Conclusion

 

A device was needed that could store two road bikes while saving space. Such a device was designed, analyzed and constructed. This bike rack satisfied all of the function statements of the project. The core requirements were satisfied as well. The volume occupied by the loaded rack was equal to that of the bikes in the hallway. However, the footprint of the rack measured 5.12ft2 compared to the original 17.6ft2 hallway area.

 

The most challenging part of the project was the design/analysis phase. Drafting and checking ideas required many hours of critical thinking, failures, and starting over. This was also greatly rewarding when the rack deflected very closely to my predicted amount when tested under 30lb loads. Great care was taken during the construction phase and no cutting or gluing errors were made.

 

After careful analysis the final device had only one oversight. The clearances were set to have the top bike front wheel miss the seat of the lower bike and the bottom bike front wheel clear the legs of the rack which they did not. This error is due to the assumption that the axels of the bike are mirrored when the bike is hung by its top tube. Since top tubes aren't straight the front wheel of each hung lower than anticipated. To correct this issue, one arm of the supports (opposite for top and bottom) could be raised to grant clearance.