Development of an experimental methodology to evaluate the influence of a bamboo frame on the bicycle ride comfort

Abstract

In the current environment of increased emphasis on sustainable transport, there is manifold increase in the use of bicycles for urban transport. One concern which might restrict the use is the ride comfort and fatigue. There has been limited research in addressing the difficulty in bicycle ride comfort quantification. The current study aims to develop a methodology to quantify bicycle discomfort so that performance of bicycles constructed from bamboo and aluminium alloy can be compared. Experimentally obtained frequency response functions are used to establish a relation between the road input and the seat and rider response. A bicycle track input profile based on standard road profiles is created so as to estimate the acceleration responses. The whole-body-vibration frequency weighting is applied to quantify the perception of vibration intensity so that eventual discomfort ranking can be obtained. The measured frequency response functions provide an insight into the effect of frame dynamics on the overall resonant behaviour of the bicycles. The beneficial effect of frame compliance and damping on lower modes of vibration is very clear in the case of bamboo frame, in turn affecting seat and rider response. In the bamboo frame, because of multiple resonances, the frequency response of the handlebar is smaller at higher frequencies suggesting effective isolation. Further improvements may have come from the joints made from natural composites. Overall, based on the comparative analysis and the methodology developed, bamboo frame shows significant improvement in ride comfort performance compared with the aluminium frame.