The Simple Machines of a Bicycle was a project created at Parson – The New School of Design. The idea for the project was to visualize a new way in depicting the physics of the simple machines. 

What came into fruition was a set of cards created for education purposes. Each card details – with diagram – the six types of simple machines: the inclined plane, lever, wedge, wheel and axle, pulley, and screw. Apart from an incline, all of the moving parts on a bicycle represents the mechanisms of a simple machine.

All diagrams are printed on transparent acetate. When the cards are aligned with one another, you can see the parts make up the bicycle as a whole.