Product Design Degree Project

[sUm]

That's a FANTASTIC concept. I hope everything works out with the manufacturer, good luck!

[Ali C]

looks like a duck billed platipus! Looks well designed though, I bet its a god send to people who need it!

[Dave Anscombe]

Operation of both brakes from one lever on one side of the bars. (Primarily designed for the disability market)

Oli

So this is what youve been working on for months, looks ace . Might by luke one for his bday haha.

First of oli this looks really really good.....

secondly why not give one to luke free of charge for testing....

i do hope everything goes well for you....because its obvious you have put a lot of time in to this product....keep us all posted

dave

Edited April 2, 2009 by mrkoxx

[davey1991]

Its not only clever but i think its quite pretty, pretty in the way an engine or something mechanical is. I prefer the looks of it to any other lever if i'm quite honest.

I don't know if you can aswer this but is thier a way to adapt it to certain disabilities, for example loss of fingers on both hands or something along those lines?

And, Is there a loss of modulation with this? I can't see why they would be but i'm interested.

I'm not disabled myself but with a disabled parent i really really admire what your doing, its one thing to think about it but acctually doing it takes devotion and your quite an inspiration.

[cant_ride]

Its not only clever but i think its quite pretty, pretty in the way an engine or something mechanical is. I prefer the looks of it to any other lever if i'm quite honest.

I don't know if you can aswer this but is thier a way to adapt it to certain disabilities, for example loss of fingers on both hands or something along those lines?

And, Is there a loss of modulation with this? I can't see why they would be but i'm interested.

I'm not disabled myself but with a disabled parent i really really admire what your doing, its one thing to think about it but acctually doing it takes devotion and your quite an inspiration.

The mechanical look is intentional, not just because I'm a lazy designer. I have done a lot of research in semiotics and visceral responses. Hard edges and clean lines theoretically suggest precision, strength, accuracy etc. which in turn leads to feelings of comfort, safety and reliability; good things to include for those less able.

I'm not too sure about the adaptability, it's not something I've factored into the design as such. The idea of course enables people with one sided disabilities (amputees, stroke rehabilitation, congenital deficiencies, RA, CTS etc.) to get into competitive cycling. In fairness my product is a dressed up, CNC'd high-tech, precision engineered solution and thats only because it is my degree project hence my last chance to design something the way I want to do it! It could be much simpler and operate both hydraulic and cable brakes on a range of machines other than a bike.

I really believe that so many more people with physical disabilities would participate in activities they liked if only there were more people designing appropriate products for them.

Thanks

Oli

Edited April 2, 2009 by cant_ride

[Nick Melson]

I take it when you pull the leaver in say like a normal hs33 it locks so if wont slip and go down?

[if that makes sense]

[Fishy]

The lever looks no bigger than like 90mm? Might be because it looks fairly chunky.

[Jamie_Neal]

Hi,

I'll try to answer all the questions so far:

The leverage for the 'weak' brake (the one you push down) gives a mechanical advantage of 6.5 .. roughly the same as that of a regualr HS33. So the strong brakle has MORE leverage rather than the weak brake having less.

PaRtz... Pretty much spot on with all of that. At the end of the day, the pushing down force is amplified by a factor 6.5 creating 128 lbs/in^2 on the rim... 12 less than a conventional magura (at the strength I pull it with anyways)

Jamie_Neal... It has the same set up as hope and shimano disc levers where the pad travel is adjusted by a 2mm allen key.. no TPA im afraid. (Too many patents!!!)

Oli

I'm more impressed now giving the normal pull more mechanical advantage which allows the weak brake to be as good as a standard HS33.

Now onto a cable version? Should be fairly simple now the lever shape and piviots are sorted. Just be a way of locating the ends of the cables in the correct places (Probably over simplified with issues that I haven't thought about - its friday).

[Ali C]

pivots are needed in completely different places for cable brake levers though.

[TrialZonn]

Really smart idea...I like it

I'm not sure how is it to press the lever downwards through.

Very nice job!!!

[cant_ride]

pivots are needed in completely different places for cable brake levers though.

Hence the 'concept' can be adapted.. not this actual model. I've managed to route cabling on CAD and the theoretical model looks quite promising. But anyway, this project is concerned with hydraulics.

Thanks

Oli

[Simon]

Oli you clever shit haha.

Who'd of thought someone as shit hot at riding as you on some old school monster would come up with this!

Good on you and hope it works out for you. Few mates have got bikes again in Worthing and go on random rides some evenings, should pop on over if you still got bike.

[bigamac]

Maybe a little hard for wheel swapping?

[cant_ride]

Oli you clever shit haha.

Who'd of thought someone as shit hot at riding as you on some old school monster would come up with this!

Good on you and hope it works out for you. Few mates have got bikes again in Worthing and go on random rides some evenings, should pop on over if you still got bike.

Yeah why not.. Been partaking in a little design studio table trials when the staff are away lately!

Maybe a little hard for wheel swapping?

Probably. It is not meant primarily for trials bikes either way. XC and DH are huge markets compared to Trials and lucky for me, they don't do wheelswaps.

I'll give one a go when I get my final prototype working and let you know how it works out.

Oli

Edited April 3, 2009 by cant_ride

[durkie]

Oli, this is a really great project. I really like your work, and I even have a friend that wants to ride bicycles, but can't because one of her hands is too small (birth defect) to pull a brake lever, so good on you.

I was wondering if you could tell us something about how you got manufacturing rolling on this: how did you find a company willing to do it? what kind of negotiations went on with intellectual property, profit sharing, etc? do you have to commit to a batch of 5000 or something? are you funding out of your own pocket or is the uni helping out? is it made in china? how was it dealing with them? etc...

Sorry for the ton of questions but basically any detail you can tell me about how you took this from design to reality I'd love to hear.

Craig

[Rob Leech]

Looks like a really nice piece of engineering there, very smart design

Just have 2 quieres () about it though-

1) Where can i get hold of the hosing , looks sweet, and

2) did you consider using 1 conventional lever and 1 smaller lever on the underside for thumb use?

Cheers, Josh.

Hope it all goes well with the manufacturer, ect

[George.E]

Looks like that could be made a good product, if it got to the market im sure it could be quite an impressive piece of machine.

[cant_ride]

Looks like a really nice piece of engineering there, very smart design

Just have 2 quieres () about it though-

1) Where can i get hold of the hosing , looks sweet, and

2) did you consider using 1 conventional lever and 1 smaller lever on the underside for thumb use?

Cheers, Josh.

Hope it all goes well with the manufacturer, ect

Haha you can get the hose from typing 'fibreglass mat' into google and setting is as a texture in your friendly local rendering software.. Closest I could get to braided hose.

Thumb brake experiments proved really effective but there are alarming physical issues with using your thumb to push repeatedly.

Keep em coming!

Oli

[bigamac]

Is there not a small chance it could lock up?

Like I'm guessing pushing down is front brake and pulling back is rear brake. So can you do both at once? or if you pushed down then pulled back could it not lock up?

[psycholist]

I'm pretty sure it'll lock up if the brake is powerful enough to lock up, same as any other brake. With a bit of practice controlling the brakes independently it's pretty easy with this sort of arrangement. I'm basing this on being able to easily change gear (Timing it correctly with easing off on pedalling) while still controlling my braking force precisely on the dual control shifters on my XC bike. Pushing the lever down to change gear while braking is pretty easy and the movements can be controlled quite independently too - not so easy for gear shifts the other way, but I can do that too (And it's irrelevant for this thread)...

[cant_ride]

It takes a few hoes practice eventually gets very easy to operate both individually and precisely modulate between the two. It has been designed to allow any combination of braking activities.. Front on, back on, both on, either of both feathered, one locked one feathered and so on... Read about tacit knowledge if you don't believe it is effectively operable

Oli

Promise I'll get pictures of the proto up as soon as possible!

[JT!]

I also would have thought a leaver for the thumb would have been a better idea. The whole idea of pushing the leaver down just doesn't seem right, but then again i assume it's one of those things you just have to try because it's a concept that non of us won't be familiar with in the slightest.

Good work!

[bigamac]

If it was the thumb, the force we would be using.

And the constant same movement.

We would get repetitive strain injury.

[cant_ride]

If it was the thumb, the force we would be using.

And the constant same movement.

We would get repetitive strain injury.

+ risk of Thrombosis, nerve damage, Carpal Tunnel Retractions and a host of other crappy ailments! These are all exaggerated but British Standards don't allow anything that can be potentially damaging (There are some ridiculously badly designed bits and pieces on the market but their manufacturers have awesome lawyers and a shed load of cash to get round these issues.. I don't)

Ah also I video'd a ton of people using bikes and close ups of brake usage during XC riding.. you'd be surprised how much your thumb flails around when you're riding + your thumb accounts for about 65% of the grip on your handlebar.. take that away to use a brake and you're gonna get hurt!

You can try a thumb brake with this simple set up..

I also reversed it simulate the braking motion of pushing down on the lever.. safely got my over a 3ft studio workbench.

I know I've been a bit obsessive about this thread but I want to answer everyone's questions and discover loopholes in my project that you guys have come out with.

Thanks again

Oli

Edited April 3, 2009 by cant_ride

[Dang!]

I like the idea a lot. I like the idea of the idea even more. You've put a lot of thought and work into this and I applaud you.

Loopholes... The funny thing with design and engineering is, it's nearly impossible to factor in human nature and behaviors.

My guess at where the idea might come up against a functionality issue is:

The learning curve directly related to operation of the brake while under stress or fear.

Only time will tell.

Good luck!