Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • Modular Frames = a bike for life?
  • TheGhost
    Free Member

    I was thinking that a modular frame system could be the way forward. Instead of buying a new bike or frame every few years, you could make small changes over time to accommodate different riders and riding scenarios. The system could allow the rider to –

    swap out any tube to change geo or wheel size.
    Swap out the bottom bracket for a motor when needed.
    Swap out the dropouts to allow single speed or a belt drive or change of hub width

    Bikes could remain current and desirable this way for decades.

    Imagine buying a kids bike with good kit on it and then swapping tubes out as they grow.

    Wouldn’t this be a more sustainable planet friendly solution for bikes?

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    swap out any tube to change geo or wheel size.

    That’s not how geometry works. You would have to swap atleast one other tube and angles would alter aswell so your connections would need replacing too.

    It would be far better for the environment to just ride the bike you have and sell it when you need to replace it and then buy something second hand.

    woodlikesbikes
    Free Member

    Some of this could work, like modular dropouts. But I can see issues with motor to BB swap or changing tubes. The frame would need extra bits to allow for the mechanically fixed tubes. This would add a lot of weight.

    I think a better option would be very rid of the BSO end of the market. So much of that goes just goes on the skip. If the repair market was more cost effective that would help too. A respray just isn’t an option for most people.

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    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    Is it not more sustainable to just buy second hand bikes more as people grow or change needs?

    igm
    Full Member

    The level of engineering that would go into it, and the extra components and material needed to construct the joins would probably double or treble both costs and weight.

    And would leave it more resource intensive / less sustainable than even throwing frames away.
    And the components standards keep blinking changing so the frame would still become obsolete if you wanted the latest bike for the latest type of riding.

    Ride then sell on isn’t a bad model, though properly standard components where you could just swap out a frame isn’t daft either (yes I know you can still get older components, say 26” tyres, but a new frame tends to mean new component standards)

    davros
    Full Member

    thols2
    Full Member

    Jack of all trades, master of none.

    It really is much better to just build frames out of aluminium and then recycle them. Designing a frame to be cut up and welded back together would put some major constraints on it, it would be more expensive to rebuild the bike using the existing tubing than to just melt it down and build a new frame.

    mick_r
    Full Member

    Have you ever made a bike frame? Go try your idea then show us how you get on.

    It occasionally pops up for kids bikes but they aren’t great. The dropouts and bb / motor bit work and have been done before.

    You know you can just ride and repurpose the same bike for decades?…. My Mrs has a “gravel bike” based on the Ti mtb frame she raced in 1995. I just put a new front triangle on the steel 29er I made in 2012.

    Much better to make efficient stuff that lasts and sell it on when outgrown. Also make it out of easily recycled materials so after many owners it can then be made into something new.

    dovebiker
    Full Member

    The complexity, weight and cost of simply the frame engineering would make it expensive never mind the product liability of a frame tube coming undone mid-ride.

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    I think the Geometron G1 is the best example of something like this which actually works.

    No swapping whole tubes though, that’s madness.

    bigginge
    Full Member
    TheGhost
    Free Member

    I was thinking more like lego.

    bigginge
    Full Member

    Lego?

    mick_r
    Full Member

    The only flaw was you didn’t do enough thinking….. 🙂

    I do love “ideas” people.

    Hey – I’ve got an idea for an elevator to Mars. That would be cool. Can I patent that? just needs someone to sort the details.

    doomanic
    Full Member

    GG (Yoann Barelli’s current ride) do 5 bikes that all use the same front triangle but offer different travel and geo by changing rear triangle, rocker and offset headset cups. Not cheap though.

    kerley
    Free Member

    Or just buy a bike (that you enjoyed when you bought it) and use it for life/until it breaks

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)

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