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With a Steady Grip on the Handlebars, CCA Holds Its Own at the Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge
Posted on Monday, November 28, 2011, by Allison Byers
There’s no denying it: Bicycles are super cool. They offer cheap and sustainable transportation while looking great. But when was the last time you tried to ride your bike and carry your portfolio? A box? Your groceries? It’s not easy. Your sleek street bike doesn’t really measure up when it comes to transporting anything besides you.
Enter Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge. Begun as the search for the ultimate utility bike for modern living, Oregon Manifest has become a one-of-a-kind design-build competition for some of the country’s best custom-bike craftspeople. As bicycle culture swells, there is a growing need for a utility bike that can truly integrate seamlessly into everyday life.
“The two-wheeled revolution won’t come on the saddle of a race bike or a specialty bike,” says Oregon Manifest. “The utility bike is the transportation mode of the future for millions of Americans who want to live healthier, more sustainable lives, but don’t think of themselves as ‘cyclists.’ The key to realizing this future is thoughtful, innovative bike design that fills multiple needs and fits into their lives.”
Student Teams Compete with the Big Dogs
Until this year, the competitors have been professional bike designers and builders almost exclusively. But from September 23 to 24, 2011, four CCA students and a studio manager stood proudly alongside 28 teams of professional designers and builders and, for the first time in the competition, five other student teams. “Our bike was lined up there with the professionally built ones, and it fit in really well amid all of their incredible craftsmanship and talent,” said Charlie Weber, a member of the CCA team.
Brandon Walker, CCA Rapid Prototyping Studio manager and one of CCA team advisors, reflected, “It was incredibly rewarding, just getting there, knowing CCA’s bike had been built from scratch and knowing all the little things that had coalesced into this finished product. Everyone looked really proud.” It had been a long journey leading up to this moment under the bright lights in Portland, but any of the team members involved would have told you it was more than worth it.
Starting the Journey
The process started in late March of 2011. Nicholas Riddle, then a member of CCA’s Industrial Design faculty, began to put together a team for the upcoming competition. Walker, a former Portland local, was familiar with the competition and got involved, along with a handful of CCA student volunteers. Though the student numbers dwindled through spring semester and finals, several stuck through to the end.
At the competition, the team was made up of CCA students Charlie Weber, Max Pollock, Mateo Hao, Al Nelson, Mac Low, Duff Ryan, and Sachi DeCou. Ranging from Industrial Design to Furniture to Graphic Design, these students were tasked with a tall order: to design and build a utility bike to a set of specific criteria, including a lighting system for safety, a load carrying system, and an antitheft system. The team decided to design their bike with urban mobility and small business in mind.
An entrepreneurial mindset led the team to a module concept in which one could use the bike for many different purposes and platforms: running a small business, running errands, commuting. They created cargo modules that simply slide, and lock, onto the bike. “Take off the modules and you are left with a nice commuter bike without the space issues of a cargo bike—something essential to living in a condensed urban environment,” says Walker. “Ever tried to park a cargo bike in a crowded field of bike racks?”
The team also decided to play up the capabilities of our CCA shops. The design used CNC-routed molds for the modules and fenders, and took advantage of various 3D software applications.
Sustainable Manufacturing
The team also felt a particular commitment to manufacturing the bike sustainably. The modules were made with natural composites and natural resins. “We used bio-derived epoxy resin from a Bay Area manufacturer, Entropy Resins, which falls in line with CCA’s emphasis on designing for sustainability,” notes Weber. “The element that made our bike unique was the use of natural fiber composites for the fenders and panniers. CCA was the only team that used natural composite materials,” says Walker. “Lots of people were very interested in it. It was a real head turner.”
The team also showed its commitment to sustainability by building the bike entirely in-house. The CCA shop facilities made this possible. “The shops have amazing tools for bike frame fabrication. The programs have allocated a lot of resources to outfitting the shop for the frame class, so we had everything we could possibly have needed—more than a lot of professional builders have,” Weber explained. “The Bridgeport mill and metal lathe are indispensable for processing and mitering tubing. We also have jigs and a frame fixture from Anvil, which are important for making frames accurately and efficiently.”
A Learning Experience
Weber, a junior in the Industrial Design Program, was a particular asset to the team because of his experience in bike building. He had previously taken a frame-building course at the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon.
“I had seen the entries from the last Oregon Manifest competition in 2009 and had a strong interest in the hand-built frame scene. The Urban Mobility program started by Nick Riddle was a big part of the reason I chose to attend CCA. This was an extremely complex project that had to function in the real world while still looking great. To do that took lots of collaboration and planning. More than anything, I learned a lot about project management and the challenges of leading a team. That is something that I really want to take forward into my professional work.”
Another valuable aspect of the competition for many of the students and faculty was meeting the competition judges and making those connections. “The judges were so impressive in their notoriety that when the students got to meet them, it was really cool,” says Walker. “Like meeting an idol.” The judging panel was stacked with some of the biggest names in bikes, including Joe Breeze, founder of Breezer Bikes, Rob Forbes, founder of Public Bikes and Design within Reach, Bill Strickland, editor of Bicycling magazine, and Tinker Hatfield, VP of innovation design and special projects for Nike.
Students were also encouraged to foster relationships with local bike builders during the building process. “We had great support from bike industry companies based in the Bay Area,” says Weber. “Easton, Gates Belt Drive, TRP Brakes, and Paragon Machine Works all provided parts to help us complete the build.” The team was also advised by Curtis Inglis, a Bay Area local and award-winning frame builder who was a guest instructor for the Bike Building I: The Frame course in summer 2011.
Though the team had a solid backbone of advisors in Riddle and Walker, and received guidance from Inglis and others along the way, Walker stresses that the bike was entirely student built. “The CCA community really came together to make sure this thing got done,” he says. The Industrial Design Program, the shop managers, and individuals from the CCA community all pitched in to ensure that the students could finish, and that the bicycle CCA sent to the competition in Oregon was a work of art.
The Eleventh Hour
The project took many long months, there were some occasionally trying moments, and the team burned some serious midnight oil at the eleventh hour, yet Weber says that the night before the competition Field Test was the most rewarding part. “We had a crazy couple of days finishing up the bike and getting everything assembled prior to leaving for Portland. It was a huge relief that it got done on time.”
Walker maintains that the team did an amazing job of presenting their design to the judges. “It was so nerve wracking! Bright lights, and no one had slept for two days, but it was just like in a classroom critique—their instincts took over and they knew what to do and say.” The judges were very impressed with all of the student designs. Joe Breeze remarked, “I loved the fresh eyes of the students. They represent 90 percent of the potential [demographic] who could be riding bikes in America. To see what they want in a bike is exciting.”
Utilitarian Work of Art
The CCA bike is a utilitarian beauty. Says Weber, “I feel that we did a good job balancing the practical needs of our intended user while making something that was visually desirable. Some bikes were more conceptual and other purely utilitarian, but I think we found a sweet spot between the two, which makes ours more likely to move toward real-world production.”
Related Links
Interview with CCA Oregon Manifest Team
Photos of the CCA Oregon Manifest Team
Video teaser for CCA Oregon Manifest
The Frame: An Overview of CCA’s Industrial Design course in Bike Building on YouTube
CCA Article about Bike Building Course