Sporting good Designer : Bicycle Frames

One of my many interests I have along sides with being and living healthy, is exercise. I'd like to think I'd at least give a sport at least a try before I state that I don't want to participate any more. One sport that has caught on with me, is Cycling. Its not just a sport with two wheels, gears and pedals, there is a far far indepth layers for cycling. Tons of designing goes in to bike frames, from the angles to the material used....

 LINE
Well start with a basic frame, this is where line and dot are used, to describe shape and how angles intersect each other. Line is very active in this image, concentrating on intersecting angles, position of where the frame will meet other parts of the frame. Dots are used to give center points of the intersections. Without these lines and dots, there would be no balance within the frame. Balance is a crucial element to the bike frame, if a frame were to be unbalanced, the bike would not ride correctly.

Shape
End shape,end product heavily relies on how the metal of the frame, or other materials are formed and help the design. End design, formulations of the imagination by human mind. We want a new looking frame and we come out with something so esthetically pleasing that the form and function are amazing. Some shapes of bike frames help with the reduction of drag, every little bit helps to propel a cyclist forward. Shape and contours of the frame affect how the bike looks and reacts to its environment. The shape of the tubes and arms are all designed with function in mind. Pictured above, different shaped arms are able to articulate about the main frame structure, this frame is designed for mountain biking, its flexibility and adjustments make riding the mountains like floating on a cloud.

Color
Although color was not discussed in last week's lecture, it was discussed in this week's. Color for bike frames is actually part of the design process, flow of colors and the mixtures to make a beautiful bike. Take for example the bike above, Felt TK2, a track bike, single speed and very menacing! Nothing about the bike itself is menacing, its the colors Felt uses. Red and Black, a lethal color combination. This color works in Felt's favor, its their signature color and they have been defending track records (with sponsored riders of course) for several years. Something about a red tire screams RAWR!