Design of a Portable and Sustainable Bicycle Frame

Abstract

This paper is about designing a bicycle frame which is portable as well as sustainable for the nation of Zimbabwe. It is aimed at taking advantage of the properties offered by bamboo in the context of a bicycle frame e.g. ability to absorb vibrations when riding the bicycle on a rough terrain. Aspects of stiffness and ride quality are discussed in a detailed manner. There is also information on the three circumstances that affect a structure to work well. In this paper, frame materials like steel and carbon fiber are studied in view of how they have survived in the market and how those aspects can be incorporated in to the material bamboo to survive the market. Advantages and disadvantages of steel, titanium, aluminium and carbon fiber are viewed in a way to understand the impact of introducing bamboo as a material of choice for the nation of Zimbabwe. What makes up bamboo and its mechanical properties are also studied. The bicycle frame parts are also given attention to in order to view how they absorb force during the bicycle’s transit i.e. chain-stays, down tube, bottom bracket, seat-stays, top tube and seat tubes. How the tubes are to be joined is narrated in the methodology section. This is to answer the issue that in steel and other materials there is welding to join the tubes to form the bicycle frame; what about in bamboo bicycles?.