Designing a Ridley bicycle

Let me introduce myself, my name is Yannick Christiaens and i am junior product manager / product developer at Ridley bikes.

During my first posts I will explain you what bicycle design is all about.

First off all you need to be passionate about cycling off course, me myself I started racing quite late at the age of 16. Unlike soccer, cycling did consume me and it was on my mind all the time. I wasn’t good at it but I got a hell of good time. Not only did I enjoy the physical side of the sport but also the mechanical, technical side.

At the age of 18 I decided to go and study for product designer. Although active cycling got a bit on the background, I stayed interested. During my last year of school I contacted Ridley to do my final thesis. And here I am working at Ridley. How one thing lead to the other…

The content of my job? Designing bicycles is quite a natural process.

· You start by defining your goals: Ridley’s goal is to offer the fastest bikes in the world.

· We brainstorm and explore different way’s in how we can make our bikes faster, lighter… Inspiration can come from automobile, nature…

· We translate these ideas into actual products or features we can apply onto a frame.

· The backbone of a frame is it’s geometry. The most lightweight and aerodynamic frame is useless if you mess up the geometry. That’s why we spend a lot of time and effort to get it right

· We simulate, ask feedback from riders…

· Around this geometry we start shaping the tubes. Goal is to encapsulate the Ridley technology but keep in mind the build specifications given by part suppliers, UCI, legal instances.

· This leads up to the first detailed 2D sketch of the frame. Once approved we build up the 3D model.

· Next step is to cut a frame mold, first usable sample follow.

This is roughly how a new frame is developed, stay tuned for more info next time. I might just give away some teasers for our model year 2011 bikes J