The Icy Roads Ahead

 Instead of a third unit we had an extended second unit to end the term; We made sure to use the extra time to the fullest. We filled our time studying a number of math and science concepts including speed conversions, derivative functions, Newtons laws, energy types, gear ratios, almost everything with circles and more. In the second unit we also studied bikes, how they work, what kinds there are, and made several FEs out of the study; We went to Earth Rider, a bikes shop on the north side. And met virtually with a Divvy representative. In both cases we were able to talk about bikes in completely different settings and scales. As we wrap up the term we were asked to design a bike for a specific person. I worked with a partner on this project who helped make the whole thing easier so go look at their blog post as well: (input Cs post). The first thing we did was identify our persona and their needs; 14 year old Karen lives in Bandff, Canada. She needs to make a 3 mile trip to school everyday. She has limited space in her garage, needs to carry school books with her, and rides on icy winding roads. From this information we came up with several ideas for every part of the ride. We started going issue by issue and we realized that most of the things we need for this bike have already been invented. We start with a basic light and small frame, then going down the list we decided we need head and tail lights, grippy tires, strong breaks, a rack, quick release wheels, and spiked pedals. When we thought of how to make it stand out from other bikes we thought making it fold in on itself would be good for that lack of space; Again folding bikes have been invented. So the final idea was to include everything above with one small change. We now have heated grips. The idea came from a comment I got in an interview I conducted. "Barmits changed winter biking for me". Barmits are warm pads to cover your bike handles, so we took it further to say instead "what if we integrated the warmth of pads but more compact?". Before going on to the slide show, I want to acknowledge that there could be plenty of reasons to be cautious of us but I assure you that our only goal is to satisfy our customer, our patron, it doesn't matter if the bike works for anyone else as long as Karen loves it.

 

In conclusion I want to say that this has been a very stressful time for everyone; Mental health of students has hit the floor and then kept falling, and I am no exception, but I will always try to put out the best work I can. Hope you learned from this project and have a good day, night, or whatever time you are reading this. 

-CDH

 

 

 

 

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