[mmaddmark]

how exactally can one get a job doing research and development. the way i see it. this new jump i made, will take the best of bikes and turn them in to one use rides. think of the jump this way. its what them long jump skiers do,cept on bikes. 35/40 degree hill, jump is 2 pallets long ,one high. so it isnt all that big, but as you travel out,the ground starts to dissapear. so at the point of landing. bam! were hitting around 55-60ft of distance. (have some on vid for the non belivers)
but anyways. its got to the point where a bike lasts about 1 day. so any companies wanna know where their bikes "give-out" at. i'll take the job. all i want is a bike to beat down.i'll do a full report,have vid doccumentaion, and send whats left of it back. i dont even want a paycheck. just kick me down some stuff.
r&d sounds like more fun to me than racing. i know all the companies have guys on the payroll to give them a paid for report. and of course consumer complaints,etc... but how do they get that job.

 

[stinkyboy]

I don't see the vid link.

 

[binary visions]

If you find a company dumb enough to give you free stuff AND let you destroy their bikes, please let me know. I have a bridge they might be interested in.

 

[jimmydean]

It's more about science when it comes to stuff like that. A bike can handle different things under different riders. I am big and I'm as smooth as pumice. So what a bike can do under me is far different than someone of the same size but smooth.

Get an ME degree and have at it.

 

[Slugman]

Most companies already have something that does exactly that with a lot less effort and a lot more control over the variable.

To get a statistically relevant value you need at lest 6 runs under the exact same circumstances...

 

[binary visions]

so the companies I was riding for

There's the keywords right there. You were already sponsored by them, so they may as well find out what's breaking their stuff.

I'm just envisioning this guy sending a letter to RaceFace:

Dear Vice President of Research and Development,

I built this kickass jump that breaks bikes. If you send me free parts, I'll destroy them for you. In return for this, all I expect is for you to pay me in more free parts.

k, thanks.

 

[mmaddmark]

well of course i would expect some smartazz comments. but all in all. i think a r&d "job" would be right up my alley,and yes i have tool and die certification. actually getting a pretty good deal on a mill and lathe. just have to find a mig welder and the heat treatment process is something i would have to look into. as far as posting a vid. not sure how easy that'll be right now...its all on vhs-c.. yeah its oldschool. so what.

i dont bs. i invite every rider i meet to come to these trails. those who know the area just roll their eyes...and i get it. big talk untill i invite them out to ride. then its all big excusses.
so think of it this way. im offering some free work. and some of ya find a problem with that? ok...thats cool. i was just wondering how people get them jobs. its not like theres a want ad for that type of stuff. im sure the stress test machine can provide all the breaking possible and then some, but have you ever asked a machine a question?

 

[stinkyboy]

I don't see the vid link.

 

[Slugman]

im sure the stress test machine can provide all the breaking possible and then some, but have you ever asked a machine a question?

Nope - but that's where the Stoneys of the world come in, in order to give that feedback. Machines will give you the limits of the design, then you give it to rider to critique and evaluate. You take their feedback and make the changes to get a good product.

One jump to failure is not going to give you anything useful. And the 'feedback' implies that you are going to ride it every time, which to me makes it a guarantee that the company would never give you anything. You are proposing that you'll jump their bikes to failure, but expect to never get hurt. Sounds like a perfect set up for a lawsuit... and I hope you have some great insurance. No matter how good of a rider you are, if things break you will be crashing to the ground.

 

[mmaddmark]

yeah,but ya never know what oppurtunities are out there untill you ask. i never really looked into it that far ,guess today was the day i started to actually ask.....but then i get these ex-roadies turnned mtn biker comments from some. thats cool. it was just a thought. im hittin my jump. flame up. i'll ride regardless.

 

[binary visions]

You will not find an R&D position. 99.9% of companies use their sponsored racers/riders for wR&D. The true R&D is usually done by the engineers because in our industry, the geeks ride too.

Yep.

They aren't going to hire a seperate person to break their bikes when they're already giving equipment out to talented racers who are doing their R&D and breaking parts, while also promoting the brand name.

That IS the R&D. Go race or participate in freeride comps - if you're good (which you're saying you are), you'll get sponsered. Then you can do all the "R&D" you want.

I remember reading an article about Cannondale's R&D lab several years ago, probably in Bike. The engineer that was interviewed did lots of lab R&D, and said he would quite often go out back and do drops off a loading dock, too. You don't need to hire outsiders, tell the geeks that they can have the afternoon off to try and break crap, and they'll be all over it - the industry doesn't generally pay well enough to attract people who don't already have a passion for the sport.

edit: by the way, if you hang around here much you'll find that everyone's a smartass. I wasn't personally attacking you, but if you don't like sarcasm or smartass comments, you're hanging out on the wrong board

 

[JRB]

This has got to be the stupidest request I have read on the Internet. It reminds me of the porn site where they bang the chick in her butt and then throw her out without the money.

btw - I think you have R & D confused with "testing".

 

[binary visions]

This has got to be the stupidest request I have read on the Internet.

Even stupider than requesting to have little green squares added under your username?

 

[stinkyboy]

It reminds me of the porn site where they bang the chick in her butt and then throw her out without the money.

Isn't that called "The Bounced Check"

 

[JRB]

Even stupider than requesting to have little green squares added under your username?

Yes - I didn't say that there weren't other stupid requests. This one just surpasses them.

 

[MMike]

Gotta love the scientific method.....

 

[JRB]

Isn't that called "The Bounced Check"

I don't know, but I just pictured some naive chick wiping her chin as they slammed the door and she chased after the car, knowing she can't catch it.

 

[JRB]

Gotta love the scientific method.....

Go really fast, jump far, break bike. Seems really logical.

Kind of like mounting a rocket on your car. It will never turn out well.

 

[ktmsx]

I am in the R&D department for my company ...we do not make anything good like bikes though, and we do a lot of testing......

 

[urbaindk]

I did FA and materials specification for IBM for 2 years while I was earning my undergrad degree. I got to break all kinds of cool stuff. Most testing is done with big machines just as Slugman suggests although I did some hands on testing as well. This was mostly for computers. You have to test every single little piece that goes into one, every button, switch, fan, connection, etc, etc. It might be a little different for bikes but I doubt it's much different.

If you are really serious about doing FA for a career, I suggest you find a university with a good Materials Science and Engineering department and specialize in that area.

It's a lot of fun and very rewarding. When I was a kid I spent a lot of my time smashing the snot out of stuff just to see how and why it broke. When I found out I could get paid to do it I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

My dream job would be accident reconstruction for the FAA. Unfortunately my career path sort of took me away from that. Oh well. That's life! Good luck.

 

[Slugman]

yeah,but ya never know what oppurtunities are out there untill you ask. i never really looked into it that far ,guess today was the day i started to actually ask.....but then i get these ex-roadies turnned mtn biker comments from some. thats cool. it was just a thought. im hittin my jump. flame up. i'll ride regardless.

It's cool that you want to try and be part of the industry and that you want to do R&D, but you do need to do a little more research into what companies are looking for. Just because you can jump a bike (Edit - and break it) doesn't make you an expert. If that were true Bender would be a freakin professor, not a baggage handle (or whatever he does now).

Oh, and from your snide little comments I can tell that you have more confidence than intelligence... not something that works out well in R&D.

Grow up and get a thicker skin, no one was being overly critical or harsh - they were giving you honest and reliable feedback. If you can't handle criticism and feedback/opinions that differ from yours, you will never make it in R&D of ANY industry.

 

[OGRipper]

Actually, those machines answer questions all the time. Questions like: How much force does it take to break this handlebar? How many cycles does it take to break this rear triangle? What is the quantifiable measure of BB flex in this frame? Those are questions you can't answer with any level of specificity by going out and breaking bikes. You will only know if it is broken or not.

Most engineers I know say you need a combination of science lab-style R&D and real-world testing. And like BV said, most bike companies have enough capable riders around who are more than willing to test stuff.

So, become a bike company employee (doing just about anything), become a sponsored rider, or just get to be friends with one or the other (or both). If you have something to offer on the R&D side, eventually someone will recognize it.

 

[H8R]

Isn't that called "The Bounced Check"

They get those poor women from eastern Europe these days.


It's "Bounced Czech".

 

[mmaddmark]

whhatever...it was just a thought.(hell..im one of the biggest smartasses here) anyways,i'll put that to rest. so...how exactally do i post a vid. i can throw in the tape,grab my digi camrea, and flash record a clip of the distance jump off the tv.but then...how do i post it here. never tried to post a pic or clip,so im lost on that.
atlanta has partial rain, so riding is iffy today...then again rain never stopped me before. but i'll post that vid. just for the neysayers

 

[jimmydean]

I break stuff all day. But I break software.

Best thing to do (as I said early on) is get an ME degree and dive in. Nobody said engineers cant ride to break stuff too.

A good friend of mine was an ME for Specialized years ago. He developed the lugs they used on my old Allez Epic carbon frame (carbon tubes with aluminum lugs). The pay is great and he got more free crap than he knew what to do with.

 

[JRB]

They get those poor women from eastern Europe these days.


It's "Bounced Czech".

Awesome. I'd approve if it wouldn't show up grey.

 

[stinkyboy]

Awesome. I'd approve if it wouldn't show up grey.

Ass kisser.

 

[JRB]

Ass kisser.

If he'll pass out some green, you're damned right I am.

 

[Bicyclist]

So let's see this video. I say you're full of crap.