IBERG to launch The Steel Bicycle Project at Bespoked 2019

Bristol-set Bespoked, the UK’s Handmade Bicycle Show, will this year play host to a group of engineers and scientists promoting the technical aspects of bicycle engineering and generating new knowledge in the field.

Founded in 2014, the International Bicycle Engineering Research Group (IBERG) is a collective active in the field of academic and industrial research relating to bicycles. At Bespoked 2019, IBERG will launch the steel bicycle project (TSBP) which aims to raise awareness of key engineering and scientific principles that relate to steel bicycle design and through this project IBERG aims to work with the community of frame builders to help them gain access to useful scientific measurements.

IBERG will give a talk at the show to present their test results so far.

IBERG said: “One of the first things we want to do is to understand the needs of frame builders in their quest to design and fabricate even better bicycles. For instance, some early projects we’ve already started to work on include looking at fillet brazed joints under an electron microscope to look at the heat affected zone and the intermetallic bonds for various brazing alloys used under different conditions. We have also carried out some tests to look at how these brazing alloys influence the frame strength over the life of the bicycle.

“We are also keen to understand what the public want when it comes to buying a new bicycle: what are their expectations with regard to safety and product testing?

“Ultimately we want to support frame builders by developing experimental test rigs, carrying out scientific testing and developing complementary numerical simulations to help them build the best, strongest, and most robust bicycles possible. This will allow us to generate and publish data that is useful for the industry and that is available for all in the public domain.

“We want to use this data to help raise awareness in the public and in the industry about relevant topics such as key material properties, to demonstrate the value of taking scientific measurements and to highlight relevant findings of evidence-based research including the debunking of some commonly held myths!

“The IBERG will be exhibiting at Bespoked Bristol for the first time in 2019 including some live demonstrations thanks to the generous support from the International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA). We hope that this is the start of a long term project to promote and support the steel bicycle industry for many years to come!”

IBERG’s official site includes links to a number of publications looking at the technical aspects and performance of bikes.

Bespoked 2019 runs 3-5 May at Brunel’s Old Station in Bristol.