Citation

Zhongxia X, Ruifen X, Yan B, Xiaofan W. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. 2011; 24(1): 141-145.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society)

DOI

10.3901/CJME.2011.01.141

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

With the development of technology and the change of market demands, the trend in middle and high grade bicycle manufacturing is developed toward small-volume, multi-species, and customer-oriented production. Therefore, human element should be fully considered in design so that the bicycle has the best cycling performance for the specific rider. Currently, customized design is difficult to achieve since feature parameters of the rider are not included in the design. The design of bicycle frame is the most important in bicycle design. The relative positions among the saddle, handlebar and central axis are defined as the bicycle three-pivot, they are the main parameters in bicycle frame design. In conventional bicycle design, frame parameters are merely relevant to bicycle types. On the basis of the principles of biomechanics and ergonomics knowledge, this paper presents a design method for bicycle three-pivot considering feature parameters of the rider by dynamic simulation. Firstly, a dynamic model of rider-bicycle system is built for a special rider, and a serial of simulation experiments is designed by uniform test method. Then, a mathematical model is built between the three-pivot position and the square of lower limb muscle stress by using simulation and regression analysis of the rider-bicycle system. The optimal three-pivot position parameters are obtained by setting the minimal of the square of the lower limb muscle stress as the objective. Therefore, the optimal parameters are gained for the specific rider. Finally, various results are gained for different riders based on the same design process. The function between feature parameters of the rider and the optimum three-pivot position parameters is built by regression. Bicycle design considering biomechanics can be divided into three main steps: calculating the three-pivot position, designing the geometrical structure of the bicycle frame and analyzing frame strength, and selecting appropriate parts and assembling the bicycle. Bicycle design considering biomechanics changes the conventional bicycle design and realizes customized design by considering human element in the design process.

Language: en