In this unit I learned a ton! We learned about wheels; how they have permitted a better form of transportation, and thus united countries and whole cultures. Later we focused on a specific vehicle: the bicycle. Bicycles share with us many liberating possibilities, for example they permit us to cover 3 functions: We can move from one place to another easily, while respecting nature and exercising our bodies. I also learned about all the different ways that wheels are used around the globe, and of how they really work. I thoroughly studied the wheel and axle, the pulley, and about gears. Later through the unit, we started concentrating more on bicycles. From researching modern bikes I learned that it there are very interesting and innovative designs which keep a bike safe and locked, for example having the handlebar be a lock as well. I also learned that there are other cleaner and better designs of bike chains, which actually don’t use chains at all but rather carbon and plastic. These bike chains don’t need lubrication, and are also silent when riding.
I interviewed a friend of my dad’s called Chris Haskell and I found the way he described how to choose a good saddle for a bike very interesting. He said that “The wings of the saddle have to meet you on your sit bones” . He also gave an example of why saddles need to be hard, where he asked me to “Imagine rubbing your fingers across a smooth surface, like a piece of tile. You can rub your fingers across a piece of tile for a long time and your fingers will not get hot. But if you get your fingers and you rub them across your sheet on your bed, it doesn’t take very long before your fingers get very hot. This is because soft material creates more friction. This is why your saddle needs to be hard.” More friction equals more work for the same speed.
Going back to my Action Project, I designed my bike for a specific user/commuter. Her name is Malia. She is 15 years old, and lives in Logan Square Chicago. She lives 5 miles away from school, and her road to school is filled with access ramps and potholes. She needs a bike with several gear ratios, that will help her not get tired in her 5 mile ride, that will make her feel comfortable even when going up and down access ramps and over potholes, and that will provide extra space for her to carry groceries, school books, and lunch box.
Here is a map of her approximate route:
According to Google maps, it will take her approximately 30 minutes to get to school everyday. Her average speed on her commute will be of about 10 miles per hour, or 4.4704 meters per second.
Malia is looking for an easy, comfortable ride to school and back home. However, if she for some reason is in a hurry, she would like to go faster. So she would prefer a mid-sized cog in the front (39 teeth), and three different-sized cogs in the back (15 teeth, 16 teeth, and 17 teeth). This way she could use the 17 teeth cog to go up the ramps at the subway stations, the 15 teeth cog to reach high speeds on the road and down slopes, and the 16 teeth cog to cruise. I chose only 3 different gear ratios so that it would be simple for Malia to use, yet productive, fulfilling all of her needs. I chose these specific cog sizes for Malia, her approximate weight being 125 pounds and her preferred travel speed being roughly 18 km/h on her mostly flat journey.
The gear ratios for these sizes would be:
15 teeth 2.6/1
16 teeth 2.4/1
17 teeth 2.3/1
These are exactly the same sizes as the 3 middle gears of the small front gear of the Shimano Sora Gear Shifting System.
MY BIKE
My bike is a hybrid between a road and a mountain bike, customized for the commuting needs of my user. It has a light aluminium body, with suspension forks on the front wheel, and thin wheels that are both fast and resistant. Similar to the Denny Bike, it comes with an integrated removable handlebar locking system, as well as racks with a flexible storage system in the front AND back, as part of the frame. It also has a fully-integrated turn signal, head and brake lights system, with its turn signals activating with only the touch of a button (pushing the brake handles out instead of in; they turn off with clicking again) for safety. This is very important, given that she often rides her bike back home at night. My bike includes a removable battery for charging the lighting system, as well as a minimal fender that removes water from the tire itself. Finally, it also comes with a gear shifting system, with the 3 different speeds that Malia will need for her commute. The radius of my bike’s wheels is 14.5 inches long, and its diameter 31 inches.
My bike is better than the competition, because with its light and resistant wheels, Malia won’t have to worry about getting late to school or work ever again. The wheels, along with the different gear speeds, allow the user to reach high speeds with less work than usual.The flexible storage system in the front and back of the bike that are part of the frame itself also allow you to take both big and small delicate objects on your trip with safety. Also, its light suspension forks on the front wheel permit you to have a smooth ride through the usual potholes and ramps in the city. My bike’s unique locking system allows Malia not to worry about her bike’s safety at school, the library or the grocery shop. My bike would demonstrate Potential Energy when at the top of a hill, and Kinetic Energy when Malia is riding the bike to school, to the food market, or back home.
Malia, my user, lives 5 miles away from school, and will have to travel that distance and back every week day. She will have to go on the elevated 606 trail and Milwaukee Ave. This means that she will have to go up and down access ramps, and she will encounter potholes on the Avenues; she also goes grocery shopping on her way back to school. My bike’s lightness and gear-shifting system reduces the amount of force needed to travel her 10 daily miles, including going up and down access ramps. Also, potholes won’t be a problem thanks to the suspension forks on the front wheel. While she is at school and shopping, she can use the bikes handlebar self integrated locking system to keep it safe from someone stealing it. Also, the flexible storage system in the front and back of the bike that are part of the frame will allow her to ride comfortably back home with her groceries. She also needs to have a safe trip back home after school, sometimes at night. Because of this, my bike comes with a fully-integrated, turn signals, head and brake lights system, with its turn signals activating with only the touch of a button, so that cars and other commuters may see her. Given that the circumference of the wheels of my bike is 91.1 inches., they will rotate a total of 8832.84 times before she gets to her destination.
When making my bike I kept in mind all of Malia’s needs, as well as her age and the distance she will be traveling every day. I also kept in mind all of the things I learned about wheels, axles, pulleys and gears in my Internal Investigation, as well as all of the personal experiences riding bikes that my interviewee shared with me, and the things that he had learned of over time that he thought made his bike experience more productive. Malia should trust in my design because the accessories it features satisfy all of her needs.
One of the obstacles that I ran into when making this Project was that I didn’t (and still don’t) have any experience commuting with a bike. Commuting with bikes is not really part of the culture here in Ecuador. This is probably because it is very hot and humid all year long and people don’t want to get to work sweaty! Also, there are no good bike paths in the city where I live (Guayaquil), and drivers do not take bicycles into consideration. So this forced me to really try to get into the mind of my interviewee, Chris Haskell, who is a faithful commuter and biker who rides approximately 200 miles per week. Another obstacle that I ran into was that most of the math that I learned in order to achieve this project was very new and quite hard for me! But with the help of Khan Academy, I understood much faster than usual.
I am proud of all of the knowledge that this unit has gifted me. One of the things that I learned which I value most is that I was able to realize, by studying different bike organizations, how much a bike can really help someone. In rural communities for many people, bikes are essential in their everyday tasks! This motivated me a lot to learn more about how I can improve bikes and make them more accessible.
Works Cited:
Denny Bike official website http://www.dennybike.com/#about
My interview with Chris Haskell on the phone, October 2016
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