Introducing the ‘Progressive Child Bike’ T
he A Level Design and Technology: Product Design (3-D Design) course helps students
take a broad view of design and technology, develop their capacity to design and make products and appreciate the complex relations between design, materials, manufacture and marketing. As part of the course, students must design and
manufacture a product of their choice. The scope for this is wide … past Sibford students have produced a stylish storage unit for sports equipment and an outdoor lighting feature. This year, A Level student Owen decided
to produce an original product which he calls the ‘Progressive Child Bike’. He explains further: “We started the design project being challenged to come up with an answer to something that we thought was a problem. It occurred to me that when younger children are learning to cycle they get through two if not three bikes before mastering their art. “Typically, they might start with a balance bike, progress to a small sized pedal bike and eventually move to a kid’s bike with gears etc.
“This is obviously
costly for the parents as, over the years, they are having to invest
in three bikes. So, I decided to investigate the possibility of designing a bike that would eliminate some of these stages and be capable of adapting as the child’s skills progress. “Initially, and in all my designs, the bike would have the ability to grow with the child would
have an attachable pedal assembly so that it could transform from a balance bike into a pedal bike. “I was lucky enough to be able to test my prototype out with children from the Junior School who all enjoyed helping me with the project. “Due to one or two minor manufacturing issues, I was unable to make the pedal assembly fit correctly. However, this is only an initial prototype and with more development I am convinced it would be possible to make it work much better. “This bike would therefore cut out the middle stage need for a fixed-gear pedal bike and would therefore reduce the total cost for parents wishing to get their children cycling.”
The Sibfordian / 37
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