First Published: Aug 29, 2018
I’ve never designed a bicycle before, but I know a man who has. To find out just how hard designing a bicycle is and what the process involves, I sat down with Fairlight Cycles designer Dom Thomas over a coffee to pick his brains on the subject. You can watch the interview in the video above.
Got any questions? Fire them in the comments section below.
If you missed my previous industry tech trend chat with Whyte’s Ian Alexander on the subject of wide tyres, you can watch that here.
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David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He’s a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He’s mildly competitive, though he’ll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur – Just Ride Bikes.
Re: Gt.Yarmouth cycle lane. What's with the give way markings at the edge of the road? It looks like another cycle path joining the cycle lane with stop lines for the cycle lane adjacent to the road. Does anyone have a bigger picture?
'Fag ash fuhrer', that comment's made my day, thank you.
He got six (6) golds. 1. Men's 50km mass start classic 2. Men's 10km+10km skiathlon 3. Men's 10km interval start free 4. Men's sprint classic 5. Men's 4x7.5km relay 6. Men's team sprint free Count 'em.
I reckon that tyre has had caterpillars.
It did read very much like that but no, a genuine paper by a serving army officer written as part of an MA in Strategic Studies.
Being at a loose end I actually did check out the car he is driving (Lamborghini Ursus), in that picture he has it in urban mode which means that the engine stops when the car is stationary, so he could be pulled over with the engine off even though the controls are illuminated. With reference to your other point about him being in Dubai, yes they have strict mobile phone laws but also the same proviso as ours that it is permissible to use a mobile phone from the driver's seat provided the driver has pulled over and switched off the engine. None of this, of course, is an attempt to excuse the offence he committed in the UK nor to claim that he is anything other than a complete cockwomble.
Isn't that rather the point, and the reason for the criticism, though? That it's giving you all the wastefulness of AI, while providing no actual benefit, in that it's not allowing you to do anything you couldn't already without it.
Are you sure you weren't reading a Terminator spin-off?
Why has nobody developed (or have they?) a rear hub motor wheel with a quick release mechanism robust enough to cope with the torque demands? Something could be achieved with a through-axle, surely? Twice in my e-bike days I had to do a long walk of shame home even though I was carrying a pump and spare tubes because I had forgotten to put the adjustable spanner back in the tool kit after taking it out to use for something else, but even when I remembered it there was an unacceptable level of faff involved with rear punctures – ultimately solved by changing to Marathon Plus.
not sure why the bottom of the post cut off... The photo says something different....
5 thoughts on “Video: How hard is it to design a bicycle? Fairlight designer Dom Thomas spills the beans”
Great vid, I finally feel
Great vid, I finally feel like I’ve met the boss
. Definitely loving my Strael!
A good video and insight!
A good video and insight! All of the Fairlight bikes look stunning and I’d love one myself.
“What advice would you give
“What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get started in bike design?”
“Shave you head, grow a hipster beard and drink lattés”
Seriously though, well done. Lovely looking bikes. And good to see artisanal bike production allied with engineering skills alive and kicking.
What do you think of dropper
What do you think of dropper posts on gravel bikes?
Cool interview. I didn’t
Cool interview. I didn’t realise Dom was ex-Pace. Big Pace fan so makes me love my Strael just a little bit more!