Product Design Degree Project

[Has anyone seen my shoe?]

The longer the lever, the easier it is to pull. I would have thought two brakes added to the load substantially.

[1handedluke]

The longer the lever, the easier it is to pull. I would have thought two brakes added to the load substantially.

ur a genius callum xx

[Has anyone seen my shoe?]

Sometimes it hurts being as good as I am

[mr manx man]

Wow, that looks realy smart hope it all goes well for you mate

[Kieran24]

I haven't read all the replies in this thread so sorry if any of this has already been mentioned. At first the lever seems like a brilliant idea, but just thinking about it for a few minutes I can think of a few problems, so I'll list them and perhaps you can take them into consideration.

-If I try pushing down on a conventional lever it is rather uncomfortable, requiring me to loosen my grip and move my fingers quite a bit, push down on the top of the lever with just the tips and it also means I'd only be gripping the bar with my thumb.

-There is the chance of accidentally pushing the wrong brake. If the down stroke is applied to the front brake and the normal to the rear, in the event of an emergency brake as the rider pulls the rear hard they may also push the lever down, and everyone knows whacking the front brake on sharply is bloody dangerous.

-In most situations just a front brake would be sufficient, a skilled cyclists will rarely use the rear brake over the front.

You say this is designed for those with disabilities, what sort of disability denies you the use of your hand to such an extent that you cannot operate a brake lever, yet you can still hold the handle bar safely. I'm sure there are probably some, just none came to mind.

-The same basic principle can be achieved much easier, cheaper and safer. For example, to compliment a normal brake lever another can be installed on the end of the bar, such as those used on ergo bars on road bikes, which would be operated with the two outer fingers. This would allow individual control of each brake as well as the possibility to accurately apply both at once and will also allow the bar to be gripped safely while operating the brakes.

[cant_ride]

I haven't read all the replies in this thread so sorry if any of this has already been mentioned. At first the lever seems like a brilliant idea, but just thinking about it for a few minutes I can think of a few problems, so I'll list them and perhaps you can take them into consideration.

-If I try pushing down on a conventional lever it is rather uncomfortable, requiring me to loosen my grip and move my fingers quite a bit, push down on the top of the lever with just the tips and it also means I'd only be gripping the bar with my thumb.

-There is the chance of accidentally pushing the wrong brake. If the down stroke is applied to the front brake and the normal to the rear, in the event of an emergency brake as the rider pulls the rear hard they may also push the lever down, and everyone knows whacking the front brake on sharply is bloody dangerous.

-In most situations just a front brake would be sufficient, a skilled cyclists will rarely use the rear brake over the front.

You say this is designed for those with disabilities, what sort of disability denies you the use of your hand to such an extent that you cannot operate a brake lever, yet you can still hold the handle bar safely. I'm sure there are probably some, just none came to mind.

-The same basic principle can be achieved much easier, cheaper and safer. For example, to compliment a normal brake lever another can be installed on the end of the bar, such as those used on ergo bars on road bikes, which would be operated with the two outer fingers. This would allow individual control of each brake as well as the possibility to accurately apply both at once and will also allow the bar to be gripped safely while operating the brakes.

- The extended top surface of the lever blade makes it act exactly as existing blades in the secondary braking plane. If you have the lever set at the correct angle of 45 degrees to vertical the action of pushing the brake down is almost the same + you actually have more modulation. You'll just have to trust me and my tester on that one.

- There is indeed a chance of pulling the wrong brake. If you run two levers on one side or if you ride an american bike there is exactly the same danger. Its called adaptation! + The user originally defines which brake is which upon installation.

- Congenital limb deficiencies, amputees (plenty of handlebar attachments on the market for arm amputees) Rheumatoid Arthritis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Muscle Wastage due to vitamin deficiencies etc. Also, some people might just prefer to only have their controls on one side... everyone's different but constrained by the same products. There are also a shit load of people that convert bikes into mopeds and have to give up a brake or bodge a double lever due to the clutch.

- The third and fourth fingers used for pulling or crushing operations can cause massive physiological damage over long periods of time, remember road cyclists use the levers at different angles and not half as much os other cycling disciplines. Also if you're using all four fingers to pull both brakes simultaneously, then you havn't got a good enough grip of the bar for balancing on a wall, riding over bumpy XC trails, flying down a hill on a 40lbs bike.

You may be right but my testers, Occupational Therapy, manufacturers and the people that have already ordered one tell me otherwise.

I'm not saying its a perfect product. I know where and what all the flaws are and I'm discovering new ones all the time however, its my degree project and I'm working to a brief... for a grade.. so thats whats important at the end of the day.

Oli

[Mockett]

looks good,

Just an idea, can you set it up to its double disk at the frount ??? Like on some motorbikes

[Luke Rainbird]

In theory if you added a mount on the front right hand leg of your forks, and bodged a hub to have another disc mount then yeah, but there's not really any point on a bicycle

[cant_ride]

Ay up ..

Just thought I'd update you all on the project.. I managed to get a fully working prototype, a First and an award for the project and a First and an award for my design degree. Nice.

I have been invited to exhibit at the cycle show in London 8-11 October so come along and see it working and if you promise to be gentle... have a go with it!

For the latest info and pictures go to http://olisparrow.co.uk/HTML/Xflow.html

Oli

[aener]

Wow. Nice.

What's it actually like to use then?

I loved the concept, even first time around - but really can't imagine it being that nice. Just TOO used to normal levers.

[forteh]

Awesome

[psycholist]

That's great stuff. It's nice to see good designs rather than ones that merely look good getting prizes ... A book I read recently that should become a standard reference for anyone who designs things for a living is called 'Design of everyday things' by Donald Norman. The first book I've read to explain why most people can use most features on any given car with minimal training, while very few can programme a VCR ...

[durkie]

wow! that came out wonderfully. very interested to know what it's acutally like to use, but i'd imagine trials probably has much more intense braking than what the majority of people would be using this for.

nice work!

[Revolver]

It looks cool, I think it would be interesting to use... I'd be tempted to set the alternative brake as the front brake, and the conventional one as the back brake.

[Guest itstroy08]

by anychance is this for a double hydro disk??

as i have created a double disk hub and have a double cable via one one lever that looks like yours

but cable

nice idea, id buy one

[Dan Clark]

X-Flow is possibly the most generic name possible Oli, I'm disappointed.

Looks fantastic though, much better than I imagined when you used to speak about it actually. Website looks super nice too.

[cant_ride]

Wow. Nice.

What's it actually like to use then?

I loved the concept, even first time around - but really can't imagine it being that nice. Just TOO used to normal levers.

Well, linked to the ideas of the book that Psycholist mentioned (below) the whole thing was designed taking into consideration the tactic aspects of regular brakes. This is as close as I could get to the absolute normal operation but keeping the functionality I wanted. I rode it half way across london then for the photo shoot you can see on my website. Its almost second nature within minutes. You do lose a degree of control for the secondary brake but you just need to slightly adapt your riding style and carefully consider what movement operates which brake when you're setting it up.

It was of course designed specifically for people with certain disabilities and at the end of the day compromises have to made. It is also there to cater to the widest selection of bike riders, which would be more oriented toward XC or general transport/leisure use.

That's great stuff. It's nice to see good designs rather than ones that merely look good getting prizes ... A book I read recently that should become a standard reference for anyone who designs things for a living is called 'Design of everyday things' by Donald Norman. The first book I've read to explain why most people can use most features on any given car with minimal training, while very few can programme a VCR ...

That book is great and Donal Norman is a bit of a legend when it comes to putting successful design in its place however you can't take everything he says too literally. I've really adopted his idea of the Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective levels of design, I used that a lot with this project.

Thanks again for all the comments and as I said, come along to the cycle show and try it out for yourselves.

Oli

by anychance is this for a double hydro disk??

as i have created a double disk hub and have a double cable via one one lever that looks like yours

but cable

nice idea, id buy one

It is for whatever you want to use it for.. although my prototype is specifically designed for magura use.

X-Flow is possibly the most generic name possible Oli, I'm disappointed.

Looks fantastic though, much better than I imagined when you used to speak about it actually. Website looks super nice too.

I'm a designer.. marketing comes up with the names haha. At least it actually means something as when you pull the lever, the two hydraulic column's flow direction crosses. It's also meant to latch onto the common terms used in mountain biking i.e. Cross-Country becomes X-Country or XC. You're meant to read it as Cross Flow whereas there are a few motorsport products called XFlow that just have an X in there for the hell of it.

Cheers for the complement.. I do my best, make sure you do too ho bag.

Oli

Edited September 25, 2009 by cant_ride

[Dan Clark]

I won't let you down Sir.

[Guest itstroy08]

double magura? so front and rear togeather? or more of one hose via one calliper?

if you want i can send you the double disk hub for test use?

[ibs_m]

This seems awesome, but is there any chance of having reach adjustment so you could make both front and back brakes grab at them same point??

[Guest itstroy08]

This seems awesome, but is there any chance of having reach adjustment so you could make both front and back brakes grab at them same point??

you wouldnt want that though, soft roll on the front for gapping to front, but you still want the rear locked, that going through one lever will screw your mind up:P

[scary_jeff]

Looks like great work, pretty rare to come out of a uni project with a real working product. Hope the show goes well.

[Nick Harding]

I rode this about 2 weeks ago when we went out taking photos of it, and i have to say im impressed. Its a quality piece of kit and is effective.

[hoots man]

as long as pushing down is the rear brake to avoid over the bars hitting a sneaky bump, i think your on to a winning project. you have put so much into your work it looks to me your going to pass with flying colours. hope you done a patent before you posted.lol

the prospect of loosing an arm isnt so bad now....

[Nick Harding]

I think if you lost an arm you`d be pretty F***ed to be honest