kss-Bike

Abstract

Trials is a subdiscipline of mountain biking that consists of two variants: one practiced with a trials bicycle and one with a trials motorcycle. Though these two disciplines have the same basic requirements, there are clear distinctions in the technical sports gestures that the respective athletes employ. This is due to some fundamental differences in the vehicles used, one critical difference being that the trial motorcycle has a suspension system while the trial bicycle does not. This leads to incompatibility between the sports at a high level as cross-training can cause learned skill errors, where athletes adopt bad habits from practicing the other discipline. This is particularly problematic for trial motorcyclists, as there are various benefits from training with a bicycle, namely: bicycles provide a more complete workout for trial riders, bicycles are easier to maintain, laws restrict the use of motorcycles in certain areas, and the fact that many trial riders begin their trial experiences on a bicycle. To solve this problem, this project aims to answer the following research question: “Will the integration of a suspension system in a trial bicycle allow it to mimic more closely the usability of a motorcycle trial, in order to be suitable for cross-training of trial athletes?” To answer this question, I employ the Stanford d-school’s Design Thinking approach to create a functional prototype of a hybrid trial bike. This prototype is subsequently tested and evaluated by a target user, which provides a departure point for further research and development into this topic.