Design of Lightweight and Highly Efficient Cassette System for Road Bicycle by Using Finite Element Analysis

This study was to accomplish a design process of 10-sp cassette system consisting of different material sprockets and a spider. Main purpose of this design was developing a lightweight and highly efficient cassette system for road bicycle. For this it is necessary to determine the materials and the shapes considering various important factors. Especially sprockets of 10-sp cassette system must become thinner than sprockets of low speed cassettes. Thus it is necessary to carry out a series of structural analyses so as to secure sufficient mechanical strength and rigidity. To verify the safety of this system, a series of finite element analysis was conducted under various boundary conditions. Single sprocket analysis and assembled parts separately were analyzed and compared each other. The analysis results were sufficiently satisfied. In fact how to manufacture the system must be considered.