A NEW BIKE SADDLE: INNOVATION THROUGH SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL USE - DIVA PORTAL
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Master thesis
A new bike saddle:
Innovation through sustainable material use
Author: Johan Bessing
Name of degree: Master
thesis in Design
Academic tutors:
Daniel Gustafsson
Miguel Salinas
Yanki Lee
PaperShell tutor:
Anders Bergström
Examiner: Lars Dafnäs
Course code: 5DI74E 22VT
Year: 2022
1 (56)
Acknowledgements
I want to thank Anders Bergström from PaperShell Industries for supporting me throughout
my whole education and for giving me the opportunity to do my master thesis for PaperShell
Industries. It has been a great learning experience and it has truly been inspiring to have
you as a mentor. Thanks to Daniel Gustafsson from the design department at Linnaeus
University for helping me with modelling, printing prototypes and most importantly for being
there to bounce ideas with. And of course, a big thank you to my teachers Miguel Salinas
and Yanki Lee that have followed me throughout this project.
Abstract
Vehicle transportation makes up for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions
and is a major contributor of the climate crisis. Even though bikes emit practically no
greenhouse gases, the production phase still cause environmental damages. Especially the
choice of materials dictates the sustainability of a bike. Thus, the aim of this project is to
problematize the current material choices made in the bike industry and explore how
sustainable materials can be applied in a product-oriented industry to find sustainable
design solutions. The material used in the project is provided by PaperShell Industries that
supply a cellulose based and circular material for B2B. In order to fulfil the aim of the project
a bike saddle was designed. The theory of circular design was guiding the design process,
and various methods was applied. Focus groups were combined with co-designing in an
innovation process. The design process was divided into three parts: research, ideation, and
realisation. In the first part, focus groups, benchmarking, research ergonomics and
research through design were conducted. The second part included brainstorming, mind
mapping/tree diagram and moodboard. In the final step sketches and CAD-models were
made and an innovation process was applied. Following this design process, the author
concluded that fully cellulose based materials are suitable for the bike industry because of
the low climate impact. The material also has the right properties for a bike product. The
project suggests that circular design can be realized by implementing sustainable materials
such as cellulose based materials,
2
Keyword
Sustainable materials, material research, bike equipment, circular design, cellulose-based
composite.
3
Table of contents
A NEW BIKE SADDLE: ............................................................................................................................................. 1
INNOVATION THROUGH SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL USE .................................................................................................... 1
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.1 BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS ................................................................................ 6
1.2 PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION ........................................................................................................... 6
1.3 PURPOSE .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 WHY DO WE NEED NEW SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS? ................................................................................................ 7
Plastic .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Metal/Aluminium ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Carbon fibre ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
1.5 SUSTAINABILITY IN THE BIKE INDUSTRY ................................................................................................................. 9
1.6 BIKE DISCIPLINES ............................................................................................................................................. 10
1.7 DELINEATION OF FIELD OF STUDY ....................................................................................................................... 11
1.8 DELINEATION OF PROJECT ................................................................................................................................. 12
2. COLLABORATOR – PAPERSHELL INDUSTRIES ............................................................................................... 13
2.1 PAPERSHELL INDUSTRIES ................................................................................................................................. 13
2.2 PAPERSHELL THE MATERIAL ............................................................................................................................. 13
Properties ...................................................................................................................................................... 13
Sustainability ................................................................................................................................................. 15
2.3 RISK ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................................ 17
3. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................... 18
3.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................................... 18
3.2 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................ 19
Research........................................................................................................................................................ 19
Ideation .......................................................................................................................................................... 22
Realisation ..................................................................................................................................................... 23
4. CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................... 25
5. DESIGN PROJECT............................................................................................................................................... 27
5.1 DESIGN PROCESS ............................................................................................................................................. 27
Material decisions ......................................................................................................................................... 27
Research........................................................................................................................................................ 27
Focus Group .................................................................................................................................................. 29
Mind mapping................................................................................................................................................ 30
Mood board.................................................................................................................................................... 30
Sketches ........................................................................................................................................................ 34
Final sketch ................................................................................................................................................... 34
Blender .......................................................................................................................................................... 35
Fusion 360 ..................................................................................................................................................... 40
3D-printed ..................................................................................................................................................... 43
Prototype made in PaperShell ..................................................................................................................... 44
Patterns ......................................................................................................................................................... 45
5.2 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................................... 46
Final design ................................................................................................................................................... 46
4
6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS .................................................................................................... 50
6.1 PAPERSHELL – A SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE? ................................................................................................... 50
6.2 SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................................ 50
Learning outcomes ....................................................................................................................................... 51
6.3 PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE WORK .......................................................................................................................... 52
REFERENCE LIST ................................................................................................................................................... 53
IMAGES IN THE ORDER THEY APPEAR ........................................................................................................................ 56
5
1. Introduction
1.1 Brief project description and presentation of results
This project is a study of the use of a new sustainable material as well as a project that
problematizes and highlights the issues of current materials being used in the bike
industry today. The project is in collaboration with PaperShell Industries that supply a
new material called PaperShell. The project will present a product made of PaperShell
together with argumentation against the materials being used today and why this needs
to change.
1.2 Personal background and motivation
Throughout my design education sustainability and material choices have ravelled as a
continuous line through my projects. I constantly find myself geeking out on materials to
find the best material to use through a sustainable aspect but also through esthetical and
practical aspects. With that as a background it is not surprising that writing my MA-thesis
for a newly started company filled with well experienced designers and a new, innovative,
sustainable, and unexplored material was made to fit me. Not only is it an interesting
company only because of the ones working there, but the fact that they have produced a
new material that is not fully explored has been exciting. Throughout this project I have had
the opportunity to together with PaperShell explore the strengths and weakness, limitations,
and the possibilities of this new material. I have also seen how PaperShell have grown as a
company, and it has been such an experience to have been able to follow along in their
process both in the design aspect but also in a business aspect and see the collaborations
that has started. To work with such an inspiring company as PaperShell and see their
collaborations with other inspiring and innovative companies has truly been an honour.
6
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of this project is to problematize the current material choices made in the bike
industry and explore how sustainable materials can be applied in a product-oriented
industry to find sustainable design solutions. The project will be guided by the following
question: How can the use of a new sustainable material foster a product development
process into sustainable product development?
1.4 Why do we need new sustainable materials?
We live in a time of uncertainty with climate crisis facing humanity. The CO2 levels are rising,
the planet is getting warmer, and we are in the middle of the Sixth Mass Extinction. We are
not only facing one but two emergency issues, climate change and biodiversity loss. There
is no way to not see that these problems have been caused and triggered by human
activities1.
For designers in times like these it is crucial to be conscious of the impact one’s design has
on the environment. New and sustainable materials is needed for mankind to become more
sustainable. We need to take more care of the resources we have and use them in a
respectful and conscious way.
As this project is targeting a product development industry, the bike industry serves as a
case study. The project will look closer on the most commonly used materials in the bike
industry which are different types of plastics, metals, aluminium and carbon fibre.
Plastic
Plastic is commonly used in smaller parts on bikes, in tools and safety equipment. There
are several ways plastic can be harmful to the environment but here are some examples.
Not all plastic is recyclable and not all recyclable plastic is recycled, most plastic last forever,
1
Extinction Rebellion, Why Rebel? Publication date unknown.
7
plastics are one of the main products of fracking, plastic is literally everywhere including
inside of our bodies, and we have all seen horrendous pictures of animals tangled up in
plastic or even have plastic products inside of them2. Not to mention that plastic is petroleum
based3. One can also argue for that most people do not put value in a plastic product as it is
a rather cheap material to manufacture when the investments for production tools have
been made.
Metal/Aluminium
As long as metal and aluminium are recycled the CO2-emissions can be kept rather low.
But as soon as virgin metal and aluminium is used the CO2-emissions rises because of how
resource consuming the mining is. As an example, recycled steel has 87% lower CO2-
emission than virgin steel. Recycled aluminium has 96% lower CO2-emission than virgin
aluminium4.
Carbon fibre
To begin with the production of virgin material for carbon fibre is extremely energy intensive.
Secondly, the manufacturing of carbon fibre is wasteful as almost a third of the carbon
sheets produced end up on the factory floor when they are being trimmed to size. The cut-
offs mostly end up as landfill and in a report from Green Alliance they listed carbon fibre as
one of several materials that can cause major waste problems in the future unless action is
taken to change the recycling and reuse of carbon fibre. Lastly, carbon fibre is hard to
recycle as it cannot be melted down or reformed like, for example, aluminium5. Carbon fibre
is often a composite consisting of a carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer fixed by a plastic resin6
which, as explained in the part about plastic, are not so nice to the environment.
Also, one can draw the conclusion that carbon fibre is not so mild on the environment since
it consists of carbon, plastic, epoxy resin and other toxic materials.
2
GrrlScientist. Five Ways that Plastics Harm the Environment and one Way they May Help . Forbes, 2018.
3
Ferdinand Rodriguez. Plastic, Chemical Compound. Britannica, 2021.
4
Återvinningsindustrierna. Återvunnet material minskar alltid utsläppen. Publication date unknown.
5
Mark Harris. Carbon Fibre: The Wonder Material with a Dirty Secret. The Guardian, 2017.
6
Element 6 Composites. The Ultimate Guide to Carbon Fiber Design and Application. Publication date unknown.
8
1.5 Sustainability in the bike industry
The bike industry has been able to fly under the radar when it comes to sustainable
responsibility due to that bikes are seen as a transportation tool and do not produce any
emissions during a bike ride7. But bikes do have an environmental impact and especially in
the production stage and some companies have started to question their stand on
sustainability.
One company that is on the frontier of the sustainability work is the American bike brand
Trek. Trek does all different types of bikes and bike accessories and is a well-known brand.
In 2020 Trek conducted their first emission audit to gain knowledge of their environmental
impact and how they can affect it. Trek partnered up with WAP Sustainability and
investigated the carbon footprint of their four most popular bike models 8. The models were
Madone Trek´s flagship road bike 9 , Marlin an entry-level mountain bike 10 , Rail a full
suspension electric mountain bike11, and Fuel EX a full suspension mountain bike12. For this
thesis work the conclusion that could be drawn from this carbon footprint investigation is
that as soon as aluminium frames are replaced by carbon fibre frames the carbon
emissions go up. To make an example of two of their products, we can compare the Marlin
with the Madone. The Marlin is a rather simple mountain bike made of aluminium. The
Madona is Trek´s high-end road bike fully made of carbon fibre. It can seem strange to
compare an entry-level bike with a high-end bike but as a road bike has rather few
advanced components compared to a mountain bike that often has full suspension, dropper
post, and so on, the two bikes are suiting to be compared to one another in this case. So,
the Marlin has a carbon footprint of 116 kg CO2e where the frame stands for 17% of the Co2
emissions13. The Madona have a carbon footprint of 197 kg CO2e, and the frame stands for
as much as 29% of the Co2 emission. The wheels that are also made of carbon fibre and
7
Bernard Isopp. Why Aren´t More Big Bike Firms Tracking Their Environmental Impact? The Guardian, 2021.
8
Trek. Sustainability Report and Corporate Commitment. 2021, p. 4.
9
Ibid., p. 7.
10
Ibid., p. 6.
11
Ibid., p. 9.
12
Ibid., p. 8.
13
Trek. Sustainability Report and Corporate Commitment. 2021, p. 6.
9
stands for another 21%14. That is a comparable high difference in carbon emission, and it is
just because of the change from aluminium to carbon fibre.
It seems clear that it is needed to start using a new material instead of carbon fibre to
become more sustainable.
Besides the carbon footprint investigation Trek have made a 10-point list of things to change
to become more sustainable. The most interesting point for this thesis is point “6. Increase
reliance on alternative material.” Trek wants to use more recycled, recyclable, reclaimed,
refurbished and circular materials in their production15.
Several other bike brands have also taken measures against the climate crisis such as for
example Pearl Izumi that has started an initiative to balance out their impacts of their
garments, Hutchinson changes their manufacturing process to increase the sustainability
of their tires and Polartec removes PFAS in their major products16.
The purpose of presenting these companies is not to show how good they are when it comes
to sustainability. In fact, some of the actions taken by the brands are rather mediocre in
terms of sustainability. However, these examples show an increasing interest of
sustainability in the bike industry and that there is an opportunity to develop sustainable
solutions for the bike industry.
1.6 Bike disciplines
Different types of bike disciplines will be mentioned in this report. The different disciplines
that will be mentioned are mountain bikes, road bikes, and gravel bikes.
14
Ibid., p. 7.
15
Ibid., p. 15.
16
Ed Spratt. 5 Environmental Initiatives in the Bike Industry: Trek Removes 433, 600 lbs. of Plastic, Sustainable
Manufacturing, & More. Pinkbike, 2021.
10Mountain bikes, or more commonly called MTB, is a robust bike with big and wide tires,
suspension, often full suspension, and powerful disc brakes. Mountain bikes are, as
understood from the name, made for mountains but also different types of off-road terrain.
In the last 20-years the mountain bike has increased in popularity due to its capability and
all-round use.
A road bike is the kind of bikes that are used in for example Tour de France. The road bike
is always trying to be as light as possible, have skinny slick tires and lots of gears. The road
bike is made to only be used on asphalt.
Lastly, the gravel bike. The gravel bike can be placed in between an MTB and a road bike.
The frame looks like a road bike with the exception that it looks more robust and can stand
more abuse. The tires are a hybrid between an MTB tire and a road bike tire as it is slightly
wider than a road tire but with almost the same tire pattern as an MTB. It should be said
that gravel tires are more and more going towards a regular MTB tire. The gravel bike often
has the same power full disc brakes as an MTB. The gravel bike is made to be used on
gravel roads and easier MTB tracks. The gravel bike is simply the bridge between the MTB
and the Road bike.17
1.7 Delineation of field of study
The project is based in material research through the scope of industrial and product design
and innovation. To carry out the project both business, technology and design needs to be
incorporated. Business have been incorporated as it was asked from PaperShell to find a
new business area for their material and that it would be a product that would be realistic
to manufacture and sell. Technology and engineering are a major part of the project as it is
very much a material research project where the possibilities and limitations of the material
is explored. Finally, design is the biggest part of this project as the focus is on creating a
product that will make these three perspectives visible, create meaning and show how this
new material can be implemented in the future.
17
Joe Lindsey. All of the Different Types of Bicycles- Explained. Bicycling, 2020.
111.8 Delineation of project
The project is situated in the field of product and industrial design with a focus on bike
equipment. The focus of the project is mainly to explore the possibilities of sustainable
materials and how to apply it in the bike industry.
122. Collaborator – PaperShell Industries
2.1 PaperShell Industries
The idea of PaperShell was born in 2018 but the company was founded in 2021. They are
offering a sustainable material made from paper that is fully bio-degradable and with a fully
circular life cycle. Instead of using PaperShell for single-use products they desire to slow
down the paper cycle and focus on finding suitable products to apply PaperShell on that
shows the natural beauty of the material and by that creating components that stores bio-
carbon. Their goal is to offer sustainable, high tech, long lasting and load bearing B2B
components made of ingredients found in wood and plants. They aim to replace fossil-based
materials with bio-carbon solutions without compromising on sustainability. The team of
PaperShell consists of people with backgrounds in design, science, and industrial
technology. The company is designed for a circular economy and only works with
companies that shares their sustainability ambitions. PaperShell has a pilot plant located in
Tibro, Sweden, where they perform co-development projects and R&D. The limitation of the
pilot plant is 60 000 components per year. In 2023 PaperShell will launch a highly automated
and flexible factory with a max capacity of 700 000 components per year.18
2.2 PaperShell the material
Properties
PaperShell is a natural fibre composite. The material is circular as it is fully bio-degradable
and are harvest from a renewal source, trees. The material is fire resistant (STD 104-
0001/ISO 3795), UV resistant (STD 423-0061), scratch resistant (STD 423-0030), heat aging
(2000h Volvo, STD 423-0055, 15% decrease), climate cycling (0,22% moisture absorption.
400h-6h 85 degrees, 21h 38 degrees, 95% RH, 5h -30 degrees), moisture aging (6% moisture
absorption 1008h 38 degrees 95% RH), no VOX (Volvo -STD 429-0003) and impact resistant
18
PaperShell, We are PaperShell. 2022.
13(EN 13087, Room Temp, 11 Joule, -22 degrees, 11 Joule). See diagram for comparison to
other materials.
Figure 1. Properties of PaperShell. PaperShell, Our Components. 2022.
Production
The material is press moulded in an aluminium form and gets the same thickness
throughout the form. The material can also be made by using inflatable bladder moulding,
this enables the component to be hollow. The material is more eco-friendly than press
moulded veneer but still as weather resistant as plastic and as strong as fibre composites.
The components can be flat, single curved, double curved/sphere, complex and have holes.
14The surface can be gloss satin, matte, rough, have a pattern, picture, or text. Different
colours and patterns can be made too.
Weight reduction can be made by replacing for example plastic components as the material
behaves like a composite, is stronger than plastic but still lightweight.
Sustainability
At the end-of-life PaperShell is recycled in the same way as wood in a recycling plant.19
Seen in the diagram further down an impact analysis and life cycle analysis on PaperShell
is presented with a comparison to veneer, PP (Polypropylene), GFRP (glass reinforced
polymer) and aluminium.
Figure 2. Production. PaperShell, Our Components. 2022.
19
PaperShell, Our Components. 2022.
15Figure 3. Endpoint impacts per functional unit (ReCiPe 2016). PaperShell. PaperShell Information Package. 2022. p. 8.
Figure 4. Life cycle analysis. PaperShell. PaperShell Information Package. 2022. p. 8.
16Appearance
When one first experiences a PaperShell product it is hard to understand that it is a type of
paper material. It feels more like a technical material such as plastic or a composite. The
surface of the material is hard but the colour acts and look natural as there is variations in
colour and appearance.
Figure 5. Appearance of PaperShell. PaperShell, Our Components. 2022.
2.3 Risk analysis
The main risk of using the PaperShell material is that the customer can see the product as
a disposable product since it is bio-degradable and made from paper. Paper products are
often seen as cheap, one use, disposable products and the customer can see the saddle in
the same way. As the product is fully bio-degradable the customer may be less hesitant to
throw it and buy a new one if it gets scratched or cosmetically damaged. This will lead to a
faster consumer pace of the product and counteract the whole concept of the product.
The solution for this risk is the appearance of the material. The material is not perceived as
paper but instead an exclusive composite. The price of the product will also have a big
impact. If the product is priced high, the customer is more inclined to put a personal value
in the product and therefore take care of it.
173. Theoretical and Methodological Framework
3.1 Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework for this project is Circular Design. Circular Design is closely
interlinked with Circular Economy. Circular Economy is a concept that was founded in the
1980s as a comment to the regular linear economy. It was understood that linear economy
is based on overexploitation of natural resources and resulted in the unsustainable situation
we live in today20.
Instead, a circular economy encourages economies to reuse products instead of
considering it as waste and extract new raw material. All waste in a circular economy is
either returned to the economy or used in a more efficient way21.
Figure 6. UNCTAD, Circular Economy. Publication date unknown.
Circular economy often demands that the design of a product is grounded in the theory of
circular economy. The circular thinking needs to be applied already in the beginning of a
20
Iberdrola, Circular design: how to rethink the creative process and commit to sustainability . Publication date unknown.
21
UNCTAD, Circular Economy. Publication date unknown.
18design and this is where circular design comes in. The theory of circular design is to design
something that fits into the theory of circular economy. In a circular design it is crucial to
take the whole lifespan of a product into consideration and design for a product that will be
used as long as possible and when it finally reaches its end of life can be either reused or
go back to nature if it is 100% biodegradable22.
3.2 Methodological Framework
The innovation process will be divided in three steps: ideation, research, and realisation.
Ideation will include brainstorming, mind mapping and mood boards. Research will be
conducted through focus groups, benchmarking, research ergonomics and research
through design. Finally, the innovation project will be carried out with sketches and CAD-
modelling. The three steps will be explained in detail in the following sections.
Research
Start
The research phase started with determine what product the project would be based on.
To create ideas a brainstorming session was performed and the most promising ideas
were presented to PaperShell. The idea that PaperShell saw the most potential in was a
bike saddle. A saddle fits PaperShells company profile and it is small enough to produce
with in the frame for this project.
Focus Group
To gain first-hand knowledge about what the potential user of the product desired for
features a series of focus groups were executed. Focus groups helps gather insight by
22
Iberdrola.
19engaging the participants in detailed discussions about their emotions and opinions about
a certain product or service23.
The focus group was combined with the methods of design workshop24 in the way that the
participants were encouraged to come up with ideas and visualize their ideas. Visualizing
ideas helps communicating one’s ideas and therefore enrichens and deepens the
discussion around the ideas.
The participants consisted of four men in the age of 25 living in Sweden. It would have been
desired to have a larger focus group and including female participants, but it was
unfortunately not possible.
The focus group were a semi structured focus group/design workshop25. It was structured
with a short presentation of the project, so the participants got a basic understanding of the
project. Though the information about the material was left out in the first stage of the focus
group to avoid limiting the participants in their ideas. The schedule and the aim for the focus
group were also presented.
After the presentation a discussion about desired features in a bike saddle was performed.
The moderator of the focus group took notes of everything that was being said and shot in
questions to help the participants develop their thoughts and ideas more where it felt
needed. The discussion was then directed to talk about brands the participants liked and
already existing saddles and features they liked.
The focus group was ended with a short presentation of the material. The purpose of
presenting the material in the end of the focus group were to not make the participants
limited to think of the limitations of the material but instead freely come up with ideas. The
focus group participants have been informed of every change in the design throughout the
project to gain inputs of the changes. The focus group have continued throughout the project
but in a different way compared to a regular focus group. This was due to Covid-19
23
Gjoko Muratovski. Research For Designers: A Guide to Methods and Practice. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2016, p. 61.
24
Martin & Hanington. 2018, p. 28.
25
Martin & Hanington. 2018, p. 28.
20restrictions and participants living in different cities which made it hard to have physical
meetings but at the same time made it easier to have more and shorter video meetings.
Benchmark
Benchmarking is a tool to compare different products or services with one another to be
able to improve your own product or service and to understand the competitive landscape.
It can be applied on almost any type of field, from business to design. A benchmarking can
be performed by gathering different products of the same type to compare them and then
start to ask questions like for example: What features does these products have in common?
What features are only in some of the products? Do they all come in one or several sizes?
Are they in the same price range? Etc. Simply compare the products with one another in as
many ways as possible. As the questions often will change during the work process it is a
good idea to come back to benchmarking and do it continually throughout the project26. This
method does in some cases share some parts with research through designed which is
further explained later on in the thesis. Benchmarking was used to explore how different
saddle manufactures had designed and constructed their saddles.
Research ergonomics
The design of the saddle is based on research done on saddle and ergonomics studies. The
studies were carried out by different universities all over the world and are independent of
each other. The design is also based on online articles and tutorial videos from different
well-known bike magazines.
Research through design
To be able to understand a form or a design it can be needed to use research through design.
A common way of conducting research through design is form studies where one explores
26
Design Launchers. How to Benchmark a Product Against the Competition. Publication date unknown.
21a form by looking at it, sketch and sometimes even model it in different medias. By doing
this the designer can ideate new ideas, concepts and hypothesis and pose new questions.
It is a very hands-on type of research which make it a good break from the traditional
theoretical way of conducting research27.
Research through design has been conducted in this project by doing form studies on
different saddles that are on the market today. It has been made on both saddles from
pictures but also physical by gathering several different saddles and investigated them both
through visual investigation, sketching and disassembling.
Ideation
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is an effective method to use when plenty of ideas needs to be produced. In
a brainstorming session all ideas are good ideas, and the key mindset is quantity over
quality. The brainstorming sessions are judgement-free zones where everyone can come
up with ideas.
As the material was chosen for this project the material determined what would be feasible
to make. Even though the material dictated what was possible, an open mind was held
during the brainstorming session.
During the brainstorming sessions a lot of ideas were produced. All ideas were written
down and then presented to PaperShell. The idea that PaperShell thought had the most
potential was a bike saddle. A bike saddle is at the first glimpse a rather simple form but as
one explores the form more the more complex the form becomes. A saddle is fitting for the
material and the production, and it also fits the company’s profile.
27
Martin & Hanington, 2018. p. 70.
22Mind mapping/ tree diagram
Mind mapping can help the researcher/designer to understand a problem by
simultaneously identify the aim of a project, relations between different areas and
components and to see what information is relevant or not28. A tree diagram is a form of
brainstorming that works as a graphic organizer or a visual representation of knowledge.
The diagram can help to communicate hierarchy, classification systems and connections.29
In the beginning of the project one mind map and one tree diagram were created but further
into the project they merged into one map and created a hybrid between a mind map and a
tree diagram.
For this project the mapping has been done digitally on a Miro board 30 as it has been
convenient to always have access to the board and to have the possibility to easily edit the
board and to continue building on it throughout the project.
Mood board
The purpose of a mood board is to gather relevant pictures to visually communicate what
the designs intent is. A mood board is made either analogue or digital as a collage 31. For this
project the mood board has been made digitally in Adobe InDesign32 as it has been the most
suitable program for the purposes of this thesis.
Realisation
Sketches
Sketching is used to ideate and communicate a design or a design proposal. There are
unlimited ways to sketch but the most common process is to first create a lot of quick
sketches made in a limited amount of time. When a variety of design proposals have been
produced a selection is made of a few sketches and another sketching phase is started, but
this time more time can be put into the sketches to explore different solutions and designs.
28
Martin & Hanington. 2018. p. 56.
29
Martin & Hanington. 2018. p. 8.
30
Miro. The leading visual collaboration platform. Publication date unknown.
31
Martin & Hanington. 2018. p. 47.
32
Adobe. Ett nytt blad i layoutdesign. Publication date unknown.
23For this project lead pencils and markers has been used. The format has mainly been in A4,
but some quick and dirty sketches has been made in A5 notebooks.
CAD-modelling
CAD, computer aided design, is a useful tool to explore and ideate a design in a 3D-format.
In a CAD-program it is possible to model an object in 3D to gain a better understanding of
the design and to use it for printing, production or as a technical drawing. The programs
that have been used for this project was Blender33 and Fusion 36034.
Innovation process
Throughout the project an innovation process approach has been applied. This means that
several people have been invited to different steps of the design work to gain inputs and
opinions of the design and resulted in a type of semi co-designing process. The people that
have been incorporated have been the participants from the focus group, external tutors
from the university and people from PaperShell. The project also aims to not only work from
a design perspective but through a business, engineering and design perspective which
increase the understanding of the whole concept and system around a product. One can
also argue that the core of the project is innovative as it works with a new and unexplored
material and explore new markets for a newly started company. The core of the project is
about doing something that no one have done before.
33
Blender, About Blender. Publication date unknown.
34
Autodesk, Vad är Fusion 360? Publication date unknown.
244. Contextual analysis
The relevance of the project becomes clear when situating it in its ecological, economic, and
cultural contexts. Importantly, a holistic approach is necessary when assessing the
ecological context we live in as everything is interlinked.35 As humans we share ecosystems
with and depend on other species. Balance and coexistence are of great importance for the
survival and thriving of ecosystems and its inhabitants. Because of this interconnectedness,
ecological contexts are both global and local: changes on a global level influence ecological
conditions at the local level, and vice versa. Every decision and action made in one part of
the world will inevitably impact the rest of the world. This is perhaps most evident in the
context of the climate crisis. Centuries of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly in the Global
North, has not only caused environmental degradation and pollution in the places where
emissions take place, it has also caused global warming and, consequently, climate-related
hazards in different parts of the world.
Since humans depend on our ecological contexts, one could argue that a holistic approach
is necessary also in the political and economic spheres. However, the current global
economic system is organized around endless growth: “ever-increasing levels of industrial
extraction, production and consumption”. 36 ‘Fast’ consumption is increasingly prioritized
over other forms of economic activity and other values, such as emotional or ecological. As
an example, the fashion industry today is largely structured around ‘fast fashion’. A term
that means that clothes are not designed to last to make people consume more clothes.
Therefore, the fashion industry today produces an overwhelming amount of clothes, often
at the cost of social and ecological well-being.37
The ‘fast’ element in the fashion industry is evident in most sectors of the economy. Growth
itself has become the primary goal within the economic system, rather than a mean to fulfil
other goals, such as poverty eradication. There is a widespread belief that growth will
always lead to improvements, even though growth (measured in GDP) does not say much
35
Jason Hickel. Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World . London: William Heinemann. 2020. p. 9.
36
Hickel. 2020. pp. 19–20.
37
Tatiana Schlossberg. How Fast Fashion Is Destroying the Planet. The New York Times. 2019.
25about the actual levels of well-being, innovation and development within a given society. In
practice, the global growth-oriented economic system tends to contribute to environmental
degradation and fuels anthropogenic climate change.38 In short, the economic sphere tends
to be incompatible with ecological values.
Every design project is thus faced with the enormous challenge of promoting ecological and
social well-being and sustainability, without falling into the trap of harmful production. How
can this challenge be tackled? Assumably, there are many ways to go about to deal with
these issues, and the solutions differ depending on what type of project it is. In this project
the theory of circular design will be applied to mitigate these problems. Circular design
strives to incorporate ‘slower’ forms of design and considers ecological and social
sustainability in the design process. Although, the project is still situated in the current
growth-oriented economic system. Hence, circular design may not be enough to completely
erase the conflict between economic prosperity and ecological sustainability. It can,
however, decrease the harms inflicted on ecosystems, at least to some extent.
Transportation vehicles are one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. As
bikes do not produce emissions during usage, it is arguably the most sustainable
transportation method and play an important role in converting to a more sustainable
society. Although, as presented in 1.5 Sustainability in the bike industry bikes do still have
a negative environmental impact in the production phase. To make the bike industry more
sustainable the material choices play a big role. If bike companies change to sustainable
materials in more components their environmental footprint would decrease. Therefore,
this project can contribute to limiting the clash between ecological and economic values.
38
Hickel. 2020.
265. Design Project
5.1 Design process
This section will present the design process and explain the design decisions taken
throughout the project.
Material decisions
The design process started when the company of collaboration was decided. As PaperShell
is a material company with the focus of one material the material of the product was known
already in the beginning of the project. This made the process rather unusual as the
material is often decided later on in the process. This change in the process made the
project go a little faster in the beginning as it was possible to directly start looking at the
possibilities and the limitations of the material and from there start to brainstorm possible
products.
The brief from PaperShell was to find a new business area that they have not already started
to investigate. After several brainstorming sessions individually, the ideas were presented
for PaperShell, and it was decided to go for a bike saddle. A saddle matches their company
profile as well as makes up for a suitable product as the size is small enough to be able to
make within the frame of this project.
Research
After the product were decided the researching phase started. It started with looking into
PaperShell by both reading information from the company and a visit to their pilot plant in
Tibro, Sweden. The research continued with online research on studies made on saddles
and the ergonomics of saddles. This was combined with researching in bike magazines,
watching saddle related YouTube-clips and reading online articles about how to choose a
saddle and bike fitment. A big focus was also put on researching how saddles are made,
both by online research but also by looking at physical saddles and how they are constructed.
27Figure 7. Saddles used in the research process.
From the research it was concluded that a saddle’s function is to spread out the pressure
evenly to avoid sore spots and pain caused by pressure points. Unfortunately, most of the
studies have been made on men only. The most interesting studies had been performed by
first pinpoint the weak points and problems of today’s saddles and then through that design
new saddles. The most common problems were pain on the pubic bone and perinium, loss
of feeling in the pelvic area, severe chaffing, and saddle sores39. Some of the problem had
no worse impact then creating discomfort but studies have shown that pressure on the
pubic bone and pelvic area can lead to impotence for men. A solution to this could be to cut
of the nose of the saddle. This decrease the pressure on the pubic bone drastically, but the
downsides are that the area of the saddle decreases which increases the pressure on the
rest of the bum. It also makes the saddle unstable, and it is easy to slip off the saddle as
there is no nose. Another solution is to have a cut-out in the middle of the saddle. Though
some argue for that the pressure increases around the cut-out, but studies show that there
Lara Dugas, Timothy D Noakes. Effects of a Novel Bicycle Saddle on Symptoms and Comfort in Cyclists. South African
39
Medical Journal, May 2002, p. 295.
28is a non-significant increase of the overall pressure when compared to a saddle without
cut-out40.
The overall pressure on the saddle is what leads to saddle sores and chaffing. What has
been seen in studies is that by increasing the area of the saddle and by making it a bit flat
the pressure is more evenly distributed, and it is possible to avoid serious saddle sores and
chaffing41.
The conclusion is that based on the research, the design of the saddle needed to be flat and
wide to evenly spread the pressure, not have a too long nose but also not to short and finally
have a cut-out to help with the blood flow.
Focus Group
To broaden the knowledge about what a potential user wants from a saddle a focus group
where made. Read more about how it was carried out in 3.2 Focus group.
The conclusions that could be made from the focus group were that the design should be
innovative, all-round, and not too specified towards a certain bike discipline, that it should
be possible to bike shorter distances without bike pants, an even distribution of pressure
and a mindset of sustainability thinking behind the development. Some other ideas were to
have a zipper pocket for a multitool and integrated lights. Unfortunately, this idea was no
option as the saddle needs to be made of only cellulose based material to keep the
sustainability aspect and there are also limitations in what can be done when constructing
the material.
Throughout the design work, the focus group participants have been incorporated as they
have been shown each version of the saddle to gain inputs and opinions to see if there is
40
Kamil Litwinowicz, Marcin Choroszy, Anna Wróbel. Strategies for Reducing the Impact of Cycling on the Perineum on
Healthy Males: Systematic review and Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, p. 283.
41
Brian D. Lowe, Steven M. Schrader, and Michael J. Breitenstein. Effect of Bicycle Saddle Designs on the Pressure of the
Perineum of the Bicyclist. American College of Sports Medicine, 2004, p. 1058.
29something to change. This approach is often referred to as a form of innovation process and
it has almost been a form of co-designing.
Mind mapping
As mentioned in 3.2 Mind mapping/ tree diagram a Miro Board was created to collect
thoughts and questions. This board was used in the first half of the project and helped to
sort out all the questions and ideas.
Figure 8. Miro Board.
Mood board
The mood board displays a balance between being organic and at the same time high-tech.
As cycling, especially gravel and MTB, is a sport practiced in nature it was given that nature
shall have a place in the mood board. Bikes are technology driven and the high-tech feeling
is crucial for bike components. Companies needs to show that their product is the most
innovative and advanced to gain costumers. The mood board is therefore a balance between
nature and technology as both elements are necessary to create an interesting and
innovative bike product.
30The aim for the first mood board was to communicate the balance and co-existence of
technology and nature. Bikes are often sold as high-tech but used in nature. The mood board
should therefore reflect that. The first mood board did not communicate the right feelings
as it was too bright and did not connect to the material.
Figure 9. Mood board 1.
The second mood board tried to fix the wrongs with the first mood board, but it was
concluded that the mood board should instead communicate the feeling of PaperShell.
PaperShell fits in good on the description of high-tech but at the same time organic and
natural.
31Figure 10. Mood board 2.
After a tutoring session with Anders Bergström from PaperShell a third and final version of
the mood board was made. This final one kept the format and some pictures from the
second version. Some pictures were replaced to stronger show the feelings of PaperShell
as a material. The feelings that the mood board evokes are this almost mystical, unexplored
material that are organic and comes directly from the earth but at the same time feels high
32tech, new and with a touch of Scandinavian design through calmness, quality, and attention
to details.
TECH/ORGANIC
Figure 11. Mood board 3.
33Sketches
When a basic understanding of saddles was achieved the sketching phase started. The
sketches were based on the insights made from the research. The first sketches did not
take into consideration the limitations of PaperShell as the aim was to create freely to create
interesting concepts to continue working from. When several concepts had been created,
they were presented to PaperShell.
Figure 12. Sketches
Final sketch
When the final sketch was determined the modelling phase started. The modelling was
based on the final sketch but there was still room for improvements and changes in the
design. The final sketch worked as a rough base to continue improving on but in CAD.
34Figure 13. Final sketch
Blender
Blender was used by a recommendation from a colleague. Blender was used as an
extension of the sketching phase and the design was further explored in the models. It was
a rather hard program to learn. It took over three weeks to make a final model, see figure
16, 17, 18. Even after three weeks the model did not hold the quality it should, and it was
found out that Blender was not a suitable program to use for production. One of the main
problems in Blender is the lack of measurements and scale. It is possible to work a bit with
measurements, but it will never be exact. Another major drawback is that it is not possible
to make holes in a model. This problem can be rounded but it is rather complex and time
consuming and the surface of the model will suffer. The design was also not as desired as
it became much sharper and pointier that what was planned. Especially the cut-out turned
out very aggressive and non-ergonomically. After the struggle with Blender resulting in a
poor model and after a conversation with PaperShell it was decided to instead use Fusion
360.
35Figure 14. Models in Blender.
36Figure 15. Models in Blender.
37Figure 16. Final model in Blender.
Figure 17. Final model in Blender.
38Figure 18. Model in Blender.
39Fusion 360
Fusion 360 was a much more user-friendly program, and the learning curve was steep.
With support from Daniel Gustafsson a model was made. Daniel Gustafsson works as a
workshop manager at the design department at Linnaeus University. Daniel has experience
with Fusion 360 and 3D-printing and supported with tips on Fusion and helped to 3D-print
prototypes.
Even after support from Daniel the model turned out a bit rough. It is apparently hard to
work with smooth surfaces and organic forms in Fusion. It was concluded that the final
model would need surface treatment from a skilled surface modeler. Together with Anders
Bergström from PaperShell an external surface modeler at Volvo was contacted to help
with the last adjustments. The final model was then delivered to PaperShell. The design
changed a bit from the Blender model. The cut-out was made smoother, this was made to
increase the ergonomics of the saddle. Angles of clearance was also adjusted to avoid
problems in the moulding process as it can be difficult to remove a mould from the tool if
the component does not have clearance angles but instead straight angles. Seen from the
top view, the form was made smoother and sleeker. This was to create a good surface of
the model as it is hard to make smooth surfaces on shapes with sharp edges in Fusion 360.
The following pictures are before the external help from the surface modeler at Volvo.
Figure 19. Model in Fusion 360.
40Figure 20. Model in Fusion 360.
Figure 21. Model in Fusion 360.
41Figure 22. Model in Fusion 360.
Figure 23. Model in Fusion 360.
42Figure 24. Model in Fusion 360.
3D-printed
To get a better understanding of the form and ergonomic of the saddle prototypes where
3D-printed. Daniel Gustafsson helped with 3D-printing prototypes of the saddle. The
prototypes were printed in both pure PLA (Polylactic Acid)42 and a mix of PLA and wood.
42
3D Prima, PLA. Publication date unknown.
43Figure 25. 3D-printed prototypes.
Prototype made in PaperShell
As PaperShell is fully biodegradable it was important to not mix in other materials that are
not biodegradable. Therefore, it was decided to make the whole saddle out of PaperShell.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to make the rails for the saddle out of PaperShell due to
that the manufacturing technique was not established yet. So, for this project it was needed
to limit the prototype to not having the rails for the saddle made of PaperShell. But it should
be possible to create rails out of PaperShell according to the company by using the method
of inflatable bladder moulding. Inflatable bladder moulding is used in the manufacturing of
complex shapes and structures such as for examples in the automotive industry, military
industry, and the bike industry 43 . To give some more detailed examples the production
method is used in the bike industry for manufacturing hollow carbon fibre parts such as for
example frames, handlebars etc.44.
For this explanation of inflatable bladder moulding the process will be explained when using
carbon fibre. The process of inflatable bladder moulding starts with resin impregnated
sheets of carbon fibre. The fibre is then wrapped around the bladder and is put into a mould
43
SMI Composites. What You Need to Know About the Bladder Molding Process. Publication date unknown.
44
Cyclingtips. Black Magic: How Carbon Fibre Bicycle Frames Are Made. 2018.
44cavity. The mould is closed and locked down and pressure is applied into the bladder in
form of air. The bladder presses the carbon fibre outwards against the walls of the mould.
To solidify the mould, heat is applied. Once the mould has cured the bladder is removed and
left is the desired, hollowed part45.
Unfortunately, PaperShell had problems in the production for components to a customer
which resulted in that the prototype for this projected needed to be postponed. The prototype
will be made but not within the timeframe for this project.
Patterns
With PaperShell products it is possible to apply a pattern. The pattern can be made rather
easily, and it was therefore possible to make a lot of different designs. A variety of patterns
were made and then presented to PaperShell.
Figure 26. Patterns.
45
SMI Composites.
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