The MOD project was a great opportunity to do something you would want to do as a 6 year old boy: design your own big wheel. We are not talking about a $49 big wheel at the big box store - we're talking about an aluminum-framed-power-drifting-awesome machine!
Sketch concepts - I did a few quick sizing studies based on current products. The product manager wanted to add a special feature: make it adult-rideable. So the geometry needed to be able to stretch a bit as the child grew. Below the first round of CAD renders for sign off.
We got the first proto back from our vendor (there was still snow on the ground) so we did an indoor test with various aged children. We found a few surprises like the brake levers - too far of reach for such little hands! We modified them accordingly. The painted wheels didn't work as planned on polished concrete either. And below is a bunch of other things we learned/did wrong.
The production MOD launched in 2009
Unintended user scenario: Travis Pastrana. The man took a MOD down a massive ramp and back-flipped it (among other stunts) It is rather amazing he did not break his neck, and amazing the MOD held up to the test!
