Copaq
A transformative bike with various configurations to adapt to simultaneous commuting needs.
Designed for SRAM with Carmen Torrey, Eyoel Tewdros, Kimberly Wang over 9 weeks
My role: ID, CAD, Model Making, User Research | Recognition: Georgia Tech Chair Silver Award
Life isn’t planned, so why should your bike ride be?
It’s difficult to react to unexpected situations as a bike commuter due to the limitations in current commuting bikes. This causes people to go for other transportation options.
“The most difficult part of biking to work is pre-planning”
Preplanning for cargo and safety is difficult and time consuming.
The current market does not cater to commuters’ conflicting needs.
01 | Commuters want to minimize bike clutter, but also want to be able to bring their commute necessities (bags, bike locks, keys, phones, and other personal belongings. Coffee included.)
02 | Existing commuter bikes are often bulky and don’t cater to commuters who want to use their bike as a leisure or athletic bike outside of their commute. They compromise bike appearances in order to accommodate to commuting cargo needs.
Top tube is commonly untouched area.
Based on the research findings, we explored various way of creating a convertible storage as well as a maintenance and safety system that could solve commuter pain points.
Ergonomic Studies: The double tube
We attached a double tubes to a regular bike to make sure it does not harm the original bike ride experience. Steering and pedaling from various terrains were fair enough to maneuver in the setting.
Development
Through the ergonomic study of double top tube idea, we validated its usability in various terrains that users may commute through. We then started to develop the tube to serve our user’s needs.
Form Development
After developing the functional part of our bike, we set out to figure out the appearance of our bike. Our value for physical design language was confident, bold and clean
Copaq, the transformative bike for commuter needs
COPAQ can transform into various configurations to offer utilities when needed, all while maintaining its simple, clean look when the user is done using them.
Bike Safety
COPAQ uses the structure of the seat post to combine air-pump inside for unforeseen happenings. Not like regular bikes, COPAQ’s front segment transforms into a u-lock. Also, its lighting system ensures the vision of the road and riders from other vehicles.
Versatile Storage
COPAQ incorporated convertible storage system that can hold cups of coffees, phone, keys and rigid back rack for heavy carryings.