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Welcome to Prototype Projects
Evari Bikes case study
School days, sketch days
School days for Evari Bikes owner and managing director, Craig McDonald, were sketch days; his schoolbooks were full of bike drawings, he loved the aesthetics. He grew up racing BMX and motocross, and for most of Craig’s life, mountain biking has been a constant.
Design and engineering has always been such an important part of Craig’s life and he ran a VFX production company for 20 years creating launch films for Jaguar/Landrover, Ford, Honda F1 and many other automotive brands.
Every good idea starts with research
When Craig saw the first iteration of E-Bikes in 2012 – big and bulky – he began sketching. Drawing on his experience of modelling in 3D, Craig saw the opportunity to cross over into designing E-Bikes. Fast forward to 2018, Craig, along with his wife Julia, founded Evari Bikes.
With a vision of designing and building beautiful carbon fibre E-Bikes, Craig spent three years researching, designing, developing and prototyping.
Through his UK research, he developed close relationships with CPI (Centre for Process Innovation) who advised on the use of graphene, and AMRC (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) who work with McLaren and Boeing.
Designing the Evari 856 E-Bike
Alongside the research, Craig set about designing his company’s first E-Bike, the Evari 856, which will be available to buy from 2022. Refreshing his design skillset along the way, Craig poured all his technical biking knowledge into the design.
He opted to incorporate a Gates Carbon Drive which needs to be under a certain tension. Here, Craig realised he needed to develop a tension arm to work with the Drive and set about looking for a prototyping partner who might have the relevant expertise.
Craig searched for a local prototyping partner and found Prototype Projects. He talked with the team about his vision and the need for some engineering expertise for the Drive.
Recognising Craig’s need for design as well as prototyping, Prototype Projects recommended Cambridge Design Technology (CDT) for the design element.
Craig said:
“The combination of working with Cambridge Design Technology and Prototype Projects was ideal. It’s been a nice working relationship. We were up against the clock, but Prototype Projects were able to machine the parts fast, enabling us to be event-ready.”
Winning at EuroBike
With the bike designed, prototyped and finalised ready for manufacture, Craig applied to EuroBike 2020 to see how it would fare amongst the competition. After a rigorous process, Evari Bikes reached the final, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. In 2021, Craig applied again and, once more, reached the final from a staggering 250 applicants.
He headed to Germany for the show in September 2021.
The Evari 856 E-Bike was a Start-Up Winner with one of the judges commenting “it’s like driving a Porsche”.
Craig said:
“We were thrilled to pick up the EuroBike 2021 Winner award. We’ve worked hard to develop this carbon framed all-terrain bike. Working with Prototype Projects enabled us to finalise this last part of the bike and ensured we were ready for EuroBike. The team at Prototype Projects has the technical know-how; they were very willing to dedicate their time and expertise to help us realise the Evari 856. The quality of the parts was second to none, the turnaround time was very quick, and their customer service was fantastic.”
About us
Prototype Projects, established in 1980, is a specialist in the manufacture of prototypes. We are experienced in 3D Printing, CNC Machining, Rapid Prototyping, Model Making and Additive Manufacturing. We’re located in Royston, Hertfordshire.
As a leading prototyping company we provide a completely integrated design-to-production service including, model making, rapid prototyping, 3D printing, finishing and additive manufacturing of production parts.
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To find out more about us and the services we offer, please read on.
Your parts. Your process.
We offer a wide range of 3D printing solutions as well as CNC machining & milling, vacuum casting and laser cutting.
- 3D Printing
- SLA – Stereolithography
- SLS – Selective Laser Sintering
- PµSL – Projection Micro Stereolithography
- DLP – Digital Light Projection
- CNC – Computer Numerical Control Milling (4 Axis) & Turning
- Vacuum Casting
- Laser Cutting
- Model Making
Your parts. Your speed.
3D Printing
We offer these dispatch options for 3D printing so you can have your parts at your speed:
- Express: next day dispatch if ordered before 4.30pm*
- Standard: in 3 working days
- Economy: in 5 working days
Click here to find out more about our service levels and dispatch methods.
CNC Machining
We offer these dispatch options for CNC machining so you can have your parts at your speed:
- Express: in 3 working days
- Standard: in 7 working days
- Economy: in 12 working days
Your parts. Your finish.
3D Printing
Depending on the purpose of the part, we offer a range of different finishing levels available on all 3D printing. Below is an overview:
Using our specialist graining process, SLS and SLA parts can be textured, giving them an ‘Off Tool’ look, such as leather or other natural materials. It is also possible to apply surface texturing to DLP parts.
We offer a consistent and repeatable SLS dyeing service, using our ‘Print-to-Product’ workflow. SLS parts can be precision dyed in virtually any colour. In addition to SLS dyeing, all models can be spray painted in our Paint Shop.
Click here to find out more about our 3D Printing finishing options.
CNC Machining
We offer an extensive range of finishing options for CNC machined prototype parts. Below is an overview:
Finishes can be applied for aesthetics or functionality – including EMI/RFI shielding on plastic parts – with the choice being heavily dependent on the base material.
We have in-house facilities for both wet painting and manual polishing. Other processes, such as anodising and powder coating, can be subcontracted to local specialists.
Click here to find out more about our CNC Machining finishing options.