<p>Purpose/Topic: The proposed research explores impact of the direct marketing actions by component suppliers on (a) sales (objective measure) and (b) industrial customer‟s perception (subjective measures) of the final product (c) and the market development. The proposed research will focus on the bicycle industry. Research Question: "To what extent Shimano‟s component brands important to Shimano customer, and which actions can Shimano undertake to facilitate its brand‟s further market penetration?" Design/Methodology: Two approaches were used to answer the main research question. First, existing literature on ingredient and co-branding was analyzed. Second, we conducted an experiment on a new direct marketing initiative by Shimano-Europe BV. The initiative is "Reliability" campaign that introduces a service logbook across 8 European countries. Originality/Value: There is no research to this date, which empirically examines the influence of component supplier on sales and perception of ingredient brand, especially in the bicycle industry. Role of service and service network is also examined as one of the crucial influences on ingredient brand management. This research provides the base for further exploration in the area of ingredient branding and give guidelines for Ingredient Brand Management. So far, ingredient branding has been studied in contexts of food, chemical and computer industries. This research examines market leader in bicycle industry on 8 different national markets in Europe. Products supplied by Shimano require service and those products differ from ingredients which are consumed in form of food or apparel (that does not requires any service).</p><p> </p>

The design of bicycle frames has remained fairly static for the majority of the past century, but recent increases in demand for high performance bicycles has created an accelerated design cycle that requires innovation. In order to design new frames with confidence in their capacity to withstand the rigors of use, reliable data about the nature of that use is needed, but this data is not currently available. The purpose of this research was to develop and implement a system that is capable of interpolating loads applied to a bicycle frame during vigorous riding for the purpose of improving the quality of information available to bicycle designers. The system that was developed employed finite element modeling to locate strain gauges on a frame and a least-squares approximate solution of strain readings to interpolate the applied loads. At its best, the system is capable of resolving loads with better than a 2% error. This system is limited, though, as it can only be applied in cases where the frame has a significant strain reaction to a load case but does not have a significant change in geometry during loading. This system was implemented on a cross-country mountain bicycle frame for the purposes of determining a rider weight to load relationship and to compare the standardized test procedures for bicycles to the loads experienced in the field. It was confirmed that there is a linear relationship between rider weight and load on the frame for all component forces except that applied to the bottom bracket, out of plane with the bicycle frame. It was also found that the British Standards fatigue testing practices, which are used internationally to assess bicycle safety, are inconsistent in their representation of realistic riding conditions when compared with the results from the field tests. Some loads appear conservative, some offer a very large factor of safety, and two are not represented at all. In particular, the moment about the bottom bracket due to pedaling and the load on the seat from the rider appear to consistently exceed the standardized test requirements while the moment caused by fork splay seems much smaller than the tests demand.

Amongst transportation professionals there is a motivation to increase the use of active transportation to achieve contemporary transportation engineering goals. This research describes a year-long GPS cycling study conducted in partnership by the University of Waterloo and the Region of Waterloo Ontario. Data were collected from 415 self-selected cyclists, using two distinct data collection mechanisms. Data collected from GPS units revealed trip origins, destinations, and routes; the data also contain time stamps from which travel speeds can be computed. An online survey was administered to gather cyclists’ socio-economic information and household composition. The survey also collected responses to questions regarding preferences for cycling infrastructure and overall satisfaction. The trip data allow for several important conclusions. The average trip length observed in the study was 6.96 kilometers; utilitarian trips (i.e. non-recreational) constitute 92% of the observed trips. This suggests that cyclists are able to complete daily activities – commuting, shopping, etc. – with less overall travel than the general population. The trip data also suggests relationships between the propensity to cycle and land use patterns. Strong positive correlations are demonstrated between higher land use density and the number of cycling trips; moreover, cycling trips tend to be more direct in areas with traditional neighbourhood design. The time at which the trips were taken – predominantly the am or pm peaks – suggest that the cyclists’ mode choice results in lowering peak demand and, therefore, reducing regional congestion. Fewer and typically shorter cycling trips were observed during winter months, presumably as a result of less favorable climate. Participants in the study are typically higher-than-average earners and mirror the overall regional age distribution, although seniors and children were underrepresented. The cyclists in the study are predominantly male which may reflect an overall higher propensity to cycle amongst men compared to women. Cyclists’ households are more likely than the general population to own fewer cars than licensed drivers which may be interpreted as a cost saving opportunities for these households. Finally, the survey data suggests that the single largest impediment to increased cycling is a perception of poor safety for cyclists, particularly in terms of interactions with automobiles.

Purpose/Topic: The proposed research explores impact of the direct marketing actions by component suppliers on (a) sales (objective measure) and (b) industrial customer‟s perception (subjective measures) of the final product (c) and the market development. The proposed research will focus on the bicycle industry. Research Question: "To what extent Shimano‟s component brands important to Shimano customer, and which actions can Shimano undertake to facilitate its brand‟s further market penetration?" Design/Methodology: Two approaches were used to answer the main research question. First, existing literature on ingredient and co-branding was analyzed. Second, we conducted an experiment on a new direct marketing initiative by Shimano-Europe BV. The initiative is "Reliability" campaign that introduces a service logbook across 8 European countries. Originality/Value: There is no research to this date, which empirically examines the influence of component supplier on sales and perception of ingredient brand, especially in the bicycle industry. Role of service and service network is also examined as one of the crucial influences on ingredient brand management. This research provides the base for further exploration in the area of ingredient branding and give guidelines for Ingredient Brand Management. So far, ingredient branding has been studied in contexts of food, chemical and computer industries. This research examines market leader in bicycle industry on 8 different national markets in Europe. Products supplied by Shimano require service and those products differ from ingredients which are consumed in form of food or apparel (that does not requires any service).

Shared roadways are a cost effective method for providing bicycle facilities in areas with limited right-of-way; shared roadways have automobiles and bicycles operating in the same traveled way. However, shared roadways may negatively affect traffic operations and there is limited guidance on appropriate shared roadways implementation. This thesis has three objectives: evaluate the impact of shared roadways on automobile quality of service, compare automobile quality of service to bicycle quality of service on shared roadways, and provide guidance on the implementation of shared roadways. The author hypothesizes that shared roadways should only be implemented when automobile Level of Service (LOS), bicycle LOS, and facility safety are "acceptable." The author accomplishes the objectives by generating data using microsimulation models. The author uses microsimulation model data to evaluate automobile quality of service on shared roadways. In the evaluation of automobile quality of service, the measures of effectiveness are automobile LOS threshold (the maximum automobile flow-rate before a change in automobile LOS) and automobile average travel speed (the average travel time divided by the segment length, a space mean speed). To compare automobile and bicycle quality of service, the author uses the bicycle LOS model in NCHRP Report 616 to generate bicycle LOS thresholds (the maximum automobile flow-rate before a change in bicycle LOS). After generating bicycle LOS thresholds, the author compares the bicycle LOS thresholds to the automobile LOS thresholds. Finally, the author uses the findings of the investigations to provide guidance on the implementation of shared roadways. In this thesis, the author finds automobile quality of service on shared roadways decreases as automobile free-flow speed, automobile volume, and bicycle volume increase. For most conditions, the author finds bicycle quality of service is better than automobile quality of service on shared roadways. Bicycle quality of service is lower than automobile quality of service with increases in unsignalized access points per mile, signalized intersection crossing distance, and heavy vehicle percent. The author provides guidance on the implementation of shared roadways based upon automobile quality of service.

A multi-speed drive hub is one of important components in transmission system. The purpose of this work is to develop a system methodology for the design of multi-speed bicycle drive hubs. First, analyse multi-speed drive hub patents to identify the basic characteristics and design requirement of multi-speed drive hub. Second, using a systematized mathod to synthesize the feasible gear trains. Third, a method is proposed to determine the feasible multi-speed sequence tables for each gear train. Fourth, an analytic method is formulated to synthesize the gear ratios and gear teeth according to a set of desired speed ratios. Fifth, design and dispose governors of multi-speed drive hubs. The results of this work will be benefit to the development and design of multi-speed bicycle drive hubs.

The positions of high stress concentration in a bicycle frame structure made in composite materials and a way to strengthen them were investigated via SolidWorks and ANSYS, 3D picture plotting software, and numerical simulation software, respectively. The capability of productivity will be improved indirectly due to the shortening of the time in the process of customers¡¦ order, research, development and mass production. In experiment, prepreg tape (TOHO UT500 carbon fiber/AD. Group matrix) which were produced by AD. Group were made into laminates by hot-pressing machine. The material constants of the laminate and the stress-strain diagram were obtained according to the stander of ASTM D3039. The received material constants are E11 =151.55 GPa and E22 = 7.654 GPa, respectively. In simulation, the experimental data E11 and E22 were used in the numerical analysis, and obtained the stress and deformation fields of the bicycle frame structure and the front fork were plotted based on the standards provided by AD. Group. Reinforcements were made according to the positions of stress concentration in the diagrams. The results of improvements of the front fork after reinforcement include¡G the deformation of normal rigidity was improved to 9.45mm from 12.89mm, and the lateral deformation was significantly improved to 0.97mm from 13mm. Other improvements of the frame structure after reinforcement contain the deformation: dual-side rigidity was improved to 6.6mm from 11.7mm, and the deformation of single-side rigidity was improved to 12.5mm. The rigidity of the head lug was 0.46mm and there is no need to reinforce it because it was meets requirements. Keywords: Numerical analysis, bicycle frame, prepreg, stress concentration.

This study is based on the viewpoint of global commodity chains(GCC), to discover the network activities of bicycle industry in Taiwan. But, due to the keen competition , the phenomenon of ¡uHyper-archy competition¡vemerge in bicycle industry . The so called¡uHyper-archy competition¡vindicate that parts factories skip the middle stratum of industry and with the result to promote their competitiveness ; or tighten the original network activities of cooperation , to advance the reachness and richness of information .Namely , to break down the original line-type supply chain relationship of the bicycle industry , transcend the limits of hierarchy and to develop more complete and more diversify network relationship . For this reason , this study focus on the cause and effect of ¡uHyper-archy competition¡v, and to generalize some suggestions to the future.

In 1970s¡Athe assembly factories in Taiwan became the Original Equipment Manufacturing of buyers and become one of the members in the global commodity chains of bicycle. The assembly factories in Taiwan received orders and the technological capacity from buyers and earned very low margin. The topic of my theme is "The status of professional manufacture by the assembly factories in Taiwan"¡Aand it means that the assembly factories in Taiwan had became independent in buyers and became experts in bicycle manufacture. My theme is to study the phenomena and nature of the status of professional manufacture¡Aand to try to research the factors and condition. Last¡AI generalized the development of assembly factories in Taiwan¡Apredicted the future and brought up my suggestion.

­^¤åºK­n A multi-speed drive hub is one of important components in transmission system. The purpose of this work is to develop a system methodology for the design of multi-speed bicycle drive hubs by using a concept of combination. First, identify the basic characteristics and design requirement of combinative multi-speed drive hub. Second, using three combinative the useful gear trains. Third, a method is proposed to determine the feasible multi-speed sequence tables for each gear train. Fourth, an analytic method is formulated to synthesize the gear ratios and gear teeth according to a set of desired speed ratios. Fifth, a computer programs developed for the automatic analysis the transmission performance of drive hubs. The results of this work will be benefit to the development and design of multi-speed bicycle drive hubs.