Carleton Reid of commutebybike.com gets Gary Fisher talking about bikes as transport and the future of cargo bikes. Find the podcast link here (Gary begins at the three minute mark).

I preferred Gary Fisher's podcast, but a related video (mentioned in the podcast) is John Burke, President of Trek Bicycles, giving a presentation to the Bike Industry:

An online survey of student response to Luther's Bike Share Program was administered May 7-12, 2008. 91 students responded. Bicycles at the time consisted of five Sun Atlas cruisers (three Specialized Globe Elite IG8s were added following the 2007/08 school year) .

Related/Background Links:
http://publicinformation.luther.edu/200809/may/misc/bikeshare.html
http://chips.luther.edu/2008/04/17/bike-share-program-launches.html

Students were asked:

One goal of this program is to reduce student driving. Do you have any other ideas of how to reduce student driving, through a bike program or any other program?

My electric-assist xtracycle had already proven that it was good for commuting, grocery shopping and running errands around town, but I was a little hesitant to use it for long distance travel. The motor and battery add an extra 30 lbs (14kg) - a lot of dead weight when your battery runs out at the base of a hill. When I set out to ride the 70 miles from Davis to Vallejo, I knew I would have to pace myself and use the throttle wisely.

• Riding time: 5 hours, 15 minutes
• Average Speed: 13.2 mph (21.4 km/h)
• Electricity usage: 12.32 Ah or 456.94 Wh
• Distance: 70 mi (113 km)
• "Fuel Economy": 6.5 Wh/mi (4 Wh/km)
• Cost of electricity: $0.07 @ California's rate of $0.15/kWh

My bicycle will turn one year old in a of couple weeks, and today's ride demonstrated to me that it's as healthy as ever. It even had the power to tow another cyclist three miles to the nearest bike shop so he could repair his broken chain. I'm impressed - two weeks ago, I was getting less than 10 miles per charge. Here's the rundown:

Data from the Cycle Analyst:

Other Measured Data:

Notes:

• The ride begin following a complete overnight charge.
• My pedaling was casual, but relatively continuous.
• Start and finish location were the same.
• I unplugged the charger at 11:30 a.m. and reconnected it in at 2:45 p.m. (3 hours 15 minutes later). Green light on charger appeared 4 hours later, and I believe this occurs at roughly 80% charged
• 98% of the ride was on pavement.
• 4 miles involved carrying 15-20 lbs of groceries
• 3 miles involved towing a 160 lb rider on his mountain bike.
• One WideLoader was attached to Xtracycle.
• Road in upright, mountain bike position [ 90% of time] and sitting on Xtracycle Deck and holding onto the seat (slightly more aerodynamic) [10% of time].

Electric Bicycle Overview

• Battery is LiFePO4, 36V 12Ah, purchased from eBikes.ca. I installed the replacement BMS provided by eBikes.ca, less than a week ago.
• Battery Charger is 45V 2.5A
• Electric Hub is Crystalyte 406
• Controller is 24-72V 20A Pedal First Brushless
• Bicycle frame is 1999 Trek 8500, fork is Pace RC31, tires are Continental Touring Plus (26x1.75) @ 60psi, Xtracycle conversion, and 7-14 gears, depending on whether rider is willing to reach down and manually shift the front gear, or adept enough to kick it with his or her foot.

The battery on my Electric Xtracycle is 36 volts (V) and 12 amp hours (Ah). The trouble I was having with the battery was that it had degraded to a point where even on a full charge, I was only able to use 5Ah out of the theoretical 12Ah, meaning I could only travel 8 miles per charge instead of 20. Something had to be done. BMS Replacement

Two NYC cyclists. 3min 47sec of cycling beauty. Watch it in HD.

It's Your Ride from Cinecycle on Vimeo.

Ever wanted to generate electricity with your bicycle? Maybe even power your laptop computer by riding your bike? That's what I set out to do when I ripped an alternator out of a 1980s Ford Fiesta...

Pedal Powered ComputerIt's Portable Too...

As much as I'd like to see airline travelers riding bikes to and from distant airports, I have to admit: for now it's a foolish idea. Here's why:

A new folding bike that you'd actually feel safe riding is going to cost roughly $700 to $2000+. If you are going to purchase the bike bag/case along with it, add another $250-400.

For the flight, you'll have a one-way baggage fee ranging from

• free (perhaps on an intl. flight), to
• $15-$25 (a folding bike that can squeeze down to 62 linear inches (i.e., length + width + height) - and you'd better hope they don't know it's a bike), to
• $175 for a full-size bike box on Northwest Airlines

If you plan on riding off into the sunset upon landing, your adventure has just begun. For starters, you'll be needing lights.

Here we have November's Critical Mass ride in the Davis, California. Listen and you'll notice we rolled alongside some very capable audio equipment nailed to an old burley child trailer.

Time-lapse video of me packing a Surly Traveler's Check (a full-size, S & S coupled cyclocross bike) into the backpack that with a little luck, will meet the standard baggage requirements at the airport and save me $160 one-way (rates for bike luggage just went up) on my domestic flight with Northwest Airlines. I did also manage to fit front and rear racks and fenders in the backpack.

The city of Madison, Wisconsin, has found a way to use solar power to make bicycle commuting a little bit safer and easier: 37 photovoltaic lampposts line a stretch of bike path near the University of Wisconsin. Although the initial expense is likely high, the lights could provide an educational resource and an option where electricity is not easily accessible. Video report here.

Madison Bike Path

This story won't be complete without some audio and video, but you will find a few pics in the gallery of a bike that's a little louder, a little less stable, and from what I hear, won't be needing a bell anymore.

Another electric bicycle showed up to the Iowa Renewable Energy Expo this past weekend, and it turns out the owner is from Decorah: Dale Kittleson. I am unsure of specifics and would like to talk with Dale more, but from our brief encounter, my guess is that he is running the BD36 Ebike Kit from Wilderness Energy on a Specialized Expedition (circa 2003). He mentioned battery power comes from a series of three 12V 12ah sealed Lead Acid batteries and the controller is immediate start (rather than pedal first. Read more for an additional photo.

Specialized Expedition E-Bike

The University of Northern Iowa has assembled a pedal power demonstration station which allows riders to directly compare the energy required to light 60-100 Watt incandescent bulbs with the energy to light 15-30W CFL bulbs. Using a bicycle, a 300 Watt DC permanent magnet motor, a deep cycle battery, and a metered switch box containing several types of light bulbs, the station allows students to quickly discover the increased efficiency of CFLs. Bicycle powered light bulbs

The electric-assist Xtracycle is working great. After four months, the kinks have been worked out, and the bike is now a very practical method of transportation. Modification from the original include: a rear fender (to keep the bottom of the snap deck clean, the top part of a hurdle zip-tied to the freeradical (to keep the battery from bouncing and the fender eyelets from putting holes in the battery),