa Cruz F Bantam Z Yeti Fuel EX Mountain Road Mountain Road Felt Edict Scott Talboy Specialized Turner AR Giant

Market analysis shows where bike Domane The graph to the left proves that companies in the market and where Gap there is a gap in the market for mul- they are locatated. The graph helps tipurpose moutain bike. to determine where to focus in the rt market and what companies to po-

tientally chose. Multi Spo Small Market

26 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 27 Brand Analysis

28 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 29 Explain why you chose to design for Speed Concept Domane District Xcal SuperyR emedy Session this brand and what can you do to there current market structure.

Treke Bikes on a Spectrum

Road Town Mountain

Trek Bicycles Madone Boone FX Xcal Fuel EXS lash Brand Selection

Bikes on a spectrum show both technical and form develop- ments through the trek line.

30 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 31 Trek Technology

Trek Form 32 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 33 Current Solutions

Currently there are no specific solutions in which there is a multipurpose bike that can change to fit multiple types of terrains or surroundings. Current technologies exist that could be strung together to create such a bike.

Fox Suspension With this said Fox is a company that produces both forks and rear shock type suspension. Development for new fox products is a continued partnership Trek Minnow Link with some of the top manufactures to produce a Trek released a new rocker link which allows for the user to adjust the bikes geom- specific tune in a fork or shock meaning the suspen- etry by half a degree. Overall unless the user is a professional rider this wont make sion is independently designed for each bike. Their much of a difference. The concept though may carry over to a final concept. current lineup includes a fork with something called Talas adjust. Talas is a system allows for small incre-

34 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 35 Materials and Processes Future Composite Materials In the bicycle industry there is a never ending search for new lighter weight and stiffer materials. Today carbon fiber is no longer considered exotic, and is used abundantly in the production of Carbon nanotubes race and high performance cycles. Even with the use of carbon fiber many believe there are new Carbon nano tubes have been the all the rage in the last 15 or so technologies up and coming that will change the way bicycles are design and created. Composites years. These new fibers have a much higher strength to weight ratio are the future name of the game. thus making for a perfect future choice. At this point in time the pro- duction of such material is very difficult and has never made it out of the nano scale in the lab. Current Materials Aluminum Carbon Titanium hybrids A car company named Pangani utilized a new composite hybrid called Carbotanium, a mouthful of a word. Carbotanium is a hybrid Steel/ Stainless Steel of carbon fiber and titanium and is said to be very strong and impact resistant. This would be perfect for a futuristic mountain bike but will Carbon Fiber cost an arm and a leg.

Carbon- Carbon This futuristic material is used heavily in the aerospace industry on the leading edges of aircraft and as well as the front nose cone. It is said to be incredibly efficient in dissipating heat which is the main reason it is also used in high end automotive brakes. Carbon- Carbon would be an excellent choice for brake rotors or shock systems that are in need of high heat dissipation.

36 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 37 Sketching & Ideation

7. Solutions/ Hypothesis/ Possibilities/ Emerging prospects + What could be answers to this problem? + Evaluate the feasibility of each solution. + What could be problems or down sides? + What options or new possibilities emerge from a change in technology, society, fashions & trends, markets & services, etc…? + If you can’t outline a solution yet, mention where you guess could be a field, which could lead you to a concept/ answer. + Could a solution avoid a physical product? What would be your strategy in this case?

38 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 39 MOdeling

10. Key outcomes/ Results + What should be the outcome of the different phases and the final project? + Which results do you want to generate? + What are your goals? + In which form should they be useful for you? (e.g. Portfolio/ field of expertise for job search/ Masters/ establishing your own company…) + Who could help you or be interested in supporting your project? (e.g. Sponsors/ Initiatives/ NGOs) + Mention options for Press Coverage (Newspaper/ magazines/ TV/ Radio/ Podcasts/ Web- blogs…), competitions (Best Design Awards/ Dyson/ Braun/ Electrolux…).

40 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 41 Final Design

Section will include final design renderings, photos, design, final renderings etc. Talk about how this fixes the solution

42 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 43 References & Bibliography

44 | Adam Carlson | Senior Thesis Senior Thesis | Adam Carlson | 45