DESIGN NAME: FRB Custom Bicycle
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Wooden Bicycle
INSPIRATION: Konstantinos Papadopoulos lives in a small town Tripolis and rides his bicycle to work every day. His family’s business is in the timber processing and trading and as such wood has been a part of his life since the day he was born. Wood, as a living material, his skills in design, and his love for cycling merged and provided him with the inspiration to design his first wooden city bicycle frame.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The choice of wood as the material, the handmade process and the personalized frame design and finish are what make FRB CUSTOM unique. Another important reason that makes FRB Custom unique is the rider. We tried to get into his mind to approach the bicycle’s character and style that represents his lifestyle.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Wood is a material that provides a very good aesthetic result and it is very intimate to the client; it is easier to comprehend as a material since it could be found everywhere around us. It is also a very soft shockproof raw material, and at the same time through the manufacturing process it becomes extremely hard and able to withstand heavy loads without any rupture. In addition, it is easily ridden and exceptionally light weighted.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in February 2014 and finished in August 2014 in Tripolis, Greece. It was exhibited in Athens at the Benaki Museum in May 2015 for 20 days during an exhibition for young greek designers.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Two kinds of wood -african red padauk & oak- were chosen to build the bicycle. The wood was cut in slices of 5mm thickness and while vacuum pressured they where glued together piece by piece in order to increase the strength of the frame. After the frame was one piece the next step was the sanding process. When we accomplished the expected effect we then varnished the frame. Last procedure is the assembly of the components and ultimately the delivery to the customer.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Frame Wood Οak and African Red Padauk,
Headset Tapered R424 R418,
Pedals Custom light,
Seatpost Custom light,
Bottom bracket Shimano Press Fit,
Tyres PRO Racing Tyre 700C,
Rims 40mm deep rim x 50mm side wall,
Handlebar Carbon Raceface,
Saddle Custom Leather,
Crankset Shimano XT,
Spoke 32 Spokes in White Colour,
Free Wheel 18 Teeth Free Wheel,
Fixed Wheel 18 Teeth Fixed Wheel,
Cassette sprocket Single Speed Fixed Gear Fixie,
Hub QUANDO JoyTech FlipFlop Sealed Bearing Hub,
Weight 10.50 kg
TAGS: frb custom, freeride, bicycle, custom, wood
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: The main experiment when constructing the bicycle was related to the way that the chainstay would be attached as it was a separate component with an external connection to a spot that could not withstand heavy weights. That was a reason that made us change the design multiple times and made it difficult to create a steady bicycle. After several trials, we managed to connect it with a particular way using specific types of timber. And the rest is history!
CHALLENGE: The most challenging part of this project was to make the bicycle steady and balanced. Wood is a living material and it is particularly difficult to measure its stability. The designer and the manufacturer have to test it multiple times to account for what it could possibly bear. The design evolved during the trials, our know-how and experience with the material and the manufacturing techniques. We, at last, managed to materialize the idea into a steady and elegant wooden city bicycle frame.
ADDED DATE: 2016-02-24 13:34:33
TEAM MEMBERS (3) : Designer: Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 3D Designer: Ntinos Papanikolaou and Manufacturer: Dimitrios Thanogiannis
IMAGE CREDITS: Image #1: Photographer Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 2015.
Optional Image #1: Photographer Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 2015.
Optional Image #2: Photographer Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 2015.
Optional Image #3: Photographer Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 2015.
Optional Image #4: Photographer Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 2015.
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Copyrights belong to Konstantinos Papadopoulos, 2014.
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