Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the second Action Project of the STEAM class Design and Engineering. In this unit, we have been studying bicycles. We started off with a lab test on wheels and how different wheels work. Then, we looked at pulleys and wheels as simple machines. We learned how to graph circles and ellipses and later moved on to study weight, mass, speed, velocity, and acceleration. We also learned about functions, energy, and gears. The Field Experiences this term were with Earth Rider Cycling, Divvy, and Dyson. At Earth Rider, we talked about electric bikes with the owner of the shop and had the chance to ride electric bikes. A guest came in from the Chicago Department of Transportation with Divvy and talked to the class about how the bike share system can remodel city transportation. Meeting with Dyson helped us learn how to prototype and pitch our ideas. These have all led up to the Action Project of designing a bike of our own. This bike has to meet the needs of a person that is trying to get to school and use what we learned in class to design it. I hope you enjoy learning about my bike.
Step 1: Research
One thing I learned about existing bikes is when it comes to storage, some bikes fold to take up less space but their wheels are much smaller and create a stiff ride. I also learned that electric bikes are trying to rise up in the bike market but are expensive to buy.
Step 2: Interview
An interview with a biker was an important part of this AP so to learn more about the experience of biking, I interviewed my father, Mark, who bikes often as a form of exercise. In this interview, there was one quote that stood out to me. He said, “Biking offers a sense of freedom that can be experienced through commuting or exercise, and it is important that biking makes you feel that way because otherwise, it wouldn’t be fun.” This was important to me and it stuck with me for designing this bike. I wanted to see if a bike I made could still meet the needs of the person but also grant the feeling of freedom. This led me to create a lighter bike that could get around easily and be comfortable when riding.
Step 3: The User
The person I have been assigned to is named Atef who lives in Cairo, Egypt. Atef wants to bike to school but the weather is very hot and sand can clog up his gears. He also experiences heavy traffic on his ride. Atef can’t afford professional maintenance for his bike so he needs something easy to maintain. Storage is also a problem because he has to keep the bike in his cramped room.
Step 4: Design a Bike
My bike design is a light bike made from carbon fiber that has an internal gear hub, belt drive, tubeless tires, and foldable pedals and handles. The carbon fiber frame makes the bike much lighter than a traditional aluminum alloy mountain bike design. The tubeless tires are harder to puncture and do not require air to pump them up from time to time. However, tubeless tires require more tedious maintenance than regular tires but I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The foldable handlebar and pedals make the bike much thinner to fit through heavy traffic but also be better for storage purposes. The handlebar and pedals have a lock and release mechanism so they do not fold accidentally while riding. The internal gear hub can fit all 7 gears and has all of the gears enclosed so sand can’t clog them up and instead of a chain, there is a belt-drive made of rubber which is also better for a sandy environment. The user should trust in my design because I have made sure to create a comfortable ride that suits their needs. The bike may not have anything special but it is very easy to take care of and can get the job done to take him to school. The bike is also very durable and can be an option for other bikers that have similar problems or just want a nice ride. The name I have chosen for my bike is the Ramil bike. Ramil means sand in Arabic and as a name means bestowed of pleasure so I believe it fits well.
Step 5: Calculations
Atef needs to go 3.25 miles to get to school. This would take them at least 40 minutes. I calculated this by looking at how long it would take to bike 3.25 miles and added that with an estimation of time delay due to Cairo traffic and got 40. Their average speed would be 12 miles per hour or 5.4 meters per second. The real bike has a wheel diameter of 28 inches and a radius of 14 inches making the circumference of the wheel 88 inches. The number of full wheel rotations is 2,340 for the journey.
The gear ratios for my bike are 14:34 or 0.4 for the highest gear and 34:34 or 1 for the lowest gear. Since the bike is a 7 speed there are gears in between for the user to be comfortable with. For my bike, it makes more sense to have multiple gears. If there is heavy traffic it could be nice to have a bike that would be easy to get moving and also deal with different terrain such as sand while riding. A seven-speed bike can create an easy ride and a faster ride depending on how the rider is pedaling but in consideration of Cairo’s heavy traffic, the ride they would mostly be looking for is an easy one. On average, Atef could have 1,023.88 Joules of Kinetic Energy.
Step 6: Considerations
The first obstacle I ran into when designing my bike was storage. I did not want my bike to be foldable because it could be heavier than a bike that doesn’t fold. I went through some options to create a foldable handlebar and foldable pedals so the bike takes up less width. The second obstacle I encountered was how to make the bike easy to manage. Since Atef cannot receive professional bike maintenance, he needs the bike to be easy enough to maintain himself. I decided that including an internal gear hub and a belt drive would be the best option. An internal gear hub is very easy to maintain and only requires changing the oil in the hub every 5,000 km. The internal gear hub also does not let any sand into the gears so no damage can be caused. The belt drive is more durable than a regular bike chain and it is also easy to maintain. From this process, I learned that designing a bike to fit the needs of one person opens up the possibility to fit the needs of many people. There could be riders that live in a place where they worry about dirt getting into their gears or storage in a tight space. This bike can still help those riders out.
Step 1: Research
One thing I learned about existing bikes is when it comes to storage, some bikes fold to take up less space but their wheels are much smaller and create a stiff ride. I also learned that electric bikes are trying to rise up in the bike market but are expensive to buy.
Step 2: Interview
An interview with a biker was an important part of this AP so to learn more about the experience of biking, I interviewed my father, Mark, who bikes often as a form of exercise. In this interview, there was one quote that stood out to me. He said, “Biking offers a sense of freedom that can be experienced through commuting or exercise, and it is important that biking makes you feel that way because otherwise, it wouldn’t be fun.” This was important to me and it stuck with me for designing this bike. I wanted to see if a bike I made could still meet the needs of the person but also grant the feeling of freedom. This led me to create a lighter bike that could get around easily and be comfortable when riding.
Step 3: The User
The person I have been assigned to is named Atef who lives in Cairo, Egypt. Atef wants to bike to school but the weather is very hot and sand can clog up his gears. He also experiences heavy traffic on his ride. Atef can’t afford professional maintenance for his bike so he needs something easy to maintain. Storage is also a problem because he has to keep the bike in his cramped room.
Step 4: Design a Bike
My bike design is a light bike made from carbon fiber that has an internal gear hub, belt drive, tubeless tires, and foldable pedals and handles. The carbon fiber frame makes the bike much lighter than a traditional aluminum alloy mountain bike design. The tubeless tires are harder to puncture and do not require air to pump them up from time to time. However, tubeless tires require more tedious maintenance than regular tires but I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The foldable handlebar and pedals make the bike much thinner to fit through heavy traffic but also be better for storage purposes. The handlebar and pedals have a lock and release mechanism so they do not fold accidentally while riding. The internal gear hub can fit all 7 gears and has all of the gears enclosed so sand can’t clog them up and instead of a chain, there is a belt-drive made of rubber which is also better for a sandy environment. The user should trust in my design because I have made sure to create a comfortable ride that suits their needs. The bike may not have anything special but it is very easy to take care of and can get the job done to take him to school. The bike is also very durable and can be an option for other bikers that have similar problems or just want a nice ride. The name I have chosen for my bike is the Ramil bike. Ramil means sand in Arabic and as a name means bestowed of pleasure so I believe it fits well.
Bike Sketch, GS, 2021
Step 5: Calculations
Atef needs to go 3.25 miles to get to school. This would take them at least 40 minutes. I calculated this by looking at how long it would take to bike 3.25 miles and added that with an estimation of time delay due to Cairo traffic and got 40. Their average speed would be 12 miles per hour or 5.4 meters per second. The real bike has a wheel diameter of 28 inches and a radius of 14 inches making the circumference of the wheel 88 inches. The number of full wheel rotations is 2,340 for the journey.
The gear ratios for my bike are 14:34 or 0.4 for the highest gear and 34:34 or 1 for the lowest gear. Since the bike is a 7 speed there are gears in between for the user to be comfortable with. For my bike, it makes more sense to have multiple gears. If there is heavy traffic it could be nice to have a bike that would be easy to get moving and also deal with different terrain such as sand while riding. A seven-speed bike can create an easy ride and a faster ride depending on how the rider is pedaling but in consideration of Cairo’s heavy traffic, the ride they would mostly be looking for is an easy one. On average, Atef could have 1,023.88 Joules of Kinetic Energy.
Bike Calculations, GS, 2021
This Action Project also requires a digital sketch of the bike with the equations for graphing the circles.
Digital Sketch, GS, 2021
Digital Calculations, GS, 2021
Next, I created a model of the bike. My model has wheels with a diameter of 5 inches and the real bike has wheels with a diameter of 28 inches which makes my scale 5/28. I chose to have 28-inch wheels for the actual bike because they are very sturdy and are big enough for Atef to continue using the bike as he gets older. As I was creating the model I found that having wheels with a diameter of 5 inches would work the best in terms of size and location with the frame. The model includes the foldable handlebar and pedals to give the viewer an idea of what the bike would look like.
Bike Model with Person, GS, 2021
Bike Model with Features, GS 2021
The first obstacle I ran into when designing my bike was storage. I did not want my bike to be foldable because it could be heavier than a bike that doesn’t fold. I went through some options to create a foldable handlebar and foldable pedals so the bike takes up less width. The second obstacle I encountered was how to make the bike easy to manage. Since Atef cannot receive professional bike maintenance, he needs the bike to be easy enough to maintain himself. I decided that including an internal gear hub and a belt drive would be the best option. An internal gear hub is very easy to maintain and only requires changing the oil in the hub every 5,000 km. The internal gear hub also does not let any sand into the gears so no damage can be caused. The belt drive is more durable than a regular bike chain and it is also easy to maintain. From this process, I learned that designing a bike to fit the needs of one person opens up the possibility to fit the needs of many people. There could be riders that live in a place where they worry about dirt getting into their gears or storage in a tight space. This bike can still help those riders out.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the Ramil Bike. I thought this Action Project was a lot of fun. I bike to school most of the time so this AP has some significance there. It was interesting to learn about different bikes throughout the unit and how different kinds of bikes can meet pretty much every scenario. I had a lot of fun on the Field Experiences and it was nice to see what my classmates thought of for their bikes. I think their ideas are somewhat unique and I have not seen many as a bike before. I am proud of my bike and I believe it can be used for other people and not just my assigned person. This Action Project wraps up the fall term of GCE and we will be moving on to the next classes which I am very excited about. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next blog.
Sources:
"Chain Vs Belt Drive Bike: Pros and Cons." Where the Road Forks, 4 Oct. 2021, https://wheretheroadforks.com/chain-vs-belt-drive-bike-pros-and-cons/, Accessed 8 Nov. 2021
Ferguson, Billy. "Advantages and Disadvantages of belt drive bikes." Trivelo, 3 Aug. 2021, https://blog.trivelo.co.uk/advantages-disadvantages-of-belt-drive-bikes/, Accessed 8 Nov. 2021
"Internal Gear Hub Vs Derailleur: My Pros and Cons List." Where the Road Forks, 5 July 2021, https://wheretheroadforks.com/internal-gear-hub-vs-derailleur-my-pros-and-cons-list/, Accessed 8 Nov. 2021
Smith, Tyler. "Are Folding Bikes Worth It? The Pros & Cons." Bicycle 2 Work, https://bicycle2work.com/are-folding-bikes-worth-it-pros-cons/, Accessed 8 Nov. 2021
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