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How are bikes made? It's a question we've all asked, but how does a bike go from being an idea to being a design on a computer to then becoming a physical product? How does the process of making a bike work?
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00:00So I've just jumped inside and I'm joined by Cameron Piper. Can you just introduce yourself
00:13and tell us a little bit about what you do here at Specialized? Sure, so I joined Specialized almost
00:17eight years ago. I was running our in-house wind tunnel for about two and a half years,
00:21working to develop our aerodynamic product as I was working with a lot of our athletes.
00:24And since then I've moved over to the road product team, specifically managing Tarmac, Athos,
00:30Shiv and LA Sprint. So all the performance road families we have within the category of Specialized.
00:37So now when you're conceptualizing a bike, you know, the very first steps of starting that project,
00:42what does that look like and how do you go about it? Typically we start out with some different
00:46targets based on the target rider that we have, as well as experience that we're hoping to improve
00:51for that rider. And so with a project like LA Sprint, it's a performance rider. They want speed,
00:56they want a fast bike aerodynamically, they want a bike that's handling really well and how they expect
01:00it, as well as a bike that rides really well when it comes to a race experience or when they're
01:05training. So we'll start off by setting those goals for the project and spend a number of months really
01:10validating and understanding how realistic those goals are to fine tune the actual targets that we
01:16have going forward into development. So then from that point, what's the next step? Is it kind of
01:22a CAD process or how do you then take it forwards from once you've kind of analyzed and set out those
01:28initial targets? So throughout that whole entire concept phase, we're really taking some older projects
01:33and learnings that we've had from those and maybe cutting them up, testing the wind tunnel, doing
01:38different things to really prototype and understand the different performance targets that we set for.
01:43And throughout that whole process, an engineer or designer is also working on the CAD or the 3D
01:48for the new bike, which allows us to then 3D print those models or work on small manufacturing
01:55processes that we can as we're moving towards a phase where we're actually going to create the
01:59production CAD or what we're actually moving to create tools with and then test the overall frame's
02:04structure. When we're actually through part of the concept phase and we have rough 3D planned out,
02:11we're able to 3D print or kind of make a rapid prototype. This one's machined out of ABS to
02:18allow us to then bring it to the wind tunnel and test some of the performance targets we have
02:21specifically with aerodynamics. Also by able to do this, we're able to hold onto a frame physically,
02:26which can tell you a lot about a project. And then at the same time too, with this one frame,
02:31if we said, Hey, we're not really where we want to be aerodynamically, we can cut it up. We can 3D print
02:35other parts and then place on this frame to say, what can we tweak a little bit to better meet those
02:42goals and really take the next steps in the project. So with this one, were there any specific learnings
02:47that you took that then went into the final product? Definitely. So this was a little bit
02:50further down the concept phase where it was actually one of the second prints that we did. And you can
02:55see here, there was an adjustment of the seat stay height. Yes. And that was done a little bit more to
03:00say, Hey, can we get a little bit more out of the UCI box that we have within this frame? Can we make
03:04it a little bit faster aerodynamically by moving the location of these? At the same time too, this
03:09project was running in parallel with Tarmac SL7. So we're also learning things from each end of the
03:14project that would kind of change the next steps for the project as we moved along. Okay. So we have
03:19got here one of the first fully built metal frames that came out of the Asian factory. What role would
03:26have this played? So when it comes to the first frames that we actually have welded together,
03:31there's a lot of different things that we do. We call them typically looking samples because you
03:35learn a lot from that first process. So whether it's wild alignment or specific aspects of the frame
03:41with cable routing or different things of actually building a bike with it, it allows us to run through
03:46those different steps and then also understand where we need to change the manufacturing process for some
03:51of the tubes or the actual welding alignment or different aspects of that. So like this frame, for example,
03:56you can see this was done very early on in the process. It was one of the larger frame sizes
04:01and there's a lot of aspects of the frame that are not in the production version because we learn
04:05things as we go and it's okay to be able to adjust and make the product better as we go. So your
04:11different cable ICR grommets are no longer required because we moved to internal routing in certain
04:15areas of the frame or made this front trailer hanger completely removable. And then what's the next step
04:21after this? Where do we go from here? So as we kind of tweak or ensure that dimensionally this frame
04:29meets its requirements, we're able to then bring it to the test lab and say does this frame meet the
04:35stiffness and structural requirements that we have for this frame to be the best frame it can be. And that's
04:41a process where you're making a number of samples and testing them to ensure that based on the material
04:46thicknesses across the frame you're meeting those needs. So there's quite a bit of work that's done
04:51after this and this is one of many samples that allows us to kind of tweak and fine-tune everything
04:56to ensure that we're creating the right product. So we're on to testing now. Talk to you about what
05:02you're doing and how you're doing it and what processes are involved in testing a frame. Right, so we
05:08spoke a little bit of FEA. FEA helps us to understand those rider-based stiffness metrics that we're aiming for
05:14based on the tube shapes, but now we get to the point where we can physically test a frame in the
05:18test lab to understand if we're meeting those stiffness targets. And those stiffness targets
05:23are different targets across the frame that we've developed over a number of years both in the lab but
05:29also with rear-world riders to understand where the stiffness makes the most sense for that experience
05:33that they're going for. And then additionally beyond that we also have a number of standards that relate to
05:38the frame's overall strength and how it will survive over a lifetime of a rider's inputs
05:44whether it's you know those fatigue things or the experiences that I might have out on the road to
05:48ensure that it's safe to ride and will last for that rider's entire lifetime really. So that's all
05:55lab testing, what's the next step in that process? So typically after you get the first set of results both
06:01the stiffness results as well as the strength and fatigue results on a carbon frame you're adjusting the
06:06layup to either try to meet one set of those targets or adjust something across the frame in order to
06:13to get to where you need to be. And with the aluminum frame we're changing the thickness of the materials
06:19across the frame in order to meet those targets. So that's where we go back and we basically manufacture
06:25other frames to manipulate the frame in a way that allows us to adjust based on the first set of
06:30results that we've received. So once you've got that final perfect recipe of tube thickness and you're
06:36happy with the geometry of the frame and kind of everything's come together, is it then just a case of
06:41pressing a big green button and kind of putting the whole thing into production? I wish it was that
06:44easy, yeah. So after we know we're meeting all the project's targets, so we hit all of our aerodynamic
06:49goals, we hit all the frame stiffness goals that we had and the ride quality, then we also need to make
06:54sure we're meeting all those strength and fatigue goals that we had. So we're meeting all the standards
06:58that Specialized has to understand that this frame is going to be the best frame out there. And as we move
07:04into the next phase we're going back to the supplier and we're saying let's make a lot of these and
07:10understand that as you ramp up and you're creating more of these frames, ensuring that all those
07:15walls are consistent, ensuring that the frame dimensions are all consistent across a larger
07:19scale of production, and that's when you know you're really ready to go into production and ready to
07:23get to the next step of the project. What's that? That would be your full production approval. Yep.
07:28But there's a couple of things that were happening along that time to kind of button things up,
07:33and some of that as well as ensuring that we're field testing these frames, making sure that not only in the
07:38lab we're meeting all the targets, we're also meeting them out on the road. So we're involving
07:42a lot of people within the building as well as some of our athletes to ensure that this bike meets the
07:46needs not only on paper but also out on the road, which is extremely important. I mean that's pretty
07:50far down in the process, so how much change can the humans out on the road actually have? A lot actually,
07:57so it's usually we're field testing when we have a frame that's safe to ride, we know it's meeting all of
08:03our standards when it comes to the strength and fatigue, and at that point if there's something
08:08that comes up that maybe speaks differently to what we're seeing in the lab, then we need to make
08:13sure we have an action for that, and that means we might have to take a change and do something to
08:17ensure that riders have the experience that they're expecting out on the road. Now one of the most obvious
08:22things that everyone sees when they look at the bike is the colour of it, and obviously you're going to
08:28end up with a whole range of colours for all the different bikes that you're going to be creating. How does that work?
08:33Yeah, so usually early on in the process when we have a 3D printed frame, so something physical
08:37that our colours and graphics team can actually take a look at, that's when we bring them in,
08:42so as a product manager I'll help to set the really the stage for what this rider is and what the
08:46experience is for that rider, and with that they'll take that information, they build out
08:52colour palettes based on the year, what's trending in the industry, what's trending outside of the industry,
08:56kind of what that next set of colours will be, as well as specific graphics or paint techniques we're
09:02developing in order to meet the overall needs of what that experience might be. So we have a team
09:07upstairs that's almost worldwide in some ways because they're really evaluating everything across
09:12across the globe to ensure that we're meeting the needs of that rider. For Alley Sprint for example,
09:16how many different options would have been created to then whittle it down to that,
09:20you know, the winning bunch? Yeah, we at the start kind of open it up and let them decide on what's
09:26going to be used with some graphics, what's going to be relatively clean across the entire frame,
09:30and with Alley Sprint it's one of those families that we try to keep a little bit more lively because
09:36the frame set business is really important for a lot of those riders, want to build it up and
09:39and really make it their own based on their own style and look. So there's a number of different
09:44colourways that are maybe a little bit more fun or use new techniques that we've developed over
09:49a year or two to make this frame shine, not only from the ways that it's been designed by our
09:53engineers but also for the rider who's looking at it to show their expression.
10:00So there we have it, hopefully you found that really interesting and insightful. If you've got
10:05any questions do drop them down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the video drop it a like,
10:08subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll see you again very soon!
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