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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
00:12and tell us a little bit about what you do here at Specialized? Sure, so I joined Specialized
00:16almost eight years ago. I was running our in-house wind tunnel for about two and a half years,
00:20working to develop our aerodynamic product because 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,
00:29Shiv and LA Sprint, so all the performance road families we have within the category of Specialized.
00:37So now when you're conceptualizing your 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
00:45targets 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,
00:55they want a fast bike aerodynamically, they want a bike that's handling really well and how they expect
00:59it as well as a bike that rides really well when it comes to a race experience or when they're training.
01:04So 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
01:15have going forward into development. So then from that point, what's the next step? Is it kind of
01:21a CAD process or how do you then take it forwards from once you've kind of analyzed and set out those
01:27initial targets? So throughout that whole entire concept phase, we're really taking some older projects
01:32and learnings that we've had from those and maybe cutting them up, testing the wind tunnel, doing
01:37different things to really prototype and understand the different performance targets we set for.
01:41And 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
01:55that we can as we're moving towards a phase where we're actually going to create the production CAD or
01:59what we're actually moving to create tools with and then test the overall frames structure. When we're
02:05actually through part of the concept phase and we have rough 3D planned out, we're able to
02:113D print or kind of make a rapid prototype. This one's machined out of ABS to allow us to then bring
02:17it to the wind tunnel and test some of the performance targets we have specifically with
02:21aerodynamics. Also by able to do this, we're able to hold onto a frame physically, which can tell you
02:26a lot about a project. And then at the same time too, with this one frame, if we said, hey, we're not
02:31really where we want to be aerodynamically, we can cut it up. We can 3D print other parts and then place on this frame
02:36to say what can we tweak a little bit to better meet those goals and really take the next steps
02:42in the project. So with this one, were there any specific learnings that you took that then went into
02:47the final product? Definitely. So this was a little bit further down the concept phase where it was
02:51actually one of the second prints that we did. And you can see here, there was an adjustment of the
02:56seat stay height. Yes. And that was done a little bit more to say, hey, can we get a little bit more
03:01out of the UCI box that we have within this frame? Can we make it a little bit faster aerodynamically by
03:05moving the location of these? At the same time too, this project was running in parallel with Tarmac SL7.
03:11So we're also learning things from each end of the project that would kind of change the next steps
03:16for the project as we move along. Okay. So we have got here one of the first fully built metal frames
03:22that came out of the Asian factory. What role would have this played? So when it comes to the first frames
03:28that we actually have welded together, there's a lot of different things that we do. We call them typically
03:32looking samples because you learn a lot from that first process. So whether it's weld alignment or
03:39specific aspects of the frame with cable routing or different things of actually building a bike with
03:43it, it allows us to run through those different steps and then also understand where we need to
03:48change the manufacturing process for some of the tubes or the actual welding alignment or different
03:53aspects of that. So like this frame, for example, you can see this was done very early on in the
03:58process. It was one of the larger frame sizes and there's a lot of aspects of the frame that are
04:02not in the production version because we learn things as we go and it's okay to be able to adjust
04:07and make the product better as you go. So your different cable ICR grommets are no longer required
04:13because we moved internal routing in certain areas of the frame or made this front trailer hanger
04:17completely removable. And then what's the next step after this? Where do we go from here?
04:22So as we kind of tweak or ensure that dimensionally this frame meets its requirements, we're able to
04:30then bring it to the test lab and say, does this frame meet the stiffness and structural requirements
04:36that we have for this frame to be the best frame it can be? And that's a process where you're making
04:42a number of samples and testing them to ensure that based on the material thicknesses across the frame,
04:47you're meeting those needs. So there's quite a bit of work that's done after this and this is
04:51one of many samples that allows us to kind of tweak and fine-tune everything to ensure that we're
04:56creating the right product. So we're on to testing now. Talk to you about what you're doing and how
05:02you're doing it and what processes are involved in testing a frame. Right, so we spoke a little bit of
05:07FEA. FEA helps us to understand those rider-based stiffness metrics that we're aiming for based on the
05:14tube shapes. But now we get to the point where we can physically test a frame in the test lab to
05:18understand if we're meeting those stiffness targets. And those stiffness targets are different targets
05:23across the frame that we've developed over a number of years, both in the lab but also with real-world
05:29riders to understand where the stiffness makes the most sense for that experience that they're going
05:33for. And then additionally beyond that, we also have a number of standards that relate to
05:37the frame's overall strength and how it will survive over a lifetime of a rider's inputs,
05:43whether it's those fatigue things or the experiences that I might have out on the road to ensure that
05:48it's safe to ride and will last for that rider's entire lifetime really. So that's all lab testing,
05:56what's the next step in that process? So typically after you get the first set of results, both the
06:00stiffness results as well as the strength and fatigue results, on a carbon frame you're adjusting the layup
06:06to either try to meet one set of those targets or adjust something across the frame in order to get to where
06:13you need to be. And with the aluminum frame, we're changing the thickness of the materials across
06:18the frame in order to meet those targets. So that's where we go back and we basically
06:23manufacture other frames to manipulate the frame in a way that allows us to adjust based on the first
06:29set of results that we've received. So once you've got that final perfect recipe of tube thickness
06:34and you're happy with the geometry of the frame and kind of everything's come together,
06:38is it then just a case of pressing a big green button and kind of putting the whole thing into
06:42production? I wish it was that easy. So after we know we're meeting all the project's targets,
06:47so we hit all of our aerodynamic goals, we hit all the frame stiffness goals that we had and the ride
06:51quality, then we also need to make sure we're meeting all those strength and fatigue goals we had.
06:56So we're meeting all the standards that Specialized has to understand that this frame is going to be the
07:01the best frame out there. And as we move into the next phase, we're going back to the supplier and
07:06we're saying let's make a lot of these and understand that as you ramp up and you're creating
07:12more of these frames, ensuring that all those walls are consistent, ensuring that the frame dimensions
07:16are all consistent across a larger scale of production. And that's when you know you're really
07:21ready to go into production and ready to get to the next step of the project. What's that? That would be
07:25your full production approval. Yep. But there's a couple of things that were happening along that time to
07:31kind of button things up and some of that as well as ensuring that we're field testing these frames,
07:37making sure that not only in the lab we're meeting all the targets, we're also meeting them out on
07:40the road. So we're involving a lot of people within the building as well as some of our athletes to
07:44ensure that this bike meets the needs not only on paper but also out on the road which is extremely
07:48important. I mean that's pretty far down in the process, so how much change can the humans out on
07:54the road actually have? A lot actually. So it's usually we're field testing when we have a frame that's
08:01safe to ride. We know it's meeting all of our standards when it comes to the strength of
08:04fatigue. And at that point if there's something that comes up that maybe speaks differently to
08:10what we're seeing in the lab then we need to make sure we have an action for that. And that means we
08:14might not take a change and do something to ensure that riders have the experience that they're
08:19expecting out on the road. Now one of the most obvious things that everyone sees when they look at
08:23the bike is the colour of it and obviously you're going to end up with a whole range of colours for
08:29all the different bikes that you're going to be creating. How does that work? Yeah so usually
08:33early on in the process when we have a 3D printed frame so something physical that our colours and
08:38graphics team can actually take a look at, that's when we bring them in. So as a product manager I'll
08:42help to set the really the stage for what this rider is and what the experience is for that rider.
08:48And with that they'll take that information, they build out colour palettes based on the year,
08:53what's trending in the industry, what's trending outside of the industry, kind of what that next
08:56set of colours will be, as well as specific graphics or paint techniques we're developing in order to
09:02meet the overall needs of what that experience might be. So we have a team upstairs that's almost
09:07worldwide in some ways because they're really evaluating everything across across the globe to
09:11ensure that we're meeting the needs of that rider. For Alley Sprint for example, how many different
09:16options would have been created to then whittle it down to that, you know, the winning bunch?
09:21Yeah, we at the start kind of open it up and let them decide on what's going to be used with
09:26some graphics, what's going to be relatively clean across the entire frame and with Alley Sprint it's
09:31one of those families that we try to keep a little bit more lively because the frame set business is
09:36really important for a lot of those riders who want to build it up and really make it their own
09:40based on their own style and look. So there's a number of different colourways that are maybe a little bit more
09:45fun or use new techniques that we've developed over a year or two to make this frame shine,
09:50not only from the ways that it's been designed by our engineers but also for the rider who's looking
09:55at it to show their expression. So there we have it, hopefully you found that really interesting and
10:03insightful. If you've got any questions do drop them down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the
10:06video drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll see you again very soon.
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