Cory and his Surly 1X1

Here is a brief profile of a recent, happy customer who took delivery of a custom-assembled bike by Cycle 9. One reason for profiling Cory is to get the word out that Cycle 9 is not just an "electric bike" store. Some people have come to see us that way. It really hit home recently, when one of our friends went out and purchased a new commuting bike, without even having a look at what we had to offer in our store. Seeing that we have a full inventory of non-electric commuting bikes by Marin, Breezer, Surly, and Downtube, I was a bit offended. But since I talk about electric bikes and electric conversion kits so often, it is understandable that some people think Cycle 9 = electric. We are actually about getting people to ride their bikes more, whether electrified or not. Bikes are the ultimate local transportation solution, and we're here to help people realize that.

Cory with his brand new Surly 1X1, with Nuvinci continuous variable hub (not an electric bike).

Cory wanted a better way to commute that was virtually maintenance-free, like a singlespeed would be. However, his commute involves traversing hills with over 20% grades, often carrying a loaded backpack. He didn't feel that this would be practical on an every day basis with a singlespeed bike. With Cory's input, we came up with a great solution for him. We started with Surly's great singlespeed platform, the 1x1. We added to it an internally geared, continuously variable hub by Nuvinci, with a custom wheel built by Cycle 9. On top of that there are nice touches like the Surly Mr Whirly crankset and Soma Noah's arc handlebars, and Cory has a bike that is rock solid, will require very minimal maintenance, and gives him an extensive gear range for hill climbing. This is a bike that will still be running in 20 years. It was not inexpensive, but it will far outlast many of the less expensive bikes, being a much better bargain in the long run.

This is the kind of solution we're here to help people with.

Paperhand puppet show bike shuttle report

Earlier this month, we got a call from Tami Schwerin of the Abundance Foundation, about a local event they were hosting. Would we be willing to shuttle local celebrities using our cargo bikes, built for hauling people? We're always happy to participate in these events, so the answer was SURE - What's the event?


Turns out this was a great local confluence of people working to make a change in our community. The event was the World Premier of a documentary film about the Paperhand Puppet Intervention. This is not the puppet show you remember from Sesame Street. The Paperhand people are a bunch of social advocates who make giant puppets that are controlled by several people with long poles, and it is amazing how lifelike they can seem. At one of their shows that I attended, my then 3-year old daughter thought one of them WAS real (and kind of scary as it was 20 feet high) and wouldn't go within 100 yards of it, even when it was propped in the corner and unmoving. The mission of Paperhand is to advocate for social change and inspire people through art. Every year (among other events), the group puts on a show at the Forest Theater, a very cool outdoor amphitheater in Chapel Hill, NC made with stone steps and towers. (I actually first found out about the group because I wanted to see some kind of show at the Forest Theater.)  The show is set around a theme and includes giant puppets, masks, stilt walkers, great music and TONS of community. Every show I've been to has been packed with people. 

Delivering a Happy Customer

In 2007, the Southern Documentary Fund sponsored Fork in the Road Films to p
roduce "A Puppet Intervention", a documentary about the group. The film follows them through the production of show "A Shoe for Your Foot" which was about simplicity and finding the beauty in everyday. July 11 was the world premier of the film and was to be attended by many supporters of Paperhand. The premier was located outdoors at the Piedmont Biofuels complex in Pittsboro, NC. 



After getting a bit of a late start on the evening and rushing off, we arrived to find Abundance Foundation founders Tami and Lyle in a happy mood, sipping beer, and preparing for the guests. A large sheet hung on the side of the barn w
here the movie would be shown, a tent was set up for popcorn, beer, local homemade italian ice and other delicacies,  and a Hollywood style Green Carpet was laid out on the grass, complete with side ropes to hold back the paparazzi. When guests arrived, they would be shuttled to the Green Carpet using our bikes, a bio-diesal car, or a lawn cart, and then an announcer would welcome them as they walked down the carpet and joined the event. 



Soon, guests started arriving, and this was no ordinary event. People were decked out in their finest: full length gowns, ties and suits, and wild and crazy wigs and costumes. We went to work offering people celebrity shuttles. 
At first, there was some reluctance to take us up. Ride on a bike? People had never heard of it. Some thought it would be too hard for us or it was just too strange for them. One or two really wanted to ride in the convertible. But soon, the walk from the parking lot got longer and we got better at convincing people to try it. (When have you ever had this opportunity before?).

 Many people were very happy to have a ride and try something new. This was a fun group after all. Morgan even gave both Tami and Lyle ride in the bucket bike (the Madsen) and delivered them safely. In the end there were many smiles and laughs as people figured out it was actually comfortable AND FUN to ride on the back of a bike. 

After about an hour of shuttling guests, most people had arrived and it was time for the movie. We had neglected to bring chairs to sit on, so we just rolled the 
bikes over and sat on them - perfect solution. The filmaker, Mark Barroso, took the mic and started to make a few remarks just as it started raining. Fortunately the rain was light, and everyone sat through a 10 minute shower in their fancy clothes and lawn chairs - says something about the dedication of the group. The rain stopped and the film was on. About an hour long, the movie followed the 2007 paperhand show from the idea stage through the final production. I thought it was really well done and it left me with a great feeling about this group and what they do for our community.  I was really happy to be part of this and to meet some more of the great people who make up our little corner of the world.

Paperhand leaders Donovan Zimmerman and Jan Burger

If you want to see the film, it will be shown again at the Carrboro Century Center on July 31st. 

Read more about the Paperhand Puppet Intervention or the Abundance Foundation.

-Elise

The state of things

It's been a while since I posted to the Cycle 9 blog. The hiatus was in part due to a lot of grant writing that I had to do for my day job. There's this thing called the "stimulus" that congress passed, and they are trying to stimulate scientific research. And so government agencies like the National Institutes of Health are accepting grant proposals to spend the stimulus money. Well, since I work at a major research university (the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), I was obliged to write some grant proposals. With all the grant writing, the blog was left a bit lonely.

But in the background, a lot has been going on at Cycle 9, in terms of bike stuff. Let's see what I can dig up from the recesses of my memory:

• We got a few of the Marin hardtail mountain bikes in stock. Some folks had asked for a more aggressive looking bike for their everyday riding, and the Marin bikes fit the bill. They make a great platform for an everyday commuter bike, or for an electric conversion. We're not about to switch over to carrying a whole shopful of full suspension mountain bikes. I love mountain biking, but that's not what the store is about. We're here to promote transportation and utility biking. And we have the mountain bikes for people who prefer the look and feel of that to a more road oriented bike.
• We have lots of kids bikes in stock from Marin. They make a nice lineup. We also have the "running bikes". These are bikes without pedals, that the kids use by "running" along while seated on the bike - kind of like Flinstones. My daughter learned how to bike this way, and it was a lot faster that learning how to deal with pedals. Once she was balancing on the running bike, then moving over to a regular pedal bike without training wheels was easy.
• We're getting some of the new "electric mountain drive" assist kits in from Ecospeed. It is a chain-drive electric assist, that has the advantage of using the bike's existing gear set. So they are claimed to be better for steep hill climbing, and to have better efficiency than hub motors. We'll be testing one out extensively, and we'll also have a demo in the shop.
• Speaking of demo bikes, we are also a Stokemonkey dealer (the only one on the East Coast!), and now have a Surly Big Dummy utility bike (great for kid and grocery hauling), with the Stokemonkey installed. The Stokemonkey is like the Ecospeed, but it is designed specifically for cargo bikes like the Xtracycle, Big Dummy, and Yuba Mundo. It is a very high efficiency, quiet motor setup that has power for big loads and very steep hills. Come try it out!
• If you want to charge your electric bike battery faster, we now have a new line of chargers in for the long-life LiFePO4 (lithium ion) battery type. One of them is a dual-voltage dual-amperage charger that puts out 9 amps in "fast charge" mode, fast enough to recharge a 10 amp-hour pack in just over an hour. But since charging batteries fast too often may shorten their life, this charger also has a 4 amp slower-charging mode, that will take 2-3 hours for a full charge. Not only that, it has dual voltage, so it can charge either a 36 volt or a 48 volt pack, at either current rate! We have a few 20A/48V chargers for large electric vehicle batteries. And we have some 6 amp dual-voltage chargers (36 and 48V). In this first run, we only have a few of each kind. Once they're gone, they're gone for a while.
• We now have the small Day 6 frames in stock, available for a test ride. The Day 6 is an extremely comfortable ride like a recumbent bike, but it is more upright. Several folks have come in to try the Day 6 before or after testing a Townie at another bike shop in town, and a lot of them prefer the comfort of the Day 6. The new small frames are designed for people 5'3" and under.

I'm sure there is a lot more to talk about, but let's save that for another post. I want to talk about the economy for a few moments.

Lots of people seem to think we've got green shoots. It would probably be best for our shop to just pretend that is the case and act as if everything is going to be hunky dory tomorrow. But sorry folks, it isn't. I'm a bit of an economics junkie. I do a lot of reading. And there's an elephant in the room. That elephant is:

DEBT

If I could have used a larger font for that word, I would have. The reason why is I want to emphasize the scale of the problem. Our country is in hawk. Under water. We've sold off our children's future to the pawnbrokers.

This has all happened before... during the 20's. See, back then a similar thing happened. There got to be a very few rich industrialists at the top of the pyramid, and a lot of other folks who were quite poor. The disparity between rich and poor got more and more extreme. But most people didn't know it - because there was a debt bubble. So, while people were getting poorer, they kept feeling richer - because they got more and more in debt. That was the roaring 20's, until it came to a screeching halt in the crash of '29. But ironically, in 1930 there were newspaper reports very much like our "green shoots" reports now. Everything was going to go back to normal. Things would start roaring again. And what happened next? It was three more years until the economy would bottom out in 1933. The middle class was eviscerated. So were the poor folks. A few rich folks were just fine, but everyone else was not. There was a debt hangover that had to be cured.

Well, our debt as a country is bigger now than it was at the height of the great depression, when FDR was doing all-out government spending to try to dig this country out of the mess. Obama is trying to spend our way out of it - but the problem is, the spending is all in the form of ever more debt (not that the alternative of outright printing is any better). But our country can't handle more debt. Our creditors like the Chinese are getting sick of lending us money - because they don't see how we'll pay it back. And they're the only ones lending these days.

To bring it back to bikes, here's the thing: we import well over $500 billion per year in foreign oil. What do we trade this for? Debt, debt, and more debt. Not anything real - the US doesn't produce all that much anymore, except debt, and dollars (which represent debt).

I frequently have conversations with folks about oil. People seem to think there is a "glut" of oil, and that oil prices should come back down. Well, aside from the fact that the "glut" consists of only 20-30 days worth of US oil consumption, there is a much bigger fact being ignored: the price we pay at the pump is a direct correlation to the strength or weakness of the dollar. If the dollar gets stronger, that means oil and gas get cheaper for us. If the dollar gets weaker, that means oil and gas are more expensive for us. The dollar got a lot stronger last winter, which is a major reason why gas prices dropped. Now the dollar is weakening again. While it could do anything over the next 6-12 months (go up or down), the long-term prognosis is absolutely clear: there are too many dollars in the system, and our creditors are getting tired of taking those dollars in return for real, tangible things like oil and manufactured goods. This will not be dollar positive. What that means is that, even if we ignore the major geological constraints on oil supplies (i.e. peak oil), that it is very likely to get much more expensive for us at the pump in the future. We can "drill baby, drill" all we want, and it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what we import.

So, folks, be prepared for increasing costs in the future. Unless our government and the Federal Reserve bank manage to pull off a miracle of getting an economic recovery while holding the dollar's value, we will be paying more and more at the pump.

And cap-n-trade isn't going to help, either. I'm anti pollution and anti-CO2 being released, but this cap and trade thing has me mad. It is just another scheme for some very rich folks to get even richer trading in carbon credits. It would have been far better to just be honest about it and charge a direct carbon tax. And then to use that tax to build things like bike paths, rail lines, and etc. But, no, we'll just let some rich folks get richer, and we will all pay more money at the pump.

So, anyway, why would you want to buy a bike in this economy? Because bikes are one of the very cheapest ways to get around for short and medium-distance trips. Far cheaper than a car. For anyone who is struggling financially and asking "can I afford a bike" - if you can't afford a bike (at least a used one), then you definitely cannot afford a car. Each month of owning a car costs as much as buying a typical low-end transportation bike. Think about gas, insurance, repairs, and parking. Just the other day, someone I know had to pay over $300 to fix the electric window opener on her car. She had a sudden insight - all it takes is a few such repairs, and an electric bike would be paid for.

It's funny that occasionally when I'm riding along on the road, some guy in a big pickup will honk or something, trying to tell me to get off the road. I'm sure that most of these folks consider themselves US patriots. But how can they be patriots when they are dependent on foreign oil? When they are contributing to our large US debt, that will weaken our currency?

There was an interesting discussion on the RootsRadicals about the effect that having a US flag on the bike has with folks who might otherwise treat cyclists with disdain.

In that vein, we're going to do a t-shirt. Here's a mock-up/draft version:

This t-shirt points out that it is patriotic to ride your bike and free our country from foreign oil. Maybe it will help some drivers who "don't get it" to start figuring it out. We hope to have this shirt ready in August. Drop us a line if you want one. They'll be printed right here in North Carolina using organic cotton and chemical free dyes.

Happy 4th, I hope everyone had a great celebration of our country's independence - and I hope we have many more to come.

Bike ride to Triad Electric Vehicles Association meeting

Today I just got back from a nice bike trip with my daughter, to the Triad Electric Vehicles Association meeting, in Burlington, NC. I was invited to their monthly meeting to give a presentation about Lithium batteries and battery management systems, since some of the members are starting to contemplate moving away from lead acid batteries. In fact, two of the members have recently commissioned us to build custom packs for their EV's.

We rode over there on my electrified Surly Big Dummy, with an eZee electric kit on front. We had 3 different LiFePo4 battery packs (48V x 10 amp hour (Ah), 2 x 36V x 10 amp hour, totaling about 1200 watt hours, which equals a 100 watt lightb

ulb running for 12 hours). I didn't really expect to use that much battery power on the 33-mile each way ride, but I brought them for show and tell (and glad I did). I also brought some BMS boards (designed by the folks on Endless Sphere), PSI cells, and more. We also had all our overnight gear. So the bike was well loaded with us and all our stuff. I estimate that the gross vehicle weight was close to 400 lbs with us included.

While a round-trip 65 mile bike ride may not sound like a big deal to some folks who ride their road bikes 60+ miles in a day, this was a ride with precious cargo on the back, and a fully loaded bike, on some sections of busy road. I planned the route using Bikely.com, which allows mapping out a route using Google maps. I tried to choose a lower-traffic route most of the way, but some high-traffic stretches were unavoidable (why don't they put shoulders on the roads in this part of the USA????)

We started out mid Friday afternoon, hoping to make it there before the main rush hour traffic hit. As soon as we got on the road, there were some serious headwinds. The national weather service reports winds averaging 15mph, with gusts up to 43 mph - coming straight from the direction we were going. I was sooooo glad to have electric assist. That would have been a miserable ride without. At one point, I was going full throttle (using about 1,200 watts) and pedaling full tilt, on flat ground into the wind, and only going about 15 miles per hour. Without electric, that would have been about 6 miles per hour. There were also some nice hills, too (totaling about 1,200 feet of up and down). Without electric, and with that headwind, the trip would have easily taken at least 4 hours. Despite the winds, we made it there in 1hr 45 min, at an average speed of just under 18 mph. But we burned up way more energy than I planned - about 24 watt hours per mil

e. (i.e., four miles riding would equal a 100 watt light bulb running for an hour). I had planned on 20 watt hours per mile. Glad I had those extra batteries!

Jack, one of TEVA's leaders, graciously hosted us for the evening and let us crash at his place. We had a nice dinner and after-dinner discussion about quantum mechanics, consciousness, God, and evolution (I am making slow progress on a book about these subjects). We also had the obligatory discussion of the current financial "crisis". Anyway, to bed very late, and up somewhat early next morning to head out for the meeting.

So I'm not someone to get shy in front of groups of people, since I give scientific lectures fairly regularly (just gave one last Thursday to an audience of 40-50 people). But this group was a bit intimidating, because there was only one other woman present, and it was about 20 guys, who were obviously quite tech savvy. Well, after some introductions and whatnot, we got down to business and I started describing the ins and outs of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries for electric vehicles. I talked about keeping cells healthy, the benefits and drawbacks of these batteries, and discussed some basic design elements for battery management systems (BMSs), the electronic systems that keep cells healthy. There was some good discussion and questions. Afterwards, we went out to the parking lot to check out the various EV's there.

Here's an interesting observation that one of my hosts made: I was one of only 2-3 people who actually used an electric vehicle to get there, and mine was a bicycle.

This was a very interesting observation, so I'm going to sidetrack for a second on that. Why didn't more people drive their EV's over there? I can only guess: I think the biggest reason is that of the various people I talked to, many people had lead-acid battery packs that weren't performing too well anymore, or didn't have sufficient range, or... etc. One guy mentioned a story about being out in his EV one day and getting stranded when the batteries ran out, and having to walk 3 miles. So here's the interesting thing. If a bike battery runs out, you can still pedal the bike. Even my nearly 400 pound cargo bike, if I had to, I could pedal it that whole distance. But I think the bigger take-home message is this - the main impediment to people using their EV's more often is the batteries. For a bike, the battery is relatively small, and hence (though not cheap), not nearly as expensive as for a car or truck-sized vehicle. So nowadays, many people use lithium or at least nickel batteries on bikes, whereas most electric cars of the hobbyist variety are still lead acid. One older gentleman even prodded me a bit because he said he had access to very cheap lead acids, so he didn't see why it was worth buying lithium batteries. I understand that point of view, that in an ideal world lead acids can run for a very long time, so why pay (lots) extra for LiFePo4? But, being in the e-bike repair business, I have seen so many "dead" e-bikes simply because the batteries died, and people hate having to replace them every few years. And it gets worse when you put them in a series string to produce higher voltage. Aside from the longer life and lighter weight of lithium, there is the lower hassle factor. If you get a working system with a good BMS (very important), it should give many years of service without issues. I used lead acids for many years before I switched. But now that I've "seen the light," it is hard to fathom ever switching back to the heavy, bulky (though cheap up front) lead acids.

But anyway, some people tried out my Big Dummy and had lots of fun. Then a bunch of the members headed off to the Earth Day fair in Greensboro, and we got headed back to Chapel Hill/Carrboro.

This time, the wind was at our backs, and still pretty strong. Sweeeeet! There were a bunch of times we were cruising along with just pedaling, no electric power at > 20 miles per hour, a good clip for a 400 lb cargo bike. We made the return trip in just under 1:30 hrs, averaging almost 19 miles per hour, and using about 16 watt hours per mile. After a nice stop at a friends' house along the way, we got back home. And after just having biked 68 miles on a fully loaded cargo bike in 1.5 days, I wasn't totally wiped out (I definitely got some exercise, but not to the point of being wiped).

Total stats for the trip:

-Average 18.4 miles per hour

- 67.85 miles

- 3:40 minutes riding time

- 19.9 watt hours per mile

- total energy used by bike, 1,350 watt hours (for perspective, a typical gasoline powered car would use this much energy to go about 4-7 miles). I probably burnt another 400-600 watt hours from leg power.

I was nicely surprised by how well most drivers treated us. There was only one situation that made me nervous, a stupid dude in an ancient camper truck passed us at the same time there was oncoming traffic, and only gave 6" to spare. I don't know what his deal was, but maybe his engine couldn't handle slowing down on the somewhat steep uphill we were on, without stalling. Anyway, here's a plug for rear-view mirrors: I knew the guy was cutting it close, and I was prepared to bail out onto the grass if he got any closer, long before he was upon us. I don't know how any cyclist can stand riding without a rear-view mirror. I use mine constantly.

But anyway, most drivers gave us wide berth, and we had a really nice ride through the countryside of the piedmont.

3 cheers for human-electric hybrid vehicles!

The Firefly: the Nuvinci/eZee Surly Big Dummy build

This project took months - mostly because I've been so busy. But finally, she is here, the "Firefly" Big Dummy:



Here are the details:
Surly Big Dummy 20" frameset. Front eZee hub motor. Rear Nuvinci continuous variable gearhub. Single speed Surly Mr Whirly crankset. Dimension cruiser bars (a bit more angled out than the Nitto bars, which I like). Xtracycle longtail kit. Blue down low glow. Monkeylight front wheel spoke light. Powergrips toe straps on bear cage pedals. Rear stoker bar (using a standard stem). Planet bike fenders. WTB speed-she seat. Hayes mechanical discs 7". SweetSkinz NightWing tires. (note, you can buy all of this stuff from us, just give a call - or watch for our new web store, coming very soon).

Here are the impressions:
I might seem biased, because we sell this stuff. On the other hand, we also sell Xtracycles, and the Yuba Mundo, along with various other bikes. So I really have no motivation to be biased towards one option over the other.

That said, the Big Dummy is a smoooth machine. It rocks. I must admit, when I first heard people raving about it, my natural contrarian tendencies had me thinking it was just a bunch of hype. Well, it is not all hype. It is real.

I rode an Xtracycle/Stumpjumper combo for years, and for several months now, have been riding a Yuba Mundo. Both were great bikes. They did the job, and they did it admirably. But it is like comparing a Toyota tercel to a Lexus. Or maybe I should think of a better analogy than cars (since we're trying to encourage people to bike more!). In any case, the handling is better than either the Xtracycle or the Yuba. The loaded stability is similar to the Yuba, but better than the Xtracycle. But more than anything, it just feels like it glides over stuff.

Part of that may be due to the Nuvinci hub. Shifting is a smooth, continuous motion. There are no specific "gears". This is particularly fun when combined with the eZee electric hub. On other bikes, I found that when accelerating from a stop, I'd have to shift through a rapid succession of gears to keep up with the motor. With the Nuvinci, as I accelerate, I can just slowly twist the adjuster knob to keep my cadence matched to bike speed. It is a really incredible experience.

I was riding along a local street the other day, with my daughter on the back. I saw a woman hitchiking, it looked like she was in a big hurry to get somewhere. I stopped and asked whether she needed a ride. At first, she was incredulous, but, she quickly realized that it would be faster than walking/running, so she hopped on. She was totally wowed by the whole experience. Maybe a future longtail convert? I hope so! Or at least, maybe she'll tell some friends about it. And the cool thing is, with her, my daughter, all our stuff, and me, the bike still handled well.

Anyway, I no longer think it is hype when I see people write that the Big Dummy is the pinnacle of bikes. Certainly, there are other bikes that are better at some things - racing bikes that are much faster, cross bikes that are more nimble, and etc. But if I were to own only one bike, this would be it.

The gear range on the Nuvinci is better than I expected. I used a 32T front/ 16T rear, the maximal ratio "allowed" by Nuvinci guidelines (though I've heard it can probably be exceeded, with a loss of efficiency in the hub). This 2:1 ratio is enough to get the bike up a pretty steep hill with a moderate load, though if I kick in power from the hub motor, then it is no problem at all. But, to my surprise, at the other end, I can pedal it up to about 25 mph in "overdrive". This was a pleasant surprise, as I had expected only ~20mph from the ratios.

As I've written elsewhere, the eZee hub motor is a great pairing for a cargo bike (as is the BMC). They are relatively lightweight, but produce good torque for hill climbing, without requiring a humongous battery pack. The operation on the front of the Firefly is pretty seamless. I thought I'd notice the weight, but on this setup, it is barely noticeable.

The bike moves through corners gracefully for a longtail. The SweetSkinz cruiser-width tires (2.1") seem to roll pretty well, I'd say at least as well as the Conti Town & Country, and close to the Scwhalbe Marathon.

Ok, enough raving about it. Some more pictures, then a few notes about the Nuvinci install at the bottom.

Front view, showing light, drink holder, go-pro camera mount for my more paranoid moments.


Rear view, showing the handlebar set up.


Shot of the cool NuVinci shifter pod, and my crane bell (not a hint of plastic on this bell, the sound is puuure):


Ok, some notes about the build. The biggest issue is that the Big Dummy has vertical dropouts, but the NuVinci is mostly designed for horizontal dropouts. However, they've now included a little torque arm and a no-turn washer that work with vertical dropouts. But it still requires a chain tensioner to work (and besides, I want to run a dual front chainring at some point). I'd read various rumors of incompatibility between chain tensioners and the "shifter pod" for the Nuvinci, pictured here:




This pod converts the cable tension into a rotational force, to rotate a shaft that changes gear ratio. It was clearly not designed with the thought that one might need to run it with a chain tensioner. I contacted Fallbrook (makers of Nuvinci) about this, and despite rumors that they are coming out with a compatible chain tensioner, the rep I spoke to did not know of that, and pretty much told me to Google search. Well, I gave up on that after finding little clear information, and just decided to order a Paul Melvin chain tensioner, and to "make" it work.

After getting the hub installed, and running the two cables (yes, it requires running two cable housings and cables for the gear changer to work), I quickly discovered the problem. That little plastic pod has to lock down onto a little disc underneath it, or it will just fall off. But the chain tensioner is in the way of it doing so. One solution I saw to this is just zip tying the thing on. Not my favorite solution. So I approached it a different way :) I got out the diagonal cutters, and started snipping away plastic on the pod, until there was clearance for the tensioner. Here is a picture of the cutaway:


It was a fair bit of cutting that had to be done, but fortunately, I was able to do it without obviously ruining the structural integrity of the pod. I hope that in a future version of the hub, they redesign the pod to avoid this. But all in all, it would be a quick and easy procedure to repeat.

However, not long after I did this, I ran across the Kore Chain Reactor, which uses a chainstay mount. That might actually work without any hacking at the shifter pod.

The wheel build on the Nuvinci was very much like building up an electric hub motor. It has to be done in a 2-cross or 1-cross spoke pattern, since a higher cross pattern results in too much spoke flex at the nipples. We used 2 cross, on a Sun Mammoth rim, and DH13 spokes, to produce an incredibly beefy wheel. (We can build these on request, just contact us).

I was able to locate the motor controller in a mostly out-of-sight location, underneath the chainstay tube (is there a better name for this on the Big Dummy?). I like that it hides most of the wiring, but it is also somewhat vulnerable there if I decide to do some curb hopping. The jury is out on this.


Not much else to say.... it built up well, and rides well.

The right electric motor

Today I finished my Surly Big Dummy build up. I'll post about that in more detail soon (with pictures). Before that, I'd been riding a Yuba Mundo recently, with one of the new BMC V2 motors. That V2 motor has a top speed of about 28mph at 36V, and higher still at 48V. It is very fast. But, the Yuba is geared such that its fastest gear only allows pedaling at about 17 mph. This means that if I had the throttle going pedal to the metal, my pedaling was useless - the bike was going too fast, and it was like a motorcycle. I was starting to get used to not pedaling if I wanted to go fast.

The Big Dummy is built with an eZee hub motor in front, and a Nuvinci continuous variable transmission in the rear for pedaling (by the way, we sell these built into wheels - someday we'll list them on our website). The eZee has a top speed around 21mph at 36 volts, and the way I have the Nuvinci set up, I can pedal the bike up to around 24-25 mph.

I noticed a difference right away. I realized how much I really missed pedaling the bike on the Yuba. It is funny - when I visited China a while back, lots of people had electric bikes, but almost nobody pedaled one. But, I (re)discovered that I like pedaling.

This made me decide - I don't want an electric bike that can go 35 mph, except on the rare occasion when I have to get somewhere in a hurry. I enjoy the more leisure pace of biking. A 20 mph hub motor provides a great balance of assistance, without dominating over the rider's pedaling effort. It is about the right amount of power to provide a balanced human-hybrid electric drive that gives exercise while getting me there in style. I might on occasion hop on the faster electric bikes to zip around (and to zoom by the little motor scooters that can't keep up - seriously, the V2-S BMC is FAST), but for the most part I'm going to enjoy bicycling pace, which is slower, more relaxing, and provides more exercise.

Used Xtracycle bikes - save big on a sports utility bike

In addition to a used Big Dummy, we have two Xtracycle equipped bikes for sale.


First up is a bike that was sold to a customer, used less than 10 times, then returned by the customer because she wasn't able to use it. This is a Marin San Rafael Euro (now called the EZ Step), wedded to an Xtracycle Freeradical kit. Brand new, this setup retails for about $1,100. We are offering this used for $790 - over $300 off the normal price, for a very lightly used bike. The frame is 17", designed for someone who is in the low to mid 5' range, height wise. Please drop us a line if you are interested. Here are some pictures:




Second up is Morgan's own used Xtracycle. She is building up a new Big Dummy for herself, with a slick continuously variable transmission by Nuvinci. So, sadly, her trusty Xtracycle rig has to go. This is a classic - based on a pink 1992 Stumpjumper frame made with Tange Prestige tubing and matching Specialized rigid fork. The bike has Deore XT components, a really nice Bontrager road triple crankset, platform pedals, and of course, the Xtracycle. Morgan is asking $525 for this, so it is like getting a used Xtracycle kit for $350 and bike for $175. Or something like that. Did I mention that it has the very comfortable Nitto Albatross bars? Or the SweetSkinz nightwing tires?

This bike setup is ideal for a tall(ish) person, 5'11-6'3 or thereabouts. Drop us a line if you'd like to see the bike, or inquire about having it shipped.






Now is a great time to get one of these - last summer, these were sold out nationwide for three months.

Gas will get expensive again....

Time versus energy

Recently there was a lively discussion over on the Rootsradicals mailing list about energy usage and electric bikes. There was debate about whether it takes more energy to run a bike by electric power or leg power. While the debate was all well and good, it sidesteps the bigger picture. Biking in any form, whether by leg power, electric power, or both, is a far more energy efficient endeavor than driving a car. Depending on how it is calculated, riding a bike is equal to getting anywhere from 200 miles per gallon up to over 1,000 MPG. Even the greenest of electric cars aren't going to approach those numbers anytime soon.

But there is a tradeoff using a bike: time versus energy. The reason bikes take so little energy is because they move slowly. They don't suffer big losses to friction (plus, they are lightweight). But riding a bike takes more time - at least to go long distances (for short intra-city trips, biking can actually be faster).

I started thinking about this tradeoff by monitoring the energy usage on my electric bike. I noticed that when I was in a hurry, I would consume almost twice as much power than when I was taking it easy and going more slowly. Now I've made it into kind of a game, to try to keep my energy usage down, I am also forcing myself to slow down and enjoy the ride more.

But this tradeoff is not just present in biking. It is present in nearly everything we do in "modern" society. Here are some examples:

1. The energy usage of various forms of transportation is directly proportional to speed, i.e.:
Planes > cars > trains > bikes.

2. Washing clothes and dishes - it is both faster and more energy intensive to use the washer/dryer than to do it by hand.

3. Food - it is more energy intensive to buy cheap but fast food, than to grow and cook one's own

US society is one of extremes. On the one end we have people who jetset around in a constant aggravated rush of business. On the other extreme there are the Amish, who exemplify slow and low energy lifestyles.

And then there are all the rest of us in the middle. The question is, how much should we trade down our energy use, at the cost of spending more time on our daily activities?

I think the key is reframing that question. I linked to this article before, but I'll link to it again because it is great - it is all about a mom who formerly led the go-go rushed life, and then due to high gas prices, was forced to slow down while becoming a bit less energy intense.

She discovered that there is increased joy in slowing down. Joy in walking the kids to school, or biking to the grocery store. Many people enjoy gardening, but think it takes "too much time".

Maybe many of us have been convinced that we need to keep moving faster and faster to "keep up with the Joneses". But maybe the higher cost of energy will force us all to slow down (except the super rich). And maybe, seeing our neighbors, friends, and co-workers slow down, we won't feel so guilty about it. About taking time for ourselves, for our families, for some hobbies. Some people have already done this. I have no statistics to back this up, but I believe there is a strong grassroots movement of people doing exactly this. People who are fed up with the go-go buy-buy pace of modern life, who have slowed down, dropped out, semi-retired. Those people did it by choice. Maybe the rest of us will be forced to follow, whether we like it or not, by high energy prices.

But I don't want to make it sound like slowing down is just drudgery. I look forward to my daily bike ride to and from work. It is a time of great enjoyment for me (except on the rare occasion I encounter an intentionally obnoxious driver). I get to look around, see the world, breath the air, hear the birds. I get exercise. I listen to music (not earphones - I have a small stereo on my handlebars). Nowadays, when I get in the car for trips around town, I actually get stressed out, whereas the bike is relaxing, just getting into the rythm of the pedals.

It is hard, though, straddling between wanting to conserve energy and wanting to keep up with all the self-imposed time pressures. Recently, after being aghast at our electric bills (definitely NOT from charging the bikes, that is only $0.03-$0.05 per charge), we realized that the dishwasher was consuming a lot of energy. So we started washing dishes by hand (with water heated by solar). This greatly reduces energy consumption. But it also takes more time. Sometimes it is actually enjoyable - just zoning out, focusing on the present moment, and even listening to music. But other times it is just stressful - because it seems like there are many other things that need to get done.

So how to find the balance? Until it is forced on us by high gas costs, I think the key is one step at a time, avoiding extremes. To me, it is all about doing the little things that are both doable and enjoyable. I'm not about to quit working just so I can farm all my own food. But at the same time, riding the bike every day, hanging the clothes out to dry, and little things like that take some time, but also save a lot of energy.

If everyone did it, there would be a huge impact on energy use and carbon dioxide production.

It is a starting point.

Morgan


My daughter on the way home from dance recital on the Xtracycle:

Bikes by Breezer and Marin

We just wanted to mention another exciting development we've had lately. We had the great fortune of signing on to be a dealership for two great lines of bicycles. Some people don't need an electric assist or cargo bike, they just need a reliable, great ride designed from the ground up for riding every day. Things like integral

fenders and racks

, integral

lighting systems

, swept back handlebars for reduced wrist strain, a more upright riding position to see and be seen, wide slick tires that roll fast on the pavement but can handle the gravel or grass too. These are the kind of bikes that we used to morph our old mountain bikes into with a lot of effort and not always satisfactory results. But now, these companies are doing it for us, designing the bikes from the ground up, purpose built as transportation bicycles.

The first line we'll mention (because we signed up with them first) is

Breezer

. This California-based company was founded by Joe Breeze, who is one of the legends involved in getting the sport of mountain biking off the ground. They now focus exclusively on bicycles as beautiful but practical commuting vehicles. Bikes like the

Breezer Uptown

pictured here:

We're excited about these bikes, they are well built and top rated for commuting. We have a bunch of these on the way, and they should be here before our grand opening.The second line of bikes we will be carrying are from

Marin

. Marin is another California-based company that was involved in the mountain bike business from the early days, building high quality cycles. One of our parents had their first Marin in 1987, and it was a great bike. Marin still makes mountain bikes, but they also produce a really nice line of commuter and comfort oriented bikes, and we've got a shipment of these on the way, starting at very reasonable prices. But the bike we're most excited about is the humble

Muir Woods

. This is a steel bike, that reminds us of the good old days when bikes were simple, reliable, and very durable. For those who've only ridden an aluminum bike, steel has a special quality to it - it is more forgiving. But, this is also a great platform for adding an electric assist due to steel's resilience. We have a range of bikes from Marin on their way, and if we don't have the bike in stock that you are looking for, we are happy to order one for you (same is true for Breezers).

News from China

So I'm in China.  Bicycles are everywhere here, still a lot of people use them for transportation.  Last night I saw a guy riding his bike with 3 mattresses on his back!  It was an amazing balancing act, and a testament to the determinedness of the people.

But car use is on the rise.  Here there are many car ads, and cars are seen as a wealth and status symbol - a sign of the good life.

Every society seems to go through an evolution with cars - in the first phase with cars being a luxury item only for the rich, in the second phase cars being something the middle class aspires to have to show wealth and status, in the third phase, society reaching saturation where the number of cars is so large that it puts strains on the system, causing health problems, air pollution, and traffic congestion. There also appears to be a fourth stage, where countries realize the detrimental aspects of cars, and work to reduce their usage, replacing them with age old solutions like bikes, public transport, and walking.  My perception is that China is still in stage 2 - the broad middle class acquiring cars as part of the rapid growth of wealth here.  But already traffic problems are great - and so are pollution problems.  In Bejing, it is gridlock during rush hour - and that with only 1 in 3 people owning cars.  Also, there is an almost constant a haze over the city, which during my stay, only broke after some heavy rain.

When I was in the city of Shenzhen, I inquired with several locals about bicycle rental.  I love to see new cities by bicycle, because I can see more on bike than on foot, yet it is still much more intimate than in a car.  It is also good exercise, to offset the extra eating I tend to do when visiting new places.  However, when I inquired with one of the young students, she said, "Why would you want to bike?  Shenzhen is a modern city!" The implication was that in a "modern city" nobody would bike.  She seemed dumfounded that anyone would prefer to ride a bike, especially a "rich westerner". She viewed bikes as a contrivance only for the poor.

Ultimately, countries like China will continue the evolution to more and more cars, until the problems start becoming so apparent that there is a push to go back to other modes of transportation for the masses.  If oil prices continue to rise, this may happen sooner rather than later.

New LiFePO4 batteries!

Batteries are the lynchpin of an electric assist (or Pedelec) bike. We're excited to now be testing a new Lithium Ion Phosphate pack that is the slickest one we've seen in this new chemistry. For more information on battery chemistries, have a look at our

FAQ

. The short story is that these batteries are light, safe, they last a very long time, and they are environmentally friendly. They have a big upfront cost, but they will more than pay for themselves in trouble free operation for many years to come. For those still using a sealed lead acid pack, these batteries are so much nicer (I hate putting the SLA's on my bike now). Our 36V lead acid pack weighs over 30 lbs. The new 36V Li-Fe-PO4 weighs 9 lbs. For those running 24V systems, we'll have a 24V pack too.

One thing we've discovered is that these are limited to about 20A, or about 720 Watts for the 36V version

.

[See new blog entry]

. It is a self-resetting circuit that cuts out power for about 10 seconds. This is much better than a fuse. For most systems (Crystalyte 400 series, Goldenmotor, Currie USPD, Lashout, etc), this shouldn't be a problem, but for the really high power hubs (e.g. Crystalyte 5000 series/Phoenix) the limit might be too low.

Some pictures are below. We may be taking pre-orders at a discount once we do further testing and set the final price. Please

contact us

if you are interested, and we'll let you know when the batteries will be ready to roll.

Side view showing pack and rear rack mount

Front view, pack plugged into mount

Front view of pack with charging port and discharge port

Welcome to Cycle 9

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