Many consumers have experienced the frustrations of using a product with sub-par performance. With household consumption of products and services contributing to over 60% of greenhouse gas emissions (Ivanova et al., 2015), engineers and designers are obliged to make stronger considerations towards creating effective and robust products. In many cases these frustrations could be mitigated by applying engineering design techniques throughout the product development process: producing designs with intent to meet product performance criteria and provide users with greater satisfaction. This research exemplifies the engineering design process of a general-purpose mountain bike suspension system from concept to a manufacturable design. A host of different elements are incorporated, such as the implications of how suspension mechanisms affect the physical forces and perceived feelings on a bicycle, ergonomics, and how these considerations can all be amalgamated into one manufacturable design. Many of the techniques used throughout this design process, and the idea of optimising of the relevant performance criteria, can be applied to a huge array of other projects to minimise the environmental impact of wasteful products in sectors beyond mountain bikes.