Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Bike Design Research (Your help requested!)

Hi everybody, my name is Nick Boyd and I am doing research on bike accessory design. I am looking to enhance the riding experience of commuter bicyclers.

Here is a breakdown of some of the comments that would be helpful to me:
Pros and cons...
- of bike a bike itself
- of bikes based on the weather (rain, snow, cold hot)
- of bikes based on ability to transport items
- of bikes in terms of convenience
- of bikes in terms of safety
- of bikes in terms of time spent traveling
- of bikes in terms of security (i.e. the bike, its components, or anything stored on it being stolen)
- of bikes terms of clothing (Bottoms - dress pants, jeans, formal wear, skirts Tops - sweatshirts, coats, rain poncho, ext.)
- of bikes in terms of shoes
- anything not mentioned here!

Thank you so much for your help! If you would be willing to talk to me more, it would be great if you can e-mail me at nickb707@gmail.com. Both the community discussion and e-mails would be very beneficial to my research. Also, if you have IMAGES of anything you mention, that would be awesome.

Thanks again for your help. I can't offer you much in return, but know that you will be helping me out immensely! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

- Nick Boyd

Not sure if it's what you're looking for, but i can tell you a few of my peeves with bike accessories. The first is that a lot of the plastic used for e.g. mounting brackets becomes brittle in freezing conditions. The second is that, after all these years, there's not a standard mounting bracket for lights etc. built into bikes.

We're not here to do your homework for you.

Hi everybody, my name is Nick Boyd and I am doing research on bike accessory design. I am looking to enhance the riding experience of commuter bicyclers.


You didn't ask any questions about the bike riding environment. That's what needs to be fixed, particularly for the commuting cyclist.

Bicycle and accessory design has been fairly static for the last 50 or 60 years. I'll challenge anyone to point to a bike or accessory that wasn't invented by 1950.

You didn't ask any questions about the bike riding environment. That's what needs to be fixed, particularly for the commuting cyclist.

Bicycle and accessory design has been fairly static for the last 50 or 60 years. I'll challenge anyone to point to a bike or accessory that wasn't invented by 1950.

Tubeless tyres. Carbon rims. Carbon frames.

- of bike a bike itself
The market is too segmented. That's unavoidable, though, but then again, it can get hard to find good daily-use bikes.

- of bikes based on the weather (rain, snow, cold hot)
Clothing, not bikes.

- of bikes based on ability to transport items
Lots of otherwise high-tech bikes have no provisions for add-ons like racks and fenders.

- of bikes in terms of convenience
Security, but that's not the bike's fault. I'd add the constant reliance on battery power for bike lighting, at least in the US.

- of bikes in terms of safety
Education, not bikes.

- of bikes in terms of time spent traveling
If it's time instead of distance or safety being discussed, I think that people will choose their mode of transport based on how long it takes. In some places, finding convenient and safe parking is another concern, and could favor either bikes or cars (or neither, so the subway or a cab becomes the preferred option).

- of bikes in terms of security (i.e. the bike, its components, or anything stored on it being stolen)
Location, not bikes. Quick-release items are a convenience, but you gotta carry them.

- of bikes terms of clothing (Bottoms - dress pants, jeans, formal wear, skirts Tops - sweatshirts, coats, rain poncho, ext.)
Bikes, not clothing. Anyone can ride any bike wearing anything. To not worry about clothing, the bike needs to be pretty much enclosed from the chainring back.

- of bikes in terms of shoes
The only shoes I've hesitated to use on a bike were hard-soled dress shoes.

- anything not mentioned here!
It's just bikes, man. No rocket science here.

We don't really need more accessories, we need general acceptance and design of roads and traffic control to take cyclists into account (not necessarily bike lanes or any given thing, just for the traffic engineers to realize that someone who is NOT encased in a steel protective cage might want to be able to go on the road without getting killed).

^^^
+100

You didn't ask any questions about the bike riding environment. That's what needs to be fixed, particularly for the commuting cyclist.

Bicycle and accessory design has been fairly static for the last 50 or 60 years. I'll challenge anyone to point to a bike or accessory that wasn't invented by 1950.

L.E.D. lights. Do I get a prize (or will you just cite that "lights" did exist by 1950...)? Really, though: 1950? Were there even bottle-cages, then? (Modern) helmets? >Three-speed hubs? Multi-speed derailleur-geared bicycles? U-locks? Monkelectric!?

To the original poster, I'm unsure exactly what you hope to accomplish in this thread: at most, probably, you'll get people to whine about "bike culture." If you're looking for design ideas, you're unlikely to find them this way; and, it's odd you're trying to do so (do you work for a company, or is this more a "school project"?).

L.E.D. lights. Do I get a prize (or will you just cite that "lights" did exist by 1950...)? Really, though: 1950? Were there even bottle-cages, then? (Modern) helmets? >Three-speed hubs? Multi-speed derailleur-geared bicycles? U-locks? Monkelectric!?


See? None of those things are "inventions"- they're refinements of existing devices. Some are hugely superior to the originals, but:

Carbide lamps were around in the early 1900's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbide_lamp
Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hubs date to 1902: http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/history.php
Derailleurs also came along then: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derailleur_gears#History
Bottle (aka "flask") holders predate all of those.
Not-particularly-effective "hairnet" helmets were around in the '40's and '50's, but I'll concede that effective hardshell helmets weren't available until the '70's (Skid-Lid and Bell Biker).
U-locks are just oversize Master locks (not that that's a bad thing- I haven't lost a bike yet when it's been locked with a U-lock)

MonkeyElectric (http://www.monkeylectric.com/)? Hmmm... perhaps not a necessary device, but it does look fun!
http://www.monkeylectric.com/products/m464q_gal/IMG_0780.JPG

Hi everybody, my name is Nick Boyd and I am doing research on bike accessory design. I am looking to enhance the riding experience of commuter bicyclers.

Here is a breakdown of some of the comments that would be helpful to me:
Pros and cons...
- of bike a bike itself
- of bikes based on the weather (rain, snow, cold hot)
- of bikes based on ability to transport items
- of bikes in terms of convenience
- of bikes in terms of safety
- of bikes in terms of time spent traveling
- of bikes in terms of security (i.e. the bike, its components, or anything stored on it being stolen)
- of bikes terms of clothing (Bottoms - dress pants, jeans, formal wear, skirts Tops - sweatshirts, coats, rain poncho, ext.)
- of bikes in terms of shoes
- anything not mentioned here!

Thank you so much for your help! If you would be willing to talk to me more, it would be great if you can e-mail me at nickb707@gmail.com. Both the community discussion and e-mails would be very beneficial to my research. Also, if you have IMAGES of anything you mention, that would be awesome.

Thanks again for your help. I can't offer you much in return, but know that you will be helping me out immensely! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

- Nick Boyd

Nick,

Your questions need to be more refined. For example WTF are you looking for?

- of bike a bike itself

If I add - Pros and cons...of bike a bike itself

It is nonsensical. Rework your questions utilizing a scholarly format and then comeback.

Is this for a product design class? PM me if you want more detail.