To provide data for fatigue life prediction and testing of structural compo
nents in off-road bicycles, the objective of the research described herein
was to quantify the loads input to an off-road bicycle as a result of surfa
ce-induced lends. A fully instrumented test bicycle was equipped with dynam
ometers at the pedals, handlebars, and hubs to measure all in-plane structu
ral loads acting through points of contact between the bicycle and both the
rider and the ground. A portable data acquisition system carried by the st
anding rider allowed, for the first lime, this loading information to be co
llected during extended off-road testing. In all, seven experienced riders
rode a downhill trail test section with the test bicycle in both front-susp
ension and full-suspension configurations. The load histories were used qua
ntitatively to describe the load components through the computation of mean
s, standard deviations, amplitude probability density functions, and power
spectral density functions. For the standing position, the coefficients of
variation for the load components normal to the ground were greater than 1.
2 for handlebar forces and 0.3 and 0.5-0.6 for the pedal and hub forces, re
spectively. Thus, the relative contribution of the dynamic loading was much
greater than the static loading at the handlebars but less so at the pedal
s and hubs. As indicated bg the rainflow count, high amplitude loading was
developed approaching 3 and 5 limes the weight of the test subjects at the
front and rear wheels, respectively. The power spectral densities showed th
at energy was concentrated in the band 0-50 Hz. Through stress computations
and knowledge of material properties. the data can be used analytically to
predict the fatigue life of important structural components such as those
for steering. The data can also be used to develop a fatigue testing protoc
ol for verifying analytical predictions of fatigue life.