RECREATING A CLASSIC BIKE FRAME

Commissioned by a company in South Korea, this restoration project involved reverse engineering a 1960s bike frame using only old photographs. Working from the images alone I reverse engineered the full frame geometry in Autodesk Inventor, built a complete 3D model, and produced a detailed exploded view drawing with full dimensions. Frame geometry was extracted by analysing proportional relationships across multiple images and cross referencing to eliminate perspective distortion. The frame was modelled in steel tube with tube diameters and wall thicknesses confirmed by the manufacturer before the drawings were finalised. Critical joints including the head tube, bottom bracket, and seat tube cluster were given particular attention since these are the highest stress locations on any bike frame. Where assumptions were necessary they were flagged and confirmed with the client before proceeding. The project was completed in two weeks and the drawings went directly into production and restoration.