what cad software is best for a designing a bike

gizza666

gizza666

Likes Bikes
I have desgined a bike on paper and went to make a 3d cad render and was wandering what the best cad program is to use to design the bike.
 
Ive done a couple of quick designs with AutoCAD 2007 but only in 2D not 3D. This software is good for 3D, I just didn't try. What software have you got access to? Most of the newer CAD programs and similar programs are set up to do 3D
 
You can download a free student version of Autodesk Inventor - which is an awesome mechanical 3D package, used extensively in industry, or Solidworks - which is also a mechanical 3D package used extensively. Not bike specific programs but will have everything you will ever need to design a bike.
 
Another vote for Solidworks. But unless you plan on using it for a business it'll be costly, get a student license if you can. There is also a great online parts library where you can download loads of parts like bolts, bearings etc. Alot of manufactures actually make their products available as dumb solids so you can use them in your models. Quite easy to export 3d info to get stuff cnc'd or 2d plans to take to show someone what your after.

Inventor is brillliant, but after 5 years of using it you'll still feel like you're scratching the surface with what it's capable of. It's the sort of software that gets used for designing very large complex models, like an entire piece of minimng equip for example.

Pro-E, never used it myself but most people I know that use it aren't fans.

SolidEdge - another one I've never used, but seems to get a fair bit of use.

Rhino. My current favourite. Useful for very organic shapes as well as models without too many complex parts or surfaces.Coupled with scripting plug-ins things get pretty fun. It's relativley easy to get started on and not as expensive as Solidworks for example. I use this with Maxwell Render for most of my modelling/Render work.

There are some half decent free modelling programs about, but many of them escape me at the moment. Plenty of crap one though. Never tried that Google sketch-up.

Download a free trial and do some tutorials and see which one feels the most natural.


Edit Forgot to mention 3D Max. It won't output 2D plans, but is reasonably easy to model with and get good renders with.
 
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backdoor said:
Another vote for Solidworks. But unless you plan on using it for a business it'll be costly, get a student license if you can. There is also a great online parts library where you can download loads of parts like bolts, bearings etc. Alot of manufactures actually make their products available as dumb solids so you can use them in your models. Quite easy to export 3d info to get stuff cnc'd or 2d plans to take to show someone what your after.

Inventor is brillliant, but after 5 years of using it you'll still feel like you're scratching the surface with what it's capable of. It's the sort of software that gets used for designing very large complex models, like an entire piece of minimng equip for example.

Pro-E, never used it myself but most people I know that use it aren't fans.
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yeah, i make whole longwall mining systems with inventor
its good, definitely enough to make a whole bicycle (including all the fork & shock internals)

solidworks i have used, and it will easily do it

pro-E wouldnt have any troubles either i dont think

another one i know of is Catia, from the sounds of it it could do it
havent used it personally

get something 3D though, dont burn yourself out trying to solve 3 dimensional problems in 2D :confused:0
 
CAD Software

I' m a fifth year Mech Eng. Student, we predominantly use Solidworks for design work. It is very easy to learn from a beginners perspective and ideal for creating engineering drawings and construction diagrams. Student versions are also widely available and there is a range of tutorials covering tube frame model design available on Youtube.

However if you are looking to perform FEA (Design Optimization for maximum strength or less weight) analyzing areas such as weld joins can be difficult. The basic Solidworks package is very limited in this regard however you can purchase Cosmosworks (which is essentially an expansion package which provides this functionality)

AutoDesk Inventor is also excellent and provides additional functionality beyond Solidworks in terms of Advanced Assemblies and Mechanical Interactions. There are student editions available for download from the Autodesk website.

Catia is very expensive and there is a fairly steep learning curve, I would only recommend this if you have access to it at your School /TAFE/ Uni, not for individual purchase. Although I should mention that it offers the greatest functionality of the CAD packages mentioned and has previously been used to design aircraft such as the A380 and the Boeing 777. In other words it is more then capable of creating an accurate model of bike.

Overall Solidworks would be the best for basic frame modeling from a beginners perspective.

Regards,


Michael
 
BikeCAD Pro

NSR said:
Can you get it for mac?
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Yes, BikeCAD Pro runs on any operating system. Here's a video showing how to install on a Mac:

[video=youtube;POuTAmYnzQ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POuTAmYnzQ0[/video]

Here's a video showing some of the features in the latest update:

[video=youtube;46W-Czsn-zk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46W-Czsn-zk[/video]
 
Thanks for the help guys. I have applied for a student version of autodesk software as it looks good. ill be sure to upload some of my designs to see what you all think.

cherrs
 
FoxRidersCo said:
If you want a good piece of software for designing and checking different suspension linkages there is a program called "Linkage", it includes data files for alot of existing frame suspension models.

http://www.bikechecker.com/home.phtml
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Good program for suspension and getting your pivot locations, but you need a full package for design.

I use SolidWorks and Catia, depending on what I'm doing. Autocad is for construction dwgs only, the 3d side is terrible.

Hot tip....I'm quite sure that if you went to a site that had the words ISO and hunt somewhere in it and searched for terms like Solid; Works and other such key software name like workds, you'd get what you seek.

Cosmos is a pretty poor FEA package IMO and FEA in the hands of an un-learnered user is pretty useless at doing anything but creating nice colours.
 
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