Any good at design and engineering? If so then here are some problems you might be able to help solve. There might even be a prize from a team or two if you can make it happen.Embed from Getty ImagesRace radiosLove them or loathe them, race radios are in use. But theyre literally a pain to wear, a hard block. They can make a crash worse if a rider lands on it too. So why not design a radio unit that fits inside a bike frame and with a charging port? All a rider needs is a bluetooth earpiece.One advantage would be the bike weight now includes the radio so some models that require ballast to meet the UCIs 6.8kg rule may no longer need this. A custom radio would be lighter as most devices used are marketed as rugged devices and come with features like displays and buttons that arent needed. Theres even the chance for a longer aerial to help improve the signal.One disadvantage is it would be harder to change during a race in case of a problem but if a rider drops back to the team car to change their radio well they can drop back for a bike change too.Sticky bottlesTalking of dropping back to the team car, once upon a time a rider would go back to fetch bottles. It still happens, but increasingly teams post staff on the race route to hand up food and drink. Only how many times have you seen a rider try to get a bottle from a soigneur only to drop it? In quieter moments of a race its a brief moment of excitement: catch or fumble?This matters because riders are taking on a lot of calories and so a missed bottle can mean dehydration and a missed fuelling. Teams with big resources can post staff all along the route and even then a missed drink can be a penalty. But imagine the problem for a small team, their disadvantages can compound if one opportunity missed.Its not easy taking a bidon at speed. Theyre made to slide in and out of a bottle cage, not to grab at speed. But as theyre so important in a race could this change? How about a bottle that has some grip on the outside like dimples or a shaped like a decagon, ie with 10 sides. What about gloves with more rubber or silicone grip on them to help rather than just the faux-suede finish?Fork steerer tubesOnce upon a time you had to spend a while aligning your saddle to ensure it pointed forwards, that it was straight. Now many bikes have D-shaped seatposts, supposedly more aero but they are aligned to start with. Why not extend this to fork steerer columns so the stem is straight from the get-go, either D-shaped, square, octagonal or whatever?Now before you rush to the comments to say the bars can twist in a crash, a round steerer tube helps slide rather than snap, sure. But cynically this hasnt prevented other innovation and there is a trade-off, instant fitting versus durability. A stumbling block could be a common system across the industry.Adjustable ventsOnce upon a time bike helmets had to be as vented as possible, that was the selling point. Now plenty are vaunted for aerodynamics but this can come at the cost of cooling. But what if you could have a helmet where you can slide the vents closed just in time for the final kilometres of a race, especially one ending in a sprint? This way you can stay cool for 95% of the race and then get any tiny gains for when the pace is high. There are regulations about casings and coverings but theyre typically about parts that are added to the helmet rather than built-in.Bearing sizeGot some fancy climbing wheels? You can have a pair that weighs under 1,200g, or 950g if you use rim brakes. Lightweight hubs can help here, and smaller bearings are a part of this. But as any skater knows, bigger bearings are crucial for lower rolling resistance.Its an open question but without naming names hubs on regular wheels can have surprisingly tiny bearings on the axles, often way smaller than the bottom bracket and they might be specced once the rest of the hub has been designed, so flange size comes first. The torsional force is not the same as the BB but still the hub bearings are expected to spin even more so there might be some watts to be saved here at the expense of weight.Safety pinsThese work when it comes to pinning on a number, but its a chore. Plus theyve worked in the jersey era but are less useful for todays stretchy speedsuits where a pin in the wrong place can tear the number, the kit or both. A crash or just a sudden movement can result in annoying acupuncture mid-race too.Theres already the use of pockets made by the likes of Nopinz of course but the point is theyre OK for UCI time trials but not allowed in road races. So short of the rules changing, invent another system. The Tour de France had adhesive dossards but no longer.Of course having a jersey with a permanent number printed on it would be better. But thats less a design and engineering topic and more one of economics and politics. Organisers like to attribute the numbers and sometimes the numbers are sponsored so theyd be reluctant here. While, say, U1 could be Pogaars number for UAE and V1 for Vingegaard at Visma, with Alpecin, Arka and Astana its not so obvious to have the [letter]-[number] system.Smaller rear disc brakesDo rotors and calipers need to be as powerful at the back as the front? Arguably not, so the design brief here is a system to help balance the braking and help save weight. You can have different rotor diameters today, but instead why not go further with a redesign with lighter calipers too.Magnetic thru-axlesA quick-release skewer was just that. Borrowing from Tulio Campagnolo who invented the quick-release lever in response to needing to swap over his backwheel each time he needed the lower or higher sprocket on each side, somethings got to change today too.Pro mechanics can change a disc-brake wheel with a thru-axle reasonably but one risk is fumbling with the axle. They use impact wrenches to unscrew the axle like a motorsport pit mechanic and then pull the thru-axle out of the way to put the spare wheel in before putting the axle back and then tightening. If there was a way to ensure the thru-axle says on the end of the impact wrench until its torqued back in place and the wrench is pulled away this could save time and stop the axle rolling around in the dirt.ConclusionThings are still used because they always have been, like safety pins. And readers with actual engineering specialisms might have views on hub bearings. Some suggestions are more pro-cycling only rather than every day consumers so less of a commercial imperative. But among the pro-issue only there probably is a design prize and even an order book for an inbuilt race radio, at least one team has explored this. Feel free to add your suggestions for problems that need solving.The post Engineering Ideas first appeared on The Inner Ring.