Wednesday, October 14, 2009

folding bike. thought on bike rack 'n bent bike

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/amiiva_folding.php

I'd post a pic, but my POS IMac won't let me change title in 'save as'. Grr..

Re: bent bike.
A short wheelbase could have a pivot for the front boom.
It could hinge up and overtop of the seat area.
This would allow it to pretend to be a normal bike to fit in a bus bike rack.

I reiterate that a swan-neck-like curvature would also allow it to absorb energy on impact.

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I was looking at some high-end city-cruiser bike concept.
It weighed in at only 35 lbs with high quality steel components.
But with the same motif but aluminum... 20-30 lbs??

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Cruzbikes - been riding mine lotsa.
The 24" youth frame tires mean I spin out going downhill at all.
I swapped out a cog but the chainring would have been prohibitively expensive to swap out.
I have wayyyy too many low end gears.
Stability of the frame means I cannot spin in very low torque slower than a certain speed.
I'm sure I have a handful of redundant low end gears.

Starting on an incline, what a bugger!
I am all about the power assist on takeoff.
I think on a decent hill, if I stopped, I'd be screwed.
Which is likely, since the front wheel drive starts skipping due to lack of traction.

That front boom, even with aluminum cranks, is massive!
Yup this kit would be sooo much better out of aluminum for the tubing.
It would also work with motif better.
Honestly the thin steel parts would look more at home on a road-bike frame.

I seem to have finally worked the kinks out of the chain and gearing.

To reiterate the kit should
1) not have 2 kits of parts and instructions
2) should have the additional neck adapter
3) a kickstand mount for a bottom bracket and
4) a locking mechanism to keep the front boom in line with the bike frame while parked

I'm curious how light an all-aluminum frame would be if I chopped up two beaters and just cobbled them together.
The seat would need to do all the adjusting, of course.
I'm also curious about under-seat-steering.

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Thoughts on this winter's project- designing the Mark II aka cheap Greenmachine knockoff.

Yup I'm thinking a brief, high torque electric (or air) power assist is a good idea.
It addresses a limitation of a SWB 'bent frame.
I'm thinking Tetz's lite power assist, but with a buncha capacitors that can slowly charge off of a battery. Alternatively it could use power conditioning of a wheel dynamo. I wonder how hard the Reelight kit would be to adapt.
I'm intrigued by powering a USB appliance like my music player.
5v, 500 ma it appears.

I rather like the idea of the generic cigarette car adapter.
On a lower 'bent, the idea of a cattle prod for dogs sounds pretty good! <:

http://www3.telus.net/chemelec/Projects/Stun-Gun/Stun-Gun.htm

9v, 80-225ma.

The brief hi-torque power assist power supply would be well suited to this.

http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?AD=1&ArticleID=7951
With 10x the power of a battery.
Plus I learned the hard way that many batteries die in sub-zero celsius weather.
Which just makes the Reelight more attractive!
Which could charge capacitors...

I'm gonna ask Tetz about this.

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