OSET Bikes

OSET Bikes is the world leader in the design and manufacture of electric trials and motocross motorcycles. They started out making electric trials bikes for small children, and as the company have grown so too has their range such that they now have  an ever expanding range catering from 2–18 year olds – and beyond.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership

OSET are working with the University of Brighton as part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) . The partnership will take OSET to the next level in the design and development of their electric motorbikes, and specifically will bring an innovative adult trials bike to market.

The project aims to embed a scientifically informed design process to streamline and optimise electric trials bike design and implement the formalised design process to bring an innovative adult trials bike to market. This will involve the development of game changing electronic interfaces for the bikes, allowing riders to control the bike in novel and innovative ways to get the best out of their performance.

Thinking big

OSET are a small company who are growing very quickly – membership of the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform introduced them to the concept of partnering with a range of experts who can really bring rigour to the development of their next wave of products to boost them to the next level in terms of engineering, in terms of design, in terms of manufacturing.

More powerful adult bikes pose a number of design challenges and to effectively and efficiently design high performance adult bikes which counter these challenges, OSET need to develop a scientifically informed design process. They need the diverse expertise brought by the three academics on this project to enable them to do this.

University approach and expertise

Utilising expertise in simulation modelling, engineering design and instrumentation, and electronic control the team will develop a range of experimental testbeds and instrumented electric bikes to provide a complete engineering understanding of what’s happening inside the bike but also at the human-machine interface.

Ian Smith, Chief Executive of OSET, said:

“New products are the lifeblood of OSET, and the market can be very fast moving. This KTP project has brought testing and design protocols in-house, streamlined the development process and added value and science that was missing before. It has given us an edge allowing us to retain our number one position in our market.”