Playground, I need your product idea again.

[Fri]

Right. Some of you might remember that almost a year ago, I asked you guys to pinch some idea for my design class. It was about bicycle. But things got in the way, and I ended up skipping class altogether for a year (it might, or might not involving giant monkey army from mars).

So... I'm working on this semester's design project. I was going to start on something fresh altogether, but my teacher said that I'd better work on my last year bicycle thing project. I was bummed at first, but on second thought, It'd be easier to collect data and stuffs, and it might be a key to employment on one of my country's famous bike manufacturer. So... guys and gals, once again, pinch your craziest, most mindscrewy, most creative, ideas. As much as possible. Don't worry too much if it seems implausible or not practical enough. Leave the technical things to me. It's my job to make implausible things plausible using hard work, technical know how, and good old fashioned mad science.

The theme is: Bicycle. More specific, I want to make something for the bike using community of my campus (but you can disregard that if you want, just give any idea). Actually, the main problem around here seems to be parking problem, but a lot of people already dealt with that particular problem.

I already have some ideas, but it just.. didn't seem innovative enough.

To start things up, I'll give you some example. My friend made a campus bike system about two years ago. Basically, it's a community bike transit system placed on strategic place around campus that can be borrowed with id card or something like that, and absolutely, for in-campus use only (my place only got four gateway, so it's kinda easy to track). Another made a bike rack. Last year, someone made an innovative tool rack for mountain bike or something.

I'll post the finished product here later!

Ps: Actually, this semester, the keyword is more 'community' than 'product.' But I think I can weasel any product I made to fit this semester's 'community' theme.

[Canadian]

Remove the seat and replace it with "something else." That'll shake up the community.

[thubby]

i recently read an article in popular science about all sorts of interesting bikes, like one that could keep a good 35 mph without too much work.

as for original ideas, do something with a recumbent, because they're awesome.

[Player_Zero]

Remove the seat and replace it with "something else." That'll shake up the community.

Replace the wheels with rectangles and the peddles with live geese. That'll shake things up.

[chiasaur11]

Replace the wheels with rectangles and the peddles with live geese. That'll shake things up.

No, replace the wheels with live geese. That way, you get...

Probably just dead geese, really. But the geese deserve it.

[Trog]

Find a way to use materials usually thrown away or recycled by your campus to make ultra cheap bikes. Have an assembly party on campus where people can each take a turn creating the parts (as instructed by your class) and work together to create the bikes. Evaluation of the parts would be done to ensure its proper specifications are met and the builder would receive a punch of some sort on a card showing they completed that part. Once the entire card was filled out (either with a certain number of parts or with a certain variety of parts manufactured or some combo of those two) they could take one of the finished bikes for their own.

No cost to the student or to campus (er... well aside from money lost on recycling efforts... but it's for a good cause), just their time and effort.

Of course the design for the bike would be all on you. If it works you would be a hero. If it fails all would know. Better be sure of your design skills. And be up front with those involved about the bike's limitations to properly manage expectations. Also make sure you have an idea of how many can be made overall so you know when to turn people away because their help will not result in a bicycle. Maybe auction off any remaining bikes with a partially stamped ticket auction or something.

Using materials that can be recycled at the end of the bike's lifespan would encourage the community helping aspect of it. Having the building participants sign an agreement saying they will give the bike back to the college for recycling once its lifespan is reached (or they are finished with school) would help the school by making sure they aren't losing as much recycling revenue (in the long run, anyway).

Here's an idea to get you started (http://www.instructables.com/community/Cardboard-Bicycle/)

You'd have to make sure to do a good viral awareness / hype campaign on campus to promo the manufacturing event(s) so make use of the graphic design students on campus. Or make a couple of prototypes and get some drama majors to ride around campus acting as cardboard robot suited human resource managers (a la town criers) to invite everyone to the assembly session. Or both. Whatever gets interest piqued and the word out.

[Jack Squat]

What about some product (other than a typical bike lock) to protect against thefts?

I know around here on campus, if nothing else, people will take the tires and seats. I've seen hex ones, but I'm thinking that even those aren't secure anymore since they're gaining popularity and it doesn't take much effort to use an allen wrench.

What if you made keyed skewers?

[bluewind95]

How about a bicycle powered by something other than the legs (like the arms), for people whose legs aren't working that great. Has that been done before?

[Rutskarn]

Bike buses.

A large bike with many comfortable seats, powered solely by the passengers. Spread the energy consumed.

Actually, that's a terrible idea.

So just do the opposite of that, and I think you're golden.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I'd start with looking at what are most bicycles biggest weaknesses in the modern economy... Lack of storage space!

Seriously, unless you buy your groceries one bag at a time and have a "Nerd Basket" on your handlebars, you'll never get your stuff home. And on campus, you've got textbooks, lab equipment, pony kegs and other "essentials" that have to be moved from one place to another.

I had a pull-cart that attached to the bike for picking up my daughter from school, and it did a good job hauling groceries, but it could be a little inconvienient as well.

Maybe a sidecar? I saw them when I was in the Phillipines, people used them for both passengers and light cargo. Making a sidecar or pull-cart light and sturdy could be a challenge, as well as making everything narrow enough for bike paths.

For a community project, you might want to consider a "Red Bicycle" program. What you do is create a free bicycle swap program in a fairly restricted area, such as a college campus or small town. Collect bicycles through donations, spraypaint them red (and I mean EVERYTHING red! Seats, tires, rims, handlebars), and park them in strategic locations around town. Then every few days, someone gathers them up from wherever, and returns them to their starting locations. The rules? You cannot lock the bike up, leave the bike where it can be found by the next person, don't deliberately damage the bike.

The bikes are ugly, so you might get some flak... But this keeps people from looking for the "Good Ones" and selling them at the local pawn shop.

[Randel]

How about a bike that can be adjusted to turn it into an excercise bike? Maybe a little stand that brings it up off the floor and some way to hook another chain to the wheel so it can be hooked up to a generator or some other device that either provides usable energy or just drag so you can excercise with it?

Idea, the portable emergency power bike. In case of a disaster you can ride your bike to a place, then set it up so its a stationary 'excercise bike' hooked to a generator, then pedal to power something like lights or a pump. Or just have a water pump hooked to it, so in third world country farms then people ride to the watering hole, set the bike up to pump water into a barrel or something, and then ride back.

Actually, if its a tricycle and/or set up to pull a cart behind it then you could have an empty barrel or battery or whatever so you can ride around to either pump in water or have the pedaling charge the battery. Though if the generator is hooked up while in 'riding' mode then be careful that some short-circuit won't send electricity back through the generator and turn it into an electric motor... or maybe you could do that and try making a hybrid bike.

[Fri]

Bloody amazing ideas, guys, keep 'em coming. I'll make some preliminary sketches and check some ideas to my teacher.

Last year, I was going to do the 'storage place for bike'. But my assigned teacher back then (which is known to all students to be a talented but extremely nitpicky designer) pointed that it's just what I want for my bike, and not for the community. In other word, I didn't do enough research to justify that the community need my product.

(Not helping that I was completely depressed back then, and just gave up without doing anything.)

Justifying research is 50% of the design process, in my opinion.

edit:

and I've just remembered something. Recumbent is kinda overated, in my opinion. There's an annual bicycle design competition here, sponsored by a big bike manufacturer. An entry from two years ago blown up my mind.

It's an office chair. That turned. Into a bike.

Mind Blown.

Basically, it's an ergonomic office chair with small wheels. You know the type if you work as a cubicle monkey. But you can raise a handlebar, make a small pedal appear, and whoop. You can race around your office in lunch break in a small, three geared bike. The designer specifically said that it's designed to keep office worker healthy and stress free. And what better way to make stress go away other than race around your cubicle using your chair.

But a recumbent won that year competition. Meh. Kinda cool, I guess, but nothing compared to this.

[Trog]

It's an office chair. That turned. Into a bike.

Mind Blown.

:eek:

Pix plox! :smallbiggrin:

[thubby]

:eek:

Pix plox! :smallbiggrin:

*lines up behind trog for pics*

recumbents are a little over hyped, but they do have their advantages. more importantly they catch eyes.
rule 1 of selling something, people have to see it.
(more general advice than anything else)

[Fri]

It might need some tinkering, but the concept is awesome.

http://www.polygoncycle.com/images/bdc06/bdc11_1.jpg

http://www.polygoncycle.com/images/bdc06/bdc11_2.jpg

http://www.polygoncycle.com/images/bdc06/bdc11_3.jpg

Looks unasuming, but it got a few gears. Can't climb a mountain or race on a track, I guess. But pretty good as a bike.

[thubby]

so you sit on it backward and petal the wheel?
and it has gears???

[Fri]

Pretty much, yes. I guess, if it done well, it could either revolutionize office rooms or destroy companies worldwide.

[Trog]

That looks like it would be uncomfortable as hell to sit in for a short time much less all day. And you wouldn't catch me dead peddling that teenie front wheel. If they work on the backrest portion somehow to make it more comfortable and change the pedals to a battery operated scooter motor then they'd be getting somewhere I think.

[Ascension]

I prefer this transforming bike. (http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20080711/backpack-bike-is-transformer-for-real/)