Case Study: a boutique mountain bike company eliminates suspension link fatigue failures with NOVO Engineering FEA redesign

a boutique mountain bike company eliminates rocker failures and keeps suspension links in production since 2009 with NOVO Engineering

A boutique mountain bike company engaged NOVO Engineering after experiencing fatigue failures with its patented rocker-style suspension link. The challenge was to determine the cause of these failures and implement a design optimization that would eliminate them. The final design also needed to be lighter and incorporate new cosmetic elements while maintaining the link's low energy loss advantage.

NOVO Engineering utilized finite element analysis (FEA) to model dynamic loads and identify the cause of the fatigue failure. This allowed for rapid design iterations that converged on a final, cosmetically enhanced rocker. The solution designed by NOVO Engineering resulted in a part that was both stronger and lighter than the client's target. The design passed all life-cycle tests and has been in constant production since 2009.