That's odd I noticed this on some vector art just two minutes before seeing this story.
https://www.cyclotricity.com/uk/custom/mix-match-your-own-co...
What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
21–30 of 191 posts
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#22There seems to be two things tested in this exercise. Technical drawing capabilities and knowledge of bicycle mechanics. I assume most people that drew bicycles have ridden one, but there are a few basic common mistakes. The location of the pedals (closer to rear wheel, very near to floor), the way the chain operate, and the triangle frame are some examples. I did not notice anyone drawing details around the gear mec…
Ask people to draw the powertrain or running gear of a car and you'd get much the same result.
Is that a good comparison? How often does the average person actually see either of those things? The reason it's surprising that people struggle to draw bikes from memory is that most of us see them all the time.
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#23I wonder why such a high percentage of females attached the chain the the front wheel in their drawings edit: a better way to phrase it would probably be: Of the drawings where the chain was attached to the front wheel, I wonder why such a large majority were done by females
I was surprised at the number of drawings that connected the front & rear wheels directly. I'm sure those would be fun to ride...
Also the number of bikes that were just structurally unsound, such as just the seat-stay attached to the rear wheel. Quite likely first bump you hit, things would not end well (if it even took that long). I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I did take a single class on statics in college, and that's enough for me to see that things would not end well (at least with current materials I'm aware of).
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#24Drawing and painting is almost entirely a visual skill. The mechanical skills of wielding a pencil or mixing paint are almost trivial; the hard part is being able to see what's actually there. A bicycle is an incredibly simple visual form. You can doodle one in about five seconds. They're not rare or unusual objects and they're relatively homogenous. Nonetheless, most people have never actually seen a bicycle. They'v…
At least for me, the mechanical skill with the pencil does hold me back for non-organic shapes. I have trouble sketching things I can see clearly, but its not significantly harder for things I am only familiar with. For example, if I tried to sketch my bike, I would have no trouble getting the structure correct, but I would have trouble getting smooth wheels.
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#25I had to go look up pictures of actual bikes to confirm what (I think) is wrong with the lead picture. I also wonder how I would have done in the blind.
For any still not seeing it: The chain stay from the bottom bracket is missing. The rear wheel should be held by a triangular arrangement of the frame, but the side of the triangle that runs parallel to the ground isn’t there
Finding that particular omission just feels like visual trickery, rather than anything to do with knowing how a bike works.
Like any number of puzzle books that include a "find the missing X!" and friends.
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#26I'm looking at the third one down and wondering: why aren't all-wheel-drive bikes a thing? (Well, steering...)
I guess there is such a thing: http://christinibicycles.com/ – sounds pretty complicated: 'A handlebar-mounted switch controls the AWD “shift on the fly” clutch. When the clutch is engaged, the rear spiral gear interlocks with the rear hub and power is transferred via internal shafts to the forward spiral gear set, which drives the CHRISTINI freehub. Due to a slight gearing differential, the front wheel is not actively powered on smooth level ground. However, the moment the rear wheel slips, power is instantaneously transferred to the front wheel. Similarly, the moment that the front wheel decelerates, as in hitting a rock or starting to wash out in a corner, power and traction are transferred to the front wheel.'
Makes me wonder if you could make an electric-assist bike where the assist was on the front wheel, thus saving all the complicated mechanical power transfer. I also suspect driving the front wheel feels crazy on a bike and I just don't realize it.
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#27Reminds of of Character Amnesia[1] phenomenon, where people can forget how to write Chinese/Japanese characters, even though they know how to read them.
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#28I had to go look up pictures of actual bikes to confirm what (I think) is wrong with the lead picture. I also wonder how I would have done in the blind.
For any still not seeing it: The chain stay from the bottom bracket is missing. The rear wheel should be held by a triangular arrangement of the frame, but the side of the triangle that runs parallel to the ground isn’t there
The single joint between the down tube and the head tube is probably not mechanically very strong, either.
Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#29Re: What happens when you ask people to draw a bike (2016)
#30I wonder why such a high percentage of females attached the chain the the front wheel in their drawings edit: a better way to phrase it would probably be: Of the drawings where the chain was attached to the front wheel, I wonder why such a large majority were done by females
I was surprised at the number of drawings that connected the front & rear wheels directly. I'm sure those would be fun to ride... Also the number of bikes that were just structurally unsound, such as just the seat-stay attached to the rear wheel. Quite likely first bump you hit, things would not end well (if it even took that long). I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I did take a single class on statics in college, a…
Agreed, some of the frames were surprising and quite funny. I've never ridden a bike professionally, or even as a serious hobby, but I would've guessed that way more people would at least get the general frame shape of a rhombus with 2 connected corners and the fork coming down from the front edge.