[cjjones]

so… I have designed my own road bike, and to be honest I’m damn happy about how it turned out. and in my opinion it looks awesome, but now I’m considering if I should make it! I have contacted Motorsport carbon fibre companies about the moulds and a carbon weaving company in the UK and they seem happy to do it but…. and yes a BIG BUT….. it will cost well over £200,000 to make just one!! CRAZY! :O I have the money, but what do you think about the design? too much? need more? teak something? and if you could would you do it yourself?! I’d love to know, and how you would start to make your dream bike! =P~

Topic

[jellysticks]

joemmo wrote:Clearly my

joemmo wrote:

Clearly my tribisnowbike with integrated sports cat and assymetric sidesaddledrive has not lit your fire.

=))

But other serious points also well made. On the other hand, if you’ve got the cash, why not? Apart from all the sensible reasons, I mean why not?

[joemmo]

Clearly my tribisnowbike with
Clearly my tribisnowbike with integrated sports cat and assymetric sidesaddledrive has not lit your fire. No problem, I’ll give Graham Obree a call instead.

Assuming for the sake of argument that this is not the schoolboy fantasy that it sounds like then you have a few things to consider.

For a start, all you have at the moment is a side drawing of a bike type object, bikes are 3 dimensional which means you have to consider how everything fits together, the cross sections of the tubes, the tolerances of the joints and clearance for wheels, bearings cranks, cabling – all that stuff that makes a bicycle go and stop.

Unless you’re going to do that 3d work yourself then you’ll need to get someone else to translate your 2d drawing into a CAD file (like this for example http://www.designworldonline.com/uploads/Imagegallery/2Catia-and-Simulia-Trek-bike-analysis.jpg) and fill in all the missing details, at which point it scarcely becomes your design at all.

Secondly – you’ve highlighted one of the big problems that market-driven bicycle designers face. This is that bikes mostly consist of some tubes and triangles that join together a set of parts into a functioning machine. It’s a tried and tested formula but bike companies spend thousands trying to ever-so-slightly differentiate their collection of tubes and triangles from everyone else’s but not so much that they upset the UCI or the consumers conservative tastes– then they get them built in the same handful of factories in the far east, put stickers on them and invent some acronyms that look good on a website. Some of them put wiggly bits in (Pinarello) some of them do angular stealth bombery bits (BMC) but they are fundamentally indistinguishable.
The detail, such as it is, in how they are put together and how they ride, even this aspect has seasoned journos struggling to fill a paragraph when comparing one well made, lightweight, high end bike to another. Compliance… stiffness… er… directness! etc.

What you seem to be keen on is building something that is almost exactly like any other high end aero road bike, slightly different in tiny details but it basically still conforms to the narrow design language that tells the viewer that this is one of those fancy bikes that goes fast. If they don’t get it, then it also has the name of a sports car manufacturer on the side which should ram the point home.

So if you want something that is cosmetically almost exactly the same as an existing product and realistically, is unlikely to perform better, then why not buy the existing one? You could get a fancy custom paint job and spend the loose change on an engineering course, a workshop and some tools and make some stuff yourself instead of outsourcing the whole lot. It seems like an extravagant vanity exercise for potentially more loss than gain.

[700c]

seriously though, not long
seriously though, not long before this kind of thing is possible to do at home through a 3D printer. Some parts have already been produced using this method:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/video-3d-titanium-printing-of-bicycle-components-37404/

[bashthebox]

I’m still eager to see you
I’m still eager to see you bike collection, mate – come on, don’t leave me hanging!

[cjjones]

the angles top tube is there
the angles top tube is there to reduce disrupted airflow between the persons legs and frame so the airflow is more consistent and more smoother against the frame, which in theory makes the bike more aerodynamic = MORE SPEED! and the bonding of the carbon is well secret! but the grade and type of carbon has never been used in a bike before! and the components will be campagnolo (I’m a campagnolo kinda guy but I could get anything and everything to make it lighter or stronger! the front wheel will be a mavic io and the rear… well haven’t decided yet! any suggestions?) and well if you had the money I could make the bike (if put in production) and I would put any type of branding, name or decal you could like! (within reason of course 😛 )

[cjjones]

you see I was thinking about
you see I was thinking about this, but even so, it would cost a fortune per bike! and there is such a small margin in the market for £40,000 road bikes!!

[Flying Scot]

There are 2
There are 2 lamborghinis……Audi own the brand for cars, Tonino Lamborghini owns the brand for everything else, which is why Tesco used to sell Lamborghini bso’s for 200 quid, with the bull logo and correct font, fully licensed, I’m not sure bmc know this…..

Tonino will sort you out……

http://www.tesco.com/betadirect/lamborghini-toro-26-dual-suspension-adults-road-bike/205-1288.prd

[Cridge]

Perhaps the angled top tube
Perhaps the angled top tube will reduce the structural strength of the bike under use (depending in the tube jointing process?) and irrespective of the dimensions of the graphic, it looks good. Do you have an idea for the componentry etc? If I had the money then I wouldn’t be happy with an off the shelf bike, the only criticism would be the branding.

[Super Domestique]

Taking this as genuine, why
Taking this as genuine, why not put some money into starting your own bike company?

That’s what I’d do.

[arrieredupeleton]

That blackbraid site SCREAMS
That blackbraid site SCREAMS midlife crisis!

Nothing inherently wrong with your toptube mr jones. Look seem to think their’s works OK.

Yorkshire Whippet’s being a bit tough on the UCI 3:1 ratio thing. How does he know you frame isn’t 9 inches wide?

[joemmo]

That’s a bit unnecessary. If
That’s a bit unnecessary. If you’re so fabulous and also a doctor, why don’t you put your mouse where you’re mouth is and design your own too?

[drfabulous0]

joemmo wrote:
That’s awesome,

joemmo wrote:

That’s awesome, way nicer than cjjones’ bike.

But seriously if you draw some angles on that crap sketch of a hideous road bike thing then Asiabike would probably build it for you a lot cheaper, wouldn’t care about licensing, and it wouldn’t be any worse.

Then you could waste your ridiculous disposable income on something more worthwhile, like snorting coke off hookers’ tits. What are you a banker or a politician?

[joemmo]

I was inspired to have a
I was inspired to have a crack at this myself, like you say – how hard can it be? Turns out, it’s a piece of cake in photoshop. Pretty sure that’s what they use for CNC and all that.

Anyway, I’m fairly certain I’m on to something big here so perhaps we could form a sort of Dragon’s Den style partnership? With my paradigm smashing innovation and your apparent willingness to throw cash at frankly insane projects I reckon we could really disrupt the market. What do you say?

[cjjones]

for my height and the way I
for my height and the way I want it to look and perform I think its perfect!

[giff77]

Think the third one is
Think the third one is something to do with dimensions……

[Author]

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