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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00:00 Bringing a bike to life and going from concept to final delivery of that final bike is an incredibly
00:05 long and tricky process. But how is it actually all done? We went to Specialized in Morgan Hill
00:10 and found out. I've just jumped inside and I'm joined by Cameron Piper. Can you just introduce
00:24 yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do here at Specialized? Sure. I joined Specialized
00:28 almost eight years ago. I was running our in-house wind tunnel for about two and a half years,
00:33 working to develop our aerodynamic product. I was working with a lot of our athletes.
00:36 And since then I moved over to the road product team, specifically managing
00:40 Tarmac, Athos, Shiv and LA Sprint. So all the performance road families we have within
00:46 the category of Specialized. So now when you're conceptualizing a bike, you know,
00:51 the very first steps of starting that project, what does that look like and how do you go about it?
00:56 Typically we start out with some different targets based on the target rider that we have,
01:00 as well as experience that we're hoping to improve for that rider. And so with a project like LA
01:05 Sprint, it's a performance rider. They want speed. They want a fast bike aerodynamically.
01:10 They want a bike that's handling really well and how they expect it, as well as a bike that rides
01:13 really well when it comes to a race experience or when they're training. So we'll start off by
01:18 setting those goals for the project and spend a number of months really validating and understanding
01:23 how realistic those goals are to fine tune the actual targets that we have going forward into
01:29 development. So then from that point, what's the next step? Is it kind of a CAD process or how do
01:35 you then take it forwards from once you've kind of analyzed and set out those initial targets?
01:41 So throughout that whole entire concept phase, we're really taking some older projects and
01:45 learnings that we've had from those and maybe cutting them up, testing the wind tunnel,
01:49 doing different things to really prototype and understand the different performance targets we
01:53 set for. And throughout that whole process, an engineer or designer is also working on the CAD
01:59 or the 3D for the new bike, which allows us to then 3D print those models or work on small
02:06 manufacturing processes that we can as we're moving towards a phase where we're actually
02:10 going to create the production CAD or what we're actually moving to create tools with and then
02:15 test the overall frame's structure. When we're actually through part of the concept phase and
02:20 we have rough 3D planned out, we're able to 3D print or kind of make a rapid prototype. This
02:27 one's machined out of ABS to allow us to then bring it to the wind tunnel and test some of the
02:32 performance targets we have specifically with aerodynamics. Also by able to do this, we're able
02:36 to hold onto a frame physically, which can tell you a lot about a project. And then at the same
02:41 time too, with this one frame, if we said, "Hey, we're not really where we want to be aerodynamically,
02:45 we can cut it up, we can 3D print other parts and then place in this frame to say, "What can we
02:50 tweak a little bit to better meet those goals and really take the next steps in the project?"
02:56 So with this one, were there any specific learnings that you took that then went into the final
03:00 product? Definitely. So this was a little bit further down the concept phase where it was
03:04 actually one of the second prints that we did. And you can see here, there was an adjustment of the
03:09 seat stay height. Yes. And that was done a little bit more to say, "Hey, can we get a little bit more
03:13 out of the UCI box that we have within this frame? Can we make it a little bit faster aerodynamically
03:17 by moving the location of these?" At the same time too, this project was running in parallel
03:22 with Tarmac SL7. So we're also learning things from each end of the project that would kind of
03:27 change the next steps for the project as we moved along. Okay, so we have got here one of the first
03:33 fully built metal frames that came out of the Asian factory. What role would have this played?
03:39 So when it comes to the first frames that we actually have welded together, there's a lot
03:43 of different things that we do. We call them typically looking samples because you learn a
03:47 lot from that first process. So whether it's weld alignment or specific aspects of the frame with
03:53 cable routing or different things of actually building a bike with it, it allows us to run
03:57 through those different steps and then also understand where we need to change the manufacturing
04:01 process for some of the tubes or the actual welding alignment or different aspects of that.
04:06 So like this frame, for example, you can see this was done very early on in the process. It was one
04:11 of the larger frame sizes and there's a lot of aspects of the frame that are not in the production
04:16 version because we learn things as we go and it's okay to be able to adjust and make the product
04:21 better as you go. So like your different cable ICR grommets are no longer required because we
04:26 moved to internal routing in certain areas of the frame or made this front derailleur hanger
04:30 completely removable. And then what's the next step after this? Where do we go from here?
04:35 So as we kind of tweak or ensure that dimensionally this frame meets its requirements,
04:42 we're able to then bring it to the test lab and say does this frame meet the stiffness and
04:47 structural requirements that we have for this frame to be the best frame it can be. And that's
04:53 a process where you're making a number of samples and testing them to ensure that based on the
04:57 material thicknesses across the frame you're meeting those needs. So there's quite a bit of
05:02 work that's done after this and this is one of many samples that allows us to kind of tweak and
05:07 fine-tune everything to ensure that we're creating the right product. So we're on to testing now.
05:12 Talk to me about what you're doing and how you're doing it and what processes are involved in
05:17 testing a frame. Right, so we spoke a little bit of FEA. FEA helps us to understand those
05:23 rider-based stiffness metrics that we're aiming for based on the tube shapes. But now we get to
05:28 the point where we can physically test a frame in the test lab to understand if we're meeting
05:32 those stiffness targets. And those stiffness targets are different targets across the frame
05:37 that we've developed over a number of years both in the lab but also with real world riders to
05:42 understand where the stiffness makes the most sense for that experience that they're going for.
05:46 And then additionally beyond that we also have a number of standards that relate to
05:50 the frame's overall strength and how it will survive over a lifetime of a rider's inputs,
05:56 whether it's you know those fatigue things or the experiences that it might have out on the road to
06:00 ensure that it's safe to ride and will last for that rider's entire lifetime really. So that's
06:07 lab testing, what's the next step in that process? So typically after you get the first set of
06:12 results both the stiffness results as well as the strength and fatigue results, on a carbon frame
06:17 you're adjusting the layup to either try to meet one set of those targets or adjust something across
06:24 the frame in order to to get to where you need to be. And with the aluminum frame we're changing
06:29 the thickness of the materials across the frame in order to meet those targets. So that's where
06:34 we go back and we basically manufacture other frames to manipulate the frame in a way that
06:40 allows us to adjust based on the first set of results that we've received. So once you've got
06:44 that final perfect recipe of tube thickness and you're happy with the geometry of the frame and
06:49 kind of everything's come together, is it then just a case of pressing a big green button and
06:54 kind of putting the whole thing into production? I wish it was that easy, yeah. So after we know
06:57 we're meeting all the project's targets, so we hit all of our aerodynamic goals, we hit all the frame
07:02 stiffness goals that we had and the ride quality, then we also need to make sure we're meeting all
07:07 those strength and fatigue goals that we had. So we're meeting all the standards that Specialized
07:11 has to understand this frame is going to be the best frame out there. And as we move into the
07:16 next phase we're going back to the supplier and we're saying let's make a lot of these and
07:22 understand that as you ramp up and you're creating more of these frames, ensuring that all those
07:26 walls are consistent, ensuring that the frame dimensions are all consistent across a larger
07:31 scale of production, and that's when you know you're really ready to go into production and
07:35 ready to get to the next step of the project. Well, that would be your full production approval.
07:39 Yeah. But there's a couple of things that were happening along that time to kind of button things
07:44 up and some of that as well is ensuring that we're field testing these frames, making sure that not
07:50 only in the lab we're meeting all the targets, we're also meeting them out on the road. So we're
07:53 involving a lot of people within the building as well as some of our athletes to ensure that this
07:57 bike meets the needs, not only on paper but also out on the road, which is extremely important.
08:01 I mean that's pretty far down in the process, so how much change can the humans out on the road
08:07 actually have? A lot actually. So it's usually we're field testing when we have a frame that's
08:13 safe to ride, we know it's meeting all of our standards when it comes to the strength and
08:16 fatigue, and at that point if there's something that comes up that maybe speaks differently to
08:23 what we're seeing in the lab, then we need to make sure we have an action for that, and that means we
08:27 might have to take a change and do something to ensure that riders have the experience that
08:31 they're expecting out on the road. Now one of the most obvious things that everyone sees when they
08:36 look at a bike is the colour of it, and obviously you're going to end up with a whole range of
08:41 colours for all the different bikes that you're going to be creating. How does that work? Yeah,
08:45 so usually early on in the process when we have a 3D printed frame, so something physical that
08:50 our colours and graphics team can actually take a look at, that's when we bring them in. So as a
08:54 product manager I'll help to set the stage for what this rider is and what the experience is
08:58 for that rider, and with that they'll take that information, they build out colour palettes based
09:04 on the year, what's trending in the industry, what's trending outside of the industry, kind of
09:08 what that next set of colours will be, as well as specific graphics or paint techniques we're
09:14 developing in order to meet the overall needs of what that experience might be. So we have a team
09:19 upstairs that's almost worldwide in some ways because they're really evaluating everything
09:22 across the globe to ensure that we're meeting the needs of that rider. For the Alé Sprint for
09:27 example, how many different options would have been created to then whittle it down to that,
09:32 you know, the winning bunch? Yeah, we at the start kind of open it up and let them decide on
09:38 what's going to be used with some graphics, what's going to be relatively clean across the entire
09:41 frame, and with Alé Sprint it's one of those families that we try to keep a little bit more
09:47 lively because the frameset business is really important for a lot of those riders who want to
09:50 build it up and really make it their own based on their own style and look. So there's a number of
09:56 different colourways that are maybe a little bit more fun or use new techniques that we've developed
10:00 over a year or two to make this frame shine, not only from the ways that it's been designed
10:05 by our engineers but also for the rider who's looking at it to show their expression.
10:09 So there we have it, hopefully you found that really interesting and insightful. If you've
10:16 got any questions do drop them down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the video drop
10:20 a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll see you again very soon!
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