Full Suspension Bike (#1)
See more technical data on the website HERE
CAD Screenshots of the final design
Final Photoshoot
Incredibly proud of the bike and the club, I couldn't resist showing it off in my grad photos. When I started the club in 2021, my goal was to build a full-sus mtb and take these exact photos. It was pretty incredible to see it come to life.
Front Triangle MFG
The first step in building our front triangle was fabricating the forged carbon inserts.
The mold above created our head tube insert. Notice the white 3d printed part, it's a PVA part that was dissolved out after the part cured. Not only did it reduce weight, it also allowed for internal cable routing.
Above we see the forged bottom bracket insert. It was made using the same process
Once the forged carbon parts were made, it was bonded to the forged inserts using our welding jig to ensure accurate points. Not pictured, we also added the Titanium seat tube.
Above you can see the process of adding carbon cloth to the frame. Using spray adhesive and dry carbon, we added multiple layers of carbon fiber. We then used resin infusion to solidify the frame.
The resin infusion process resulted in pictures above. As you can see, it left a lot of wrinkles. The next week or so consisted of sanding the wrinkles down, patching any holes, and repeating.
Rear Triangle MFG
Linkage Components
left: custom shock mount designed, water jet, and welded by us. right: cross section of the linkage design, including hand turned aluminum bearing cups and spacers.
Custom washers to keep the bolt head low profile. Hand turned out of stainless steel.
The End
After finishing the bike on a Friday, we brought it to tabling the next day for Cal day, and then brought it Sea Otter the next day! This whole project was a massive effort only possible with the amazing Bike Builders of Berkeley team.
