Engineers represent everyday problems mathematically and choose the most logical and practical way to solve them. As a student hoping to study engineering in the future, I was keen on getting some hands-on experience with bikes as they have a complex interaction between them and the dynamic physics principles involved such as ways of maintaining stability by balancing the forces that act on them and the torque conveyed from a pedal through the crank and the bottom-bracket spindle to the wheels.
In the workshop we took a bike apart and checked each component for wear, then cleaned, lubricated, and replaced the components based on their situation and finally reassembled the bike. We replaced all the cables for safety reasons while checking the mobility of the handles and the front wheel and then made sure gear changing and torque transferring happens smoothly by tightening the bolts. After a full safety check and tunning up, the bike will now be donated to The Bike Project, a charity based in North London that take donated bikes and give them to refugees to provide them with transport and community support through a buddying system.
This was an invaluable and pleasant experience as I was able to put the problem solving skills I learned during my education into practical use.
By Norin Torhakani, student
