Inventor, Designer and Engineer - Mark Sanders

Mark Sanders is a mechanical engineer who saw the light (that style does matter!).This British inventor and designer holds more than 20 product invention patents that includes storage, house wares, folding bikes, personal mobility and folding devices. The distinctive triangular folding bike ‘Strida' came from his patented folding technology known as "Integrated Folding", which is used in a series of full-sized folding bikes such as IF Cross, IF Modes and on 20-inch wheeled IF Reach bikes. His latest invention the IF Mode is a full sized 26-inch folding bike that won a coveted "Eurobike Award 2008" in Germany and the "International Forum Design (iF) Gold Product Design Award".

Hi Mark, you are trained as a Mechanical Engineer. What was the appeal that got you started thinking about style?
YES, I love creative engineering - where some of the best innovations in our time have come from such as jet engines, mobile phones, motor cars & bikes. If you look at raw engineering it is all about efficiency, whereas consumer products have to be appealing and desirable. Who would choose a girl or boyfriend based just on their efficiency? As a young engineer I was drawn to combine my creative engineering skills with the more human aspects of design, and I tried to answer such questions as, "what is desirable?", "what is cool?", "what is appealing?" and what works well at an emotional level as well as at an intellectual level. This stuff is fascinating and quite different from engineering where there is usually just one optimum solution in the design.

What is the most difficult aspect in the process of your creation? Is it in the functional or the aesthetics?
I hope this doesn't sound arrogant but I find none of the design process is difficult, because I just love doing it all. The most exciting thing for me is combining the functional and the aesthetic - I firmly believe that both of these need to work in harmony.

Is there a way to describe your style; like a name or concept behind it?
It could be described as a minimalist/organic approach, as I prefer to keep my designs as simple as possible with the fewest components (this also helps for engineering and cost reasons too). I like shapes to be as aesthetically clean as possible and I hate added decorations. Apart from this minimal design (as typified by the IF Mode), I am likewise fascinated by organic design, as in nature.

You designed the first Strida folding bike in 1986 for your Post-Graduate project. What was your driving force or inspiration to do it back then?
I conceived and designed the original Strida at a time when several things happened in my life. I'd just given up a well-paid job to study Masters at London's RCA for Design and the Imperial College in the Mechanical field. Commuting back and forth is a 25 mile journey daily and I have tried various transportation methods, but none seem to work for me. On a more personal note I wanted a project to help me to start my own design business: it had to be reasonably commercial. Finally, I was highly motivated because my younger brother had just been killed in a motorbike accident, so I wanted to make the most of this time.

So in the end I considered buying a folding bike to take on the train or bus, but I couldn't find one that I liked. I believe that unless an innovation is appealing, it will not change the lives of many. I felt that for me to design a new, simple and fun folding bike, it must meet all the needs of being affordable, fun, simple and light.

How did the concept of your "Integrated Folding" technology come about?
After a long break of designing numerous non-bike products, I was invited back in 2000 to re-design Strida for production in Taiwan. We did a survey of bikes in use and found that small wheel folders are only a tiny minority (less than 5% in London) where most people choose large or standard-wheeled bikes. The majority chose their bikes based on perception of ease of pedaling, and emulating bikes used for sport, and lastly but most importantly probably the image it portrays. So I thought about combining the benefits of the latest small folders into a compact, full-sized bike, with the design quality, innovation and value people expect in other personal tools, such as iPods and mobile phones. The rest of it is about engineering it into reality.

Did it come as a surprise winning the "Eurobike Award 2008" for your IF Mode?
The Eurobike award was nice because this comes from a jury of hardened bike industry enthusiasts who normally prefer the fastest and lightest performance machines.

But the most satisfying award the IF Mode has just received is the International Forum Design (iF) Gold Product Design Award. This is an award for the best products internationally and is usually dominated by products from Apple and Sony. This year the IF Mode received a Gold ‘iF' award, along with great products such as the Apple iPhone3G. It is the 1st time in history a folding bike has ever won this award since the awards started in 1953.

Any chance that you may come up with the "One-Touch Folding Bike" like your "One-Touch Can Opener"?
Yes I am working on this and have come up with some initial designs. But now I have to find a suitable manufacturer. The most likely companies have a pretty strict policy which I call "not invented here syndrome", for they are either too busy on their own doing other stuff or they simply lack the technical skills and vision to put it into production. I may make a fully working prototype, but I would prefer to work with an enthusiastic manufacturer and marketing company.
How do you perceive Strida and what are your plans for it for the next five to ten years?
Good question. Strida has matured into a well-rounded product. However, I would really like it to become lighter and have a lower entry cost, with more options and accessories. This is all now up to Ming Cycles who owns 100% of the product. It is a back-handed compliment that there are now many fake Strida's out there, but I hope this will stimulate Ming Cycles to develop the official Strida.

Lastly, do you have any advice or suggestions for potential youngsters or students who want to venture into bike designing?
• Dream, and then make your dream as real as possible - make it, ride it, repeat!
• Design for yourself - to be inspired and excited, and then design for others.
• Design AND Engineer, everybody has good ideas (and CAD), yours must be viable.
• Cost and ease of manufacturing are important - otherwise it's just a "one-off".
• Use standard parts where possible, but don't be ruled by them.
• Low cost bikes need good design too - and this is what business and markets want.
• Image is important. Bikes are like clothes and cars - they express your style.

This article was contributed by SpinAsia magazine, the Sports and Lifestyle Guide for Wheelers.

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