Child Bike Seat Designed & Engineered

by GRANDESIGN

This was an exciting product development project for GRANDESIGN, which specializes in design and engineering. The company developed the latest B’TWIN 100 Kids’ Bike Seat for Decathlon made for children between the ages of 9 months and 5 years. To develop this seat, GRANDESIGN took a few things into consideration to set it apart from other child seats and it’s all in the details.

First, the seat itself: Its curves are more contoured to make the feel of the seat as smooth as possible from all angles and to make the riding experience more comfortable for the child. Also, in the middle of the seat at the top of the mounting system, a contrast-color part was added to show better reinforcement and to add aesthetic value.

One of the main challenges for this seat was the mounting system. It had to be user-friendly and easy to put on the bike and to dismount. GRANDESIGN made a system, which required less effort from the user. There are 2 different systems: 1 system is for a bike frame with the back rack and the other is the dual bar steel suspension system for a bike frame without the rack. The key to the easy-to-use mounting systems is the engineering and motions of the buttons that require less force for an easier experience.

Since Decathlon is a widely accessible brand and makes high quality products at affordable prices, the design had to be thoughtful and intelligent. So GRANDESIGN came up with cost-friendly engineering solutions to achieve the desired price point. The design team was very mindful of every component for the child seat. One example of this is the belt latch attachment to the seat. They found a smart way to attach the latch to the seat without making any extra parts, which are usually used to attach the latch. Without having to make the extra parts, the product becomes more cost efficient.

All design elements were put into the place as per the EN14344 guidelines and it took several stages to go from the client’s initial brief to making the final prototype. First, GRANDESIGN conducted a market research and thereafter the brainstorming began. During this time sketches are made for several components of the product showing different design options with consideration to the function and aesthetic of the product.

After a design is finalized, a 3D model is rendered in Solid Edge software to analyze the design and further develop all components of the child seat in preparation for prototyping. After the rendering is complete, different parts of the product are printed on our advanced 3D printers. This is our trial and error phase where we perfect the design to take it to the next stage of prototyping.

After we produce the optimum 3D printed sample, we move onto silicon moulding. A number of silicon moulds are made of the different parts of the child seat. This is an involved process and is a crucial step for prototyping. After the silicon moulds are made, we can inject the moulds with plastic materials and the parts of the prototype are produced. After all the different components of the prototype are assembled, the final prototype is complete.

Finally, you end up with a durable and breathable child bike seat with a user-friendly mounting system, 4-stage adjustable foot rest for a fun and safe bike ride!