davintosh

Wow! I bumped into this site a couple of days ago, and am just amazed… An electric motorized bicycle that costs more than some motorcycles. The Optibike probably represents the state-of-the-art in electric powered bikes, and is a very impressive piece of machinery, but hokey pete… $13,000? for a bicycle?

That price is the base price for their high-end model — the OB1 — which boasts an 850 watt motor, lithium ion battery, disk brakes, aluminum monocoque frame, carbon fiber wheels (and carbon fiber everything else it seems), full suspension wireless PDA interface for battery monitoring with built-in GPS(!)… The list goes on. The OB1 (wonder if the designer was a Star Wars fan) is pretty much custom built, and can be painted any way you like. Like I said, it’s their high-end model, and commands a high-end price.

The OB1 is also designed to be able to go 57 miles on a charge, at speeds of 35mph and up, so the high end is impressive. What amazes me is that they are able to package it all in such a svelte frame; no bulky batteries hanging off in odd places, no bulky hub motor making it look out of place… It just looks like a bike. At least until it passes an Olympic-level cyclist like he’s standing still, and the rider isn’t even pedaling.

The lineup also includes three other models; the 800Li, the 600Li, and the 400, priced at $8,995, $7,995, & $4,995 respectively. The models differ in the power output of the motors and the level of componentry hanging on the common frame. All of the Optibike models have in common the Motorized Bottom Bracket (MBB), a patented mechanism that combines a geared motor with the bike’s bottom bracket. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information on the site about how the MBB works.

Very cool gear. Spendy, but very cool.

I was a little too old for the Big Wheel when they hit the big time back in the early ’70′s, but I remember thinking how cool they were. The big draw was those fat rear tires and the power slide lever on the back end. Those little squirts riding these things down a hill, hitting the brake, and spinning/sliding to a stop was just too much.

Turns out that there are adults(?) with fond memories of riding Big Wheels, and still do ride them! BigWheelRally.com exists to bring together people for, what else; Big Wheel rallies, where they ride their Big Wheels down hills in and around Boulder, CO. I kinda wondered about the pedaling thing… A Big Wheel is nearly impossible for all but the shortest adults to pedal, so many of the trikes are modified to fit. Their photo gallery shows some interesting looking trikes, and also some rally shots, with some awesome looking downhill races. For the downhill races, it looks like many used trikes without pedals, using footpegs instead, which makes sense considering the damage a spinning pedal could cause on a downhill run.

BigWheelRally.com sells Big Wheels, and offers tips on modding a Big Wheel to better withstand an adult rider’s weight. Larger Big Wheel-style trikes can also be purchased from BigWheelRally.com, although it looks like some are getting more difficult to source.

Another site that hosts Big Wheel events is BYOBW (Bring Your Own Big Wheel). BYOBW is based in San Francisco, and for a few years held its big event on Lombard Street, but has since been relocated to Vermont Street. No surprise; they draw a crowd.

I thought sure I wrote a post about Henry Workcycles earlier, but I guess it was only on Gadgetopia.

Henry Workcycles creates bikes that are beyond unique and beyond cool, built to fit some very specific uses:

Hauling kids…

Hauling, um, stuff. Note the sturdy platform over the front wheel…

Hauling even more stuff…

Hauling a bible (this one is known as the “Preacher’s Bike”)

So many great looking machines made by these people… I’m sure there are a lot of other builders that make similar bikes in that part of the world, but Henry Workcycles has a great web presence (and in English too!) As neat as these bikes are, my knees combined with even the minor hills around here make them the stuff of daydreams for me. In the Netherlands however… a totally different story. There the terrain is much flatter, lending itself to large, heavy bikes carrying heavy loads. The hills around here aren’t enormous by any measure, but I still wouldn’t want to be pedaling a monster like that flatbed cargo bike up the hill to my house. My knees hurt just thinking about that.

I like bikes, and I like things made of wood. And holy cow, I had no idea you could combine the two on this level… I’ve seen some nice bikes before, but this… This is a thing of beauty. A work of art.

This bike was produced by Renovo Hardwood Bicycles, where else, but in Portland, Oregon. “Wood is natures carbon fiber” they say. They hand pick hardwoods for their frames, and use a CNC machine for shaping & hollowing out the four pieces that comprise each main triangle, and bonded finger joints where the pieces intersect and the halves are joined in the middle.

They call the frames “heirloom quality”, and I’d have to agree. I don’t know how well they ride, but my guess is that they are as stiff yet supple as Renovo claims. And this is something you’d definitely want to bequeath to your kids, and they’d love to inherit.

Semper Velo

I’d like to take a shot at building a wood frame bike like this, although I couldn’t match Renovo’s build quality. The finger joints would be the difficult thing to reproduce with the tools I have on hand, but it might be possible to use lap joints at the three main joints, with the wood forming gussets at those joints as well. Three layers of overlapping 5″ wide, 1″ thick planks in four sections to form the triangle might just work… Build a solid prototype from something soft like Douglas Fir to see how it works, then go to a hardwood with hollow tube centers… Even if it didn’t work as a bike, it’d make a great wall decoration. This could be fun!

The boys and I are still planning on building a rowbike of some kind — at least I am, but they’re getting a little impatient wondering when we’re going to get started. I’ve been trying to source cheap/free frame materials and trying to figure out in my head how to construct the thing, and think I’ve come upon an idea that will finally get this project rolling… build the frame out of plywood.

Plywood construction in bikes isn’t a new idea at all; I found plenty of links online from people who have gone through similar projects, apparently with a decent level of success. This site is a build diary of sorts where a number of students built recumbents using a laminated plywood & foam sandwich construction… Very cool.

One other site I found that’s worth mentioning is the manytracks.com Woody Project. There he took stock bike parts, made some modifications to them, built a frame from lumber & plywood, and it looks like it’d work.

I really like the plywood/foam sandwich construction for the rowbike concept because you don’t have the twisting that happens on a pedal bike in the area of the bottom bracket; all the torque in a rowbike is linear. Sounds like a match made in heaven for a guy with few welding skills and less welding equipment, but wields a pretty mean scroll saw.

That same group also built recumbent bikes using carbon fiber a couple of years later; perhaps that’ll be our next garage project…

Tomorrow is the 7th Annual Sioux Falls Bike To Work Day. The electric is ready to roll, so I’ll be there, even if it is a long way out of my way. Who can pass up free pancakes?

As the number 8 kid in a family of 9, I rarely got anything new. Most of it was hand-me-downs from one of the older siblings. There were exceptions though; Mom worked at the J.C. Penney store downtown when we were kids and got in on some great deals, and we reaped the windfall from that at Christmas and birthdays.

One notable win for me was the bike I got one year. I don’t remember if it was a birthday or Christmas or what, but it was the coolest bike ever.

It had everything a bike needed for a kid in his early teens; chopper styling, banana seat, racing-style handlebars, red line racing slick on back, 5 speeds — and not just 5 speeds, but 5 speeds with a stick shift! — a parking brake… All I could saw was “Wow!” I was so excited I said it backwards too; “!woW”

Mom saved everything. With the exception of those things that Dad didn’t think we needed to keep and Mom was unable to hide from him. While the bike probably didn’t fare well under Dad’s care during our 1978 move, I’m thankful that the Assembly Instructions and Service Manual for the Model 3-1124A Foremost 20″ Eliminator Mark II – 5 Speed bike remained in Mom’s care. It was one of the things that Mom gave to me years ago. I had it tucked away in some old papers & photos, and came across it again the other day. Brings back loads of memories.

Like the time that Jamie and I hacksawed the forks off a neighbor’s junk bike sitting in the alley, then jammed the fork ends of this bike. The forks came off a 27″ bike, and the only thing holding the forks on was friction. Worked fine while we worked on it and it wasn’t moving. Then I took it for a little ride; things went ok until I hit a bump in the sidewalk. The results were predictable. It amazes me that I didn’t do more damage to my head back then, before anyone even thought of wearing a helmet while riding a bike.

Then there was the time all the neighborhood kids were pretending to be Evel Kneivel with homemade ramps, jumping over other neighborhood kids brave enough to lie on the sidewalk behind the ramp… I don’t remember ever doing well at that, probably because few kids were brave enough to let me jump over them — I wasn’t known for a slim figure or great athletic skills back then, plus this Swinger bike I had probably weighed in at 50 pounds or so. But dang, it was cool.

I wish I could find a color photo of it, but a half hour of Googling didn’t get me anywhere but this close. I think the frame and the seat were yellow, with some psychedelic thing going on with the chainguard. I did learn that that style of bike has come to be known as “musclebikes”, which is both apt and interesting.

If anybody stumbles across this and has a photo of one, please please please drop me a line. Or at least leave a comment.

I’ve long wondered if building a bike frame from bamboo or some other wood species would be practical… I guess so, because Calfee Design has been doing it for a while now.

What it comes down to is having a good set of lugs is the main thing — that sets the stage for getting all the components in proper alignment and the proper position. The main job of the tubing is to connect the lugs with a mix of rigidity and suppleness for the degree of performance and comfort you want, whatever material is used. Calfee uses carbon fiber lugs (or hemp fiber, “for the all-natural look.”)

Very, very cool idea. A little expensive, and a little quirky, but very cool.

Here’s another unique pedal-powered machine; the AutoCanoe^TM.

The Autocanoe Is a Pedal Powered Amphibious Recumbent Tricycle and a Roadable Pedal Canoe! The configuration is that of a Recumbent Tricycle with the two forward wheels driving and the single rear wheel steering both on land and in the water. It can travel over the road and through the water with comfort and grace. Transitions from land to water and back are accomplished smoothly and seamlessly without leaving your seat. On the road it is stable and secure. On the water it is tractable and relaxing. This human powered vehicle appeals to bicycle enthusiasts as well as wooden boat fans.

It was built by some guy in Washington state; he thought it was a great enough idea that he trademarked the name and is selling plans for $30 a pop. The thing looks like it’d be kinda fun on the water, but getting anywhere on land would be difficult. It’s got to weigh a ton, and can’t be very maneuverable (or very fast). Look at that front overhang; you’d almost have to build a steel plate into the prow of the thing for all the approaches you’d be smacking into.

I’ve been planning to buy an electric conversion kit for one of my bikes for a while now, and finally got the money and the CFO’s blessing last week, and ordered one. It’s due to arrive on Saturday. But that’s another story for another post, because Fortune smiled on me tonight.

Ian had a flat on his bike, so we stopped by Spoke-n-Sport to pick up some tubes tonight. I had emailed Chad, the owner, earlier asking about ebikes, so he knew I was interested. He was there tonight & asked if I had received the email he sent about the two Giant LaFree electric bikes one of his customers was looking to sell. I had seen the email, but hadn’t contacted the owner about them because I had already decided on the hub motor kit. Good thing, because the owner had bought new bikes and traded in the old ones. Chad wasn’t sure how much work it was going to be to get them running again — the owner said that one of them had a major problem but wasn’t sure about the other — so he was just looking to get rid of them. He said that if I didn’t want them he was probably just going to dump them. So, being the pack rat scavenger that I am, I couldn’t say no.

The bikes look like they’ve spent more time in the garage than on the road; a little dusty, but very little wear on anything. The burgundy one is missing the bottom plastics, and by turning the crank I can tell that that’s the problem child. The silver one seems to be ok. I plugged the batteries in, and they appeared to be charging; so far so good. Then, on a whim, I check the batteries just before bed, and one is showing a green light — charged. So, on another whim I pop the battery into the silver bike; nothing. Pop it into the burgundy bike & fiddle with the key and I get what sounds like an error beep and one LED lit on the battery level indicator. Pop it back in the silver, fiddle with it’s key, and get full battery lights! Cranking on the throttle doesn’t do anything, so on another whim I roll it to the driveway & hop on. And whaddyaknow! It works!

This is the first time I’ve ridden an electric bike, and the first time since 1986 that I’ve ridden any 2-wheeled conveyance that isn’t powered by me, so it was great having the wind in my hair again. I’m glad it was 11pm; the darkness hid my ear-to-ear smile from the neighbors. The ride was great. Went around the block a couple of times & discovered that the motor only engages when the pedals are turning. You don’t have to be pushing to get it to engage, only a token spin is required. And because the motor is ahead of the crank, it drives the chain, which also uses a standard 7-speed freewheel; that allows the motor to work in conjunction with the gears. Gear down to go up hills, and gear up for the flats. Pedal harder to give the motor some assist to go a little faster and get a little more life out of the batteries.

I couldn’t be more pleased to have a working bike without having to fix it. The other bike I’ll keep around for scavenging or selling parts. The frame may one day be incorporated into a hub-drive electric, but that’s gonna take some work. Especially getting rid of the girl frame look. Lessee… a tube across the top and a plastic fairing in between? That might be a start.