There has been a vacuum in the SLR segment of bicycles for young boys from 12-19 years of age in comparison with the MTB segment. I designed a bicycle for this segment that is easy and comfortable to ride and has a sporty look.
My initial research involved understanding the history of the bicycle over a period of time in India and overseas, studying the bicycle’s anatomy, its types and materials and various manufacturing processes made my project interesting. Understanding the bicycle user, ergonomics and doing a series of market surveys in Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Lucknow and Chennai made me identify the specifics of my end users and their lifestyles.
The conceptualisation of the project started with visual understanding of various categories of styles like sporty, aggressive, stylish, freedom based on which I made initial sketches without any constraints. Form exploration followed based on the design grammar with sharp lines and strokes to give the bicycle frame an aggressive look. A few of these aggressive frames were further refined to achieve a sleeker look. I did similar exploration on its accessories like mudguards, chain-guard, soft luggage space, and carrier. The final concept was modelled on Rhinoceros 3D software and rendered on Autodesk Showcase.
The time constraint restricted me from fabricating the prototype with actual materials; it was, however, imperative for me to make a full scale model for my personal learning. So, the basic skeleton of the bicycle was made out of metal tubes and the rest of its accessorising was made with foam cladding, and finished with metal paste. The completion of the full scale model was absolutely fulfilling to me as a designer, and all the difficulties and tribulations did not deter me. They only made me work harder till I overcame them.
