Saturday, March 28, 2009

good gear hubs never cheaper

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/sale-new-nuvinci-cvt-bicycle-hubs-25619.html?s=d766ec1a1c0b353705bfac53baf0222c&

I am selling 5 brand new (in sealed boxes) NuVinci Hubs 32 hole hubs for $275 each including Priority Mail Shipping with Insurance.

A friend asked me to help him sell these NuVinci Hubs, that he purchased wholesale, for a small production run of Ebikes that drive through the gears. He really likes the hubs for manual use. For his ebikes he decided he wanted something that shifted up in regular increments because he could manage his watt usage better (both motor and pedaling are through the rear hub).

He paid $300 apiece for them. He said to sell them for $275 each ("lets get rid of them") including priority mail shipping with insurance.

D: I have seen some on sale for about that.

Watch out for the 'controller not included' prices though!

Imotion9:

http://www.amazon.com/i-Motion-9-Speed-Internal-Bicycle-135mm/dp/B0013HM7QY

D: IM9 should be lighter, more efficient.
NV more cool, 'n sooo easy to automate gear changing. Up. Down.

A 350% range is practical for most commuters.
Don't try offroad, severe hills or loads, or racing though.

Schlumph Hyperdrive or Mountaindrive is an option.
Not cheap.
http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/mountain_drive.shtml

Bicycle Forest has one on a teardrop trike.
http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/hub_picker.shtml

D: might be best to pay upfront.
Although one can also retrofit with a Schlumph later.
The range WITH the Rohloff would be insane.
Watch the gear inches and torque ratio stuff though.

Using a mountain drive (2.5:1 reduction) with a Rohloff will void the warrenty on the Rohloff hub. As the input is too low

Sure, a maintained new bike is more efficient.
But hubs are no fuss, no muss!

I've had quite a few bikes rust out.

Easy to seal all away with sealed hubs.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

rail road riding bike


http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/railrider-travel-in-style.php

http://www.railriders.net/index1.html

D: I had a daydream somewhat like this.
Rails in town had been cordoned off for bicycle use.
Bikes had clamps on the wheels that let them stay upright on rails.
For roads, they arced over in bridges.

I saw suspended walkways in Detroit. I imagine that is mostly viewed as a nice place to mug folks.


Still, something covered against the weather would be nice.

Needless to say, I imagined recumbents.
But I got to thinking.
If one partitions off the left/right side, and forced air at stations one way or the other, then at say 30kph wind folks are getting a 'power assist'.
Simpler than tricking out every bike with a power assist.

A full fairing on a recumbent is less an issue with a wheel clamp to keep it upright.
No chance of accidents blocking the way.

Close your eyes. Imagine cycle tubes elevated above traffic.
Getting to work by going 30kph non stop.
(Optional turnoffs as per trains).
All those little human powered bikes flitting about.
Nice, huh?