12volt generator idea

D - see John Tetz's idea at IHPVA.

I wanted a very light power assist only. Tetz pioneered that.

Other sites say you want something so big and heavy that you then NEED it to accelerate quickly or to go uphill. Basically a motor that can deliver 100W to match the typical rider's 100W.

Today I was looking into the idea of rewiring (or findig ) a hub motor to 12V that
1) has a direct drive and no freewheel, and
2) a planetary gear for better torque.
These ARE quite light compared to the typical alternative.
I like the idea of a constant-draw generator that
1) can be used via battery as a motor
2) charges that battery
3) powers lights at night or
4) powers a car-style cigarette power adapter for various appliances such as
i) music player
ii) cell phone
iii) GPS unit.
On a road trip (or cross country tour), I'm always gonna be using it for those 4 uses anyway, so don't mind the constant draw. So long as it is not too much.

However, not cheap and much hassle to install a hub motor for all that.

I found this decade-old obsolete ZAP Zeta III rim motor.

http://www.zapworld.com/node/1050
There IS 1 on ebay this month. POS with dead battery, but I can do that externally. Plus the battery tek has come a long ways since then. I'd like brushless too but meh.

Clearly this won't deliver much torque. But it lets me explore some ideas.

For brief and strong assist (at 2x the motor capacity, for a short period before the overheating causes permanent damage), the former 12V hub motor is better.
Based on my results with the ZAP, maybe I'll be encouraged to continue this project.
With so little juice, the structural components could be trimmed down to save weight.

Again, I'd note that the steady RPM at the pedal makes the crank and bottom bracket ultimately a much more sensible place to place a dynamo or generator.

I wonder about my 'nitro boost' idea for a brief power surge when you need it using a capacitor array.
When a big dog is chasing you, there is no such thing as too much power!

Cheers.

just for kicks - the penny farthing original bike

http://www.therecord.com/living/article/665529--this-old-thing-penny-farthing-could-be-peddled-for-1-800

Your delightful bicycle, with its different sized wheels, is called an “ordinary” or more commonly a “penny farthing.” This name is a reference to the large penny and the small quarter-penny (farthing) coins used in England in the past.

A Frenchman, Eugene Meyer, is credited with inventing the “high bicycle” around 1870. He based his bicycle design on the theory, the larger the front wheel, the farther one could go with each pump of the pedals. In the 1880s, an Englishman improved on Meyer’s contraption and Victorian England went crazy over penny farthings. There were competitions involving hundreds of bicycles and a plethora of newspaper reportage and cartoons featuring people pulling “headers” (going over the handlebars) or falling backwards when riding uphill. After the invention of the “safety” bicycle that had two identical wheels, the old-fashioned PF was referred to as the “ordinary.”

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D - hmm, the pedal-thru-front-wheel mid-steer concept is a descendant of this.

nice 4 season bike

See bikehugger.

D - I was thinking BMX tires the rest of the season.
With the wide axle for a snow tire.

I recall trying to snow bike in heavy deep snow a few years ago.
Either I leaned over the tire or the rear- but something was always failing to move.
Snow tires, huh?
I bet you could hydroplane in water, with that little ground pressure...
I'd want some spikes too.
Though they wear out in no time.

I was thinking recessed studs that only extend above a certain tire pressure, so as to not wear out snow tires with studs on not-so-snowy days. Asphalt proved brutal.

D - put a folding joint on a BMX-y bike like this, and you have a well rounded bike.

Aside- I'm pondering whether I can accomplish my cargo requirements on a 48 inch vs 60 inch base. I had pondered a 'stretch' SWB bent bike with a LWB wheel base.
Well, the sticking point is fitting cargo. My rucksack-as-seat-back concept means I need about an additional foot of storage space behind the seat back.

One solution that does involve extending the wheelbase would be a highly unusual luggage rack. Basically I'd want it higher and farther back- to the point of hanging more BEHIND the rear tire than ABOVE it. This would involve a frame near the rear tire axle that has an elevated and offset 'axle rack mount', as well as a faux standard seat tube to attach it to.
I am very unimpressed with the stability of dual-suspension mountain bike racks. Even after replacing that aluminum t-joint that failed with steel, the whole thing is still pretty wobbly. But then I mounted a steel ammo box on top too.
That is without any cargo in the folding racks on each side.

My proposed scheme would involve 2 folding baskets - plus a rear and centre small steel ammo box for sealed/secure storage. Plastic is light- and flimsy. Plus a guy in town with one said the joint eventually fails. Steel lasts.
Keep in mind the whole rack luggage setup must be higher than normal, while keeping mass as low as possible. The folding luggage racks carry my heavy groceries.
I was still pondering a 3rd luggage rack top and centre over the rear tire for light stuff. For groceries, that would allow a minimax of stable handling and cargo storage. However, for a tour bike I am finding this requirement in competition with a decent tapered rear countour from the sides. If I don't slap a box on the sides over luggage, I guess the left-right and centre folding racks would work.
Keep in mind the whole design also includes a full-size ruck sack.

Folding point: particularly is planning a 60 inch wheelbase, I'd want the bike to fold. I'd like the option to throw it on a Greyhound bus in storage, for example. Or for it not to occupy most of a hotel room.
Fitting in a tent foyer would be nice too. Else I need a 2-person tent if I wanna shelter it.
I figured a folding hinge so it goes over the top vs side in movement fits my last design. My last design has 2 side-by-side off-centre left-right parallel tubes for structure.

hammerschmidt alternative to schlumf drive

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Truvativ-HammerSchmidt-Preview-2008.html

22/36 or 24/38 gear range.
• 1: 1 or Overdrive ranges. 1:1 means the chainring does one full revolution with every pedal stroke. Overdrive is approximately 1:1.6.

Expect the HammerSchmidt to cost between $700 and $800 for the Bottom Bracket, Crank arms and Trigger shifter. Available starting December of this year.

2011 Truvativ HammerSchmidt All Mountain Crankset. Item: TRV118 ActualWeight:"Actual Weight" means we weighed this item ourselves. 1467 g; $649.00 ...

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http://www.schlumpf.ch/hp/sd/sd_engl.htm

1.65x.

Weight

Including spindle, bearings and spider, excluding chainring and cranks: 790g (46 tooth chainring with chainring bolts: 90g, cranks 220g each).
Please compare the total weight of speed-drive with the total weight of a triple chainring set including shifter, cable, derailleur. Example: Shimano Altus (48/38/28 teeth): weight incl. right crankarm: 1255g

D - not really sure what advantage the topic unit offers.

Slightly heavier, costs more.

D - I cannot find an updated gear calculator for all the new drives.

The K-Calc doesn't display properly with their new reduced window size. Lacks many newew gear hubs. Another site wouldn't load at all.

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I remain wistful. If I could get a recumbent 'one size fits all' belt instead of chain, I could use it in all 'bent bikes. The weight savings for the long chainline would be considerable.

http://www.schlumpf.ch/hp/zr/zr_engl.htm

strange front suspension

D - I saw what initially appeared to be a standard cruiser at the local bicycle shop.

Looking closer, it had a squat lil' spring shock mounted inside the frame just above and behind the front steering tube. I have never seen anything like that before!

http://www.bikepro.com/products/stems/soft.html

D - it looked a bit like this, but was inside the bike frame triangle.

Intriguing, since it raises the suspension to , say, inside a fairing on a 'bent bike.

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Aside - for the purpose of my internal-chainline-in-bike-frame SWB 'bent concept, I may have figured out a better way to set up a Freelight dynamo. Basically, I set up kind of a 'mirror image' chainring on the left hand side of the frame (keep in mind the frame is dual side-by-side tubes).

I need clearance away from ferrous frame parts.

I have often lamented that Shimano has the patent on a bottom bracket dynamo, but is not building one- they're just sitting on it. My thought experiment to build one externally went nowhere- I simply could not non-invasively get the clearances required.

Anyway, the pedals spin at pretty much the same rate at any speed, about 60-90rpm, regardless of bike speed - unlike the tires! So the pedals seems the place to locate a dynamo.

By placing the magnets on the edge the rim of a flat disc mounted on the crank axle, we should manage to keep the magnet, mounted on a boom, away from the mass of steel bike parts.

This has the benefit with my proposed bike design to even appear pleasingly symmetrical with the chainring located in the 'mirror image' opposition position.

Possibly inserts to extend the pedals out, often used for those with knee pain, will be needed to gain the necessary clearances.

I've thought through my Freelight 'amber sideways running light' idea.

I've decided that the 3 (not 4) single row LEDs are ideal. I can chop the base so the 3 aim over a broad range of angles. This should address any sideways directions not addressed by the front or rear lights. LEDs are notoriously highly directional.

Who knows- maybe a dynamo could power a music player, or a cell phone on standby when not in use powering lights. This would require more complex power management.

Most current mobile phones currently have standby power in the range of 150 to 300 mW.

I'm thinking about how to incorporate brake/signal lights mounted on the extra-wide 3-basket rear luggage rack.

The left-hand frame tube can be used to route all necessary power cables.

wireless bicycle brake

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111013085105.htm

To brake with the wireless brake, a cyclist has just to clench the rubber grip on the right handle. The more tightly the grip is clenched, the harder the disk brake on the front wheel works. It seems as if a ghost hand is in play, but a combination of several electronic components enables the braking. Integrated in the rubber grip is a pressure sensor, which activates a sender if a specified pressure threshold is crossed. The sender is integrated in a blue plastic box which is the size of a cigarette packet and is attached to the handlebar. Its radio signals are sent to a receiver attached at the end of the bicycle's fork. The receiver forwards the signal to an actuator, transforming the radio signal into the mechanical power by which the disk brake is activated. To enhance reliability, there are additional senders attached to the bicycle. These repeatedly send the same signal. In this way, the scientists hope to ensure that the signal arrives at the receiver in time, even if the connection causes a delay or fails.

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D: fancy. Clean looking.

But just running the cables inside the frame can accomplish that.

Update- getting bro-in-law civ engie to run stress calcs on my what-if bike frame.

See 'my entry into bicycle design contest'.

2 parallel side-by-side tubes need to match the strength of a SWB's single monolithic boom.

Note that mine is not perforated by the central tubes from steering and seat post.

My latest tweak makes keeping water out easier.

The chain return line is line with the bottom bracket now.

alfine 11 gear not cheap

http://www.bicyclestore.com.au/shimano-alfine-sg-s700-11-speed-internal-hub.html

$555.
Ouch.

Again, my concern is the lack of a very efficient direct drive gear.