Hi just been dumped with a load of fairly uninteresting project titles for my dissertation project and therefore in fairly short order ie. by the end of the week, would like to suggest my own project.
It’s from an Engineering Management, Product Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering view so fairly broad.
Any thoughts on products or resources you wish there were?

Well I was in the same position as you for my dissertation but couldn’t come up with anything so just picked something at random and it was dull as dishwater and my lack of interest resulted in a crap dissertation and cost me a first! So its important you choose something that interests you.

What about an an aircraft economy seat that reclines but doesn’t take up room for the passenger behind? Seems to me that rather than having a simple seat that hinges at the seat back, if you had something that slid forward and tilted back as the back reclined you could minimise the amount of space you take up for the passenger behind you??

Something that would really make the trails come alive.

A pump for fitting tubeless without a compressor – commercial version of the pop bottle thing that Dr P did?

A Rifle holster

A water bottle with a built in filter so you can fill it up from any source and start drinking immediately, perfect for touring and extended days in the hills.

Another wheel size……

Uk version of Avy carts so i won’t get stung on import please.

I designed a trail bike frame for my dissertation ( wished I’d taken the offer of someone paying for me to get it built) ( plus should have patented a couple of ideas 👿 )

Maybe looking at funny front end development ( a la whyte bikes prt thingy) as it a pretty big area of study and would allow for plenty of clever calculations, designs and Fea stuff that the examiners will like 😉

Not really design or engineering, more software development but a program that designs a made-to-measure bike frame suited to your height, reach, leg length and one that takes account to the type of riding you do etc would be good. Or 3D-printable parts…

I don’t mind wearing a helmet, but I HATE chin straps and buckles.
design a helmet retention system that does away with the need for chin straps.

Massive sucktion cup for baldies? Will work for me in a few months at current rate of hair loss 😉

Any thoughts on products or resources you wish there were?

Handlebar mounted ordinance. Something capable of taking out a van at the very least, but preferably big enough to properly shaft an artic or bus. Get a few people riding around with those on the bars and watch the KSI rate fall through the floor!

Sorry, I’ve been reading about naughty motorists and dead cyclists again. I need more wine, clearly. 👿

Send me an email Si, I have as great cycling product to be designed and built 😉

@mintimperial, you seen this http://news.sky.com/story/1148430/new-york-hunt-for-bikers-who-attacked-driver

Reckon if us cyclists acting like that the roads might be a little different…

Given the clutter on my handlebars (and a jiggered left thumb) a method of using 1 shifter to cover all shifts in sequential order of gear ratios on a 2×9 (or 2×10 if you are feeling modern) setup:

22×34
22×30
22×26
22×23
22×20
22×17
36×26
22×15
36×23
36×20
36×17
36×15
36×13
36×11

While missing out the problem ratios of:
22×11
22×13
36×30
36×34

I’m sure it is feasible and it may even work!

how about a better bike lock for commuters?

a super hard yet super light chain that is whizzer proof and will cover both wheels and frame?

or maybe a completely new way of securing bikes in cities? Maybe tall thin posts set in concrete with built in hardened steel brackets that lock to your frame and are closed by your credit card (and therefore can only be open by your credit card)? You can charge a small fee per day for their use, but at least the commuter knows their bike is secure while its parked… might take that one to the dragons myself 😀

A commuting shower you can carry in your bag and set up in a toilet cubicle.

Or, a pair of brass bollocks you can strap on and then clang against cars who do you wrong.

A camelbak bladder/bag combo that’s easy to get in and out of it’s bag to fill/empty.

A bottle on the side of your bike with a proximity sensor. If someone passes closer than 3 feet it sprays paint stripper on the car.

Being an engineer of the ‘Royal’ variety I’m liking the ideas involving ordnance!
Like the tubeless pump ideas
Thinking about a kinetically powered GPS device built into frames to help find them when thieving gits get their hands on them?
And obviously that could be set to detonate if said device moved more than 3mm from where you left it 😉

A co2 / manual all in one pump with a pressure gauge

A water bottle with a built in filter so you can fill it up from any source and start drinking immediately, perfect for touring and extended days in the hills.

You can get those already, I’ve been using one for 4 years. £30 ish pounds, I use it for long rides in the hills or overnighters. Aquapure Traveller I think is the name.

cheers tomd, i’ve never seen that type before, is the screw top filter a standard waterbottle thread fitting?.

Toilet paper that can be used on both sides, but without your hand becoming covered in jobby.

A bail out ejector seat for a bike.

A mute button on your remote control that means you don’t have to listen to an English commentator and his embarrassing cliches when bayern are horsing manchesters finest, but can hear the crowd noise instead.

Tits for men, so we can stay at home and just play with them.

A **** hologram. So you can have the likes of Rachel Riley stripping in front of you, and it looks realistic.

I don’t ask for much.

Hi just been dumped with a load of fairly uninteresting project titles for my dissertation project and therefore in fairly short order ie. by the end of the week, would like to suggest my own project.
It’s from an Engineering Management, Product Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering view so fairly broad.

Well I was in the same position as you for my dissertation but couldn’t come up with anything so just picked something at random and it was dull as dishwater and my lack of interest resulted in a crap dissertation and cost me a first! So its important you choose something that interests you.

You might as well get used to it – no employer is going to let you just do the interesting work – so man up and learn to do the dull stuff!

Hi just been dumped with a load of fairly uninteresting project titles for my dissertation project and therefore in fairly short order ie. by the end of the week, would like to suggest my own project.
It’s from an Engineering Management, Product Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering view so fairly broad.

Well I was in the same position as you for my dissertation but couldn’t come up with anything so just picked something at random and it was dull as dishwater and my lack of interest resulted in a crap dissertation and cost me a first! So its important you choose something that interests you.

You might as well get used to it – no employer is going to let you just do the interesting work – so man up and learn to do the dull stuff!

A pump for fitting tubeless without a compressor – commercial version of the pop bottle thing that Dr P did?

^I’d buy one of those^. Something like a track-pump with a storage canister attached.

If I had a genuinely viable solution to a problem, I’d be r&d’ing it myself – not offering it to some freeloader on here 😉

A true up and down seatpost, one button for up one for lower with no weight on the saddle.
A good QR rack that works on lots of bikes – for the day I want to ride the proper road bike into town and carry beer.
Something like the Growler Cage http://growlercage.com/
WARMING Growler means large beer carring bottle outside of the UK
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmKAZ5qlqvE[/video]

Pfft – what does that Growler hold, a couple of pints? Hardly seems worth it 😉

it’s about 1.5-2l depending on where you get them, it’s a good thing! Our local beer shop has 2 barrels on for filling them.

On the move tyre pressure adjustment system.

Chain/belt free transmission/gearbox.

HUD glasses for navigation.

Regenerative braking system for keeping lights topped up during those long night outings.

cheers tomd, i’ve never seen that type before, is the screw top filter a standard waterbottle thread fitting?.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aqua-Pure-1152-Aquapure-Traveller/dp/B000GB7AG0

The reviews on Amazon are a bit up and down (leakage). I’ve never had any issues with the two I’ve had, and two mates have them as well. I guess they could have a duff batch. Cotswold used to sell them also, not checked recently.

In use It’s not quite like drinking from a normal bottle, you need to apply a little pressure. It’s ideal for long days or overnighters when stopping to drink every so often isn’t a big deal. Sometimes I take normal bottle and use the filter bottle to fill it up if it’s a bit warmer.

Wireless electronic uppy/downy seatpost. I’ve never used an uppy/downy post, but people seem to complain about cable routing on them.

Re invent this. Put an end to airline and travel hassles with a bike.

Oh, and make the case fold up into panniers or such like.

1898 Humber.

A dish washer for bikes

Just a re-design of cycling back-packs. Instead of having little compartments inside them for pump, tools etc. They should just have a perfectly fitting dry bag. Why? because i only have one pump, multi-tool, set of levers etc and it’s a pain in the arse moving things from smaller pack to larger pack and vice-versa. If I could whip out the internal bag and stick it straight into the other pack then that would be perfect.

I’d settle for a device in the factory that inflicts pain on the designer of anything that’s likely to cause grief in the workshop, maybe a poke in the eye for locating a caliper where you can’t easily get to it’s bolts or see it’s pad clearance, a smack in the ear for a cable guide pointing left when it’s component is to the right, or a kick in the nads if you have to remove the chainset to alter the E-type front mech position.