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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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00:09So 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.
00:25And 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
00:50improve for 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.
01:05So 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 a CAD
01:22process 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
01:33projects and learnings that we've had from those and maybe cutting them up, testing the wind tunnel,
01:38doing different things to really prototype and understand the different performance targets we set
01:42for. And 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 processes
01:56that we can as we're moving towards a phase where we're actually going to create the production CAD
02:00or what we're actually moving to create tools with and then test the overall frame's structure.
02:05When 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,
02:17to allow 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,
02:35we can 3D print other parts and then place on this frame to say, what can we tweak a little
02:39bit
02:40to better meet those goals and really take the next steps in the project.
02:44So with this one, were there any specific learnings that you took that then went into the final product?
02:49Definitely. So this was a little bit further down the concept phase where it was actually one of the
02:53second prints that we did. And you can see here, there was an adjustment of the seat stay height.
02:58And that was done a little bit more to say, hey, can we get a little bit more out of
03:02the UCI box that
03:03we have within this frame? Can we make it a little bit faster aerodynamically by moving the location
03:07of these? At the same time too, this project was running in parallel with Tarmac SL7. So we're also
03:12learning things from each end of the project that would kind of change the next steps for the project
03:17as we moved along. Okay. So we have got here one of the first fully built metal frames that came
03:23out
03:23of the Asian factory. What role would have this played? So when it comes to the first frames that
03:29we actually have welded together, there's a lot of different things that we do. We call them typically
03:33looking samples because you learn a lot from that first process. So whether it's weld alignment or
03:40specific aspects of the frame with cable routing or different things of actually building a
03:44bike with it, it allows us to run through those different steps and then also understand where
03:48we need to change the manufacturing process for some of the tubes or the actual welding alignment
03:53or different aspects of that. So like this frame, for example, you can see this was done very early
03:58on in the process. It was one of the larger frame sizes and there's a lot of aspects of the
04:02frame that
04:02are not in the production version because we learn things as we go and it's okay to be able to
04:07adjust and
04:08make the product better as we go. So your different cable ICR grommets are no longer required
04:14because we moved internal routing in certain areas of the frame or made this front trailer
04:17hanger completely removable. And then what's the next step after this? Where do we go from here?
04:24So as we kind of tweak or ensure that dimensionally this frame meets its requirements,
04:30we're able to then bring it to the test lab and say does this frame meet the stiffness and structural
04:36requirements that we have for this frame to be the best frame it can be. And that's a process where
04:42you're making a number of samples and testing them to ensure that based on the material thicknesses
04:47across the frame you're meeting those needs. So there's quite a bit of work that's done after
04:52this and this is one of many samples that allows us to kind of tweak and fine-tune everything to
04:56ensure 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.
05:06Right. So we spoke a little bit of FEA. FEA helps us to understand those
05:11rider-based stiffness metrics that we're aiming for based on the tube shapes. But now we get to
05:16the point where we can physically test a frame in the test lab to understand if we're meeting those
05:20stiffness targets. And those stiffness targets are different targets across the frame that we've
05:26developed over a number of years both in the lab but also with rear-world riders to understand where
05:31the stiffness makes the most sense for that experience that they're going for. And then additionally,
05:35beyond that we also have a number of standards that relate to the frame's overall strength and how
05:41it will survive over a lifetime of a rider's inputs whether it's you know those fatigue things or the
05:46experiences that I might have out on the road to ensure that it's safe to ride and will last for
05:52that rider's entire lifetime really. So that's all lab testing what's the next step in that process?
05:58So typically after you get the first set of results both the stiffness results as well as the
06:03strength and fatigue results. On a carbon frame you're adjusting the layup to either try to meet
06:09one set of those targets or adjust something across the frame in order to to get to where you need
06:14to
06:14be. And with the aluminum frame we're changing the thickness of the materials across the frame in order
06:20to meet those targets. So that's where we go back and we basically manufacture other frames to
06:27manipulate the frame in a way that allows us to adjust based on the first set of results that we've
06:31received.
06:31So once you've got that final perfect recipe of tube thickness and you're happy with the geometry of
06:37the frame and kind of everything's come together, is it then just a case of pressing a big green button
06:42and kind of putting the whole thing into production? I wish it was that easy, yeah. So after we know
06:46we're
06:46meeting all the project's targets, so we hit all of our aerodynamic goals, we hit all the frame stiffness
06:51goals that we had and the ride quality, then we also need to make sure we're meeting all those strength
06:56and fatigue
06:56goals that we had. So we're meeting all the standards that Specialized has to understand that this frame
07:00is going to be the best frame out there. And as we move into the next phase we're going back
07:06to the
07:07supplier and we're saying let's make a lot of these and understand that as you ramp up and you're creating
07:13more of these frames, ensuring that all those walls are consistent, ensuring that the frame dimensions are
07:17all consistent across a larger scale of production. And that's when you know you're really ready to go into
07:22production and ready to get to the next step of the project. What's that? That would be your full production
07:26approval. Yeah. But there's a couple of things that were happening along that time to kind of button
07:32things up and some of that as well as ensuring that we're field testing these frames, making sure that
07:38not only in the lab we're meeting all the targets, we're also meeting them out on the road. So we're
07:42involving a lot of people within the building as well as some of our athletes to ensure that this bike
07:46meets the needs, not only on paper but also out on the road, which is extremely important. I mean that's
07:50pretty
07:50far down in the process so how much change can the humans out on the road actually have? A lot
07:57actually.
07:57So it's usually we're field testing when we have a frame that's safe to ride. We know it's meeting
08:03all of our standards when it comes to the strength of 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 sure
08:13we
08:13have an action for that and that means we might have to take a change and do something to ensure
08:18that
08:18riders have the experience that they're expecting out on the road. Now one of the most obvious things
08:23that everyone sees when they look at the bike is the colour of it and obviously you're going to end
08:28up with a whole range of colours for all the different bikes that you're going to be creating.
08:32How does that work? Yeah so usually early on in the process when we have a 3D printed frame,
08:36so something physical that our colours and graphics team can actually take a look at, that's when we bring
08:41them in. So as a product manager I'll help to set really the stage for what this rider is and
08:46what
08:46the experience is for that rider and with that they'll take that information, they build out colour
08:52palettes 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
09:11across 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 whiten it down to that you know the winning
09:21bunch? Yeah we at the start kind of open it up and let them decide on what's going to be
09:27used with
09:27some graphics, what's going to be relatively clean across the entire frame and with Alley Sprint it's one
09:33of those families that we try to keep a little bit more lively because the frame set business is really
09:37important for a lot of those riders want to build it up and really make it their own based on
09:41their
09:41own style and look. So there's a number of different colourways that are maybe a little bit more fun or
09:46using new techniques that we've developed over a year or two to make this frame shine not only from
09:52the ways that it's been designed by our engineers but also for the rider who's looking at it to show
09:57their expression.
10:00So there we have it, hopefully you found that really interesting and insightful. If you've got any
10:05questions 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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