Trainer that generates electricity?

Well people just don't generate that much power on a bicycle. I think about enough to power a light
bulb or maybe a fan.

It would also be cumbersome to hook you bike up to a generator. And then what would you do with the
electricity? Charge batteries? Or would you patch into the electrical grid and make deals with the
electrical utilities and the government? And all this for a nano electrical generating facility?

Pbwalther said:

Well people just don't generate that much power on a bicycle. I think about enough to power a
light bulb or maybe a fan.

It would also be cumbersome to hook you bike up to a generator. And then what would you do with
the electricity? Charge batteries? Or would you patch into the electrical grid and make deals with
the electrical utilities and the government? And all this for a nano electrical generating
facility?

If you had a light that used a rechargeable battery you could try to hook the recharger into it...

-shane

"John Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Just wondering if such a thing exists. Seems a shame to waste all that potentially useful
energy... Plus, such a gadget would multiply the greenhouse-gas reduction resulting from the use
of bicycles.

That would depend on how much methane you produce while on a bike, and whether you use air
conditioning to cool yourself while working on the trainer.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"John Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Just wondering if such a thing exists. Seems a shame to waste all that potentially useful
energy... Plus, such a gadget would multiply the greenhouse-gas reduction resulting from the use
of bicycles.

That would depend on how much methane you produce while on a bike, and whether you use air
conditioning to cool yourself while working on the trainer.

How about using the electricity you generate to run a fan to keep you cool?

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote

Quoted message said:

How about using the electricity you generate to run a fan to keep you cool?

Or skip the power loss from producing the electricity, and instead run the fan directly, via a belt.

Fan speed is then directly proportional to pedaling speed, just as it is on the road. I believe
there are addons for rollers to power a fan.

Pete

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 12:29:11 +0200, <[email hidden]>, "John Smith"

Quoted message said:

Just wondering if such a thing exists. Seems a shame to waste all that potentially useful energy...
Plus, such a gadget would multiply the greenhouse-gas reduction resulting from the use of bicycles.

Arthur
------------------------------------------------
[email hidden]

The East Van Chopper Festival was a block party held over the weekend. The sound system for the
event was pedal powered for ten solid hours.

Four different machines and at least a hundred pedalling persons were used to turn the electrical
motors that were gizmoed into generators.

One rig was a road bike on a trainer with the motor pulley attached right to the resistance wheel.
There was a pile of black rubber dust generated as well.

A second machine was a bicycle whose rear wheel had been replaced by an aluminium flywheel turning a
pulley wheel on the motor. It too was attached to a trainer stand.

A third machine was an old front wheel drive stationary exercise machine. The resistance wheel drove
the motor pulley.

There was a recumbent device that I didn't investigate very closely. It had an office chair and
laptop computer attached where proper bicycle steering and seating devices would normally be found.

Ideally the voltage was maintained between 13.5 and 14.5 volts. This charged a battery. When we'd
hit 15 volts the circuit would cut out.

It's a low budget experimental development cobbled mostly from scrap. The next rendition will use
the excess voltage to power lighting effects.

With 3 cyclists it was easy to let the voltage drop below 13.5 during louder passages of the music.
One planned improvemt to the system will incorporate a voltmeter for each bike. A larger event will
likely require more cyclists, dynamosaurs, and generating rigs.
--
zk

On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 14:56:33 -0700, Zoot Katz <[email hidden]> from Balsa Pacific Aero Ltd.

Engineering & Bicycle Mongery said:

The East Van Chopper Festival was a block party held over the weekend. The sound system for the
event was pedal powered for ten solid hours.

Photos up on the web anywhere?

--
home.sport.rr.comcuthuluOpen ↗ human rights = peace I wonder if BOB GUCCIONE has these problems!
5:20:24 PM 16 June 2003

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 17:20:50 -0500, <[email hidden]>, Kevan Smith

/\/\ said:

On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 14:56:33 -0700, Zoot Katz <[email hidden]> from Balsa Pacific Aero Ltd.

Engineering & Bicycle Mongery said:

The East Van Chopper Festival was a block party held over the weekend. The sound system for the
event was pedal powered for ten solid hours.

Photos up on the web anywhere?

Nun dot hive scene. . . yet.

Last year the cops removed the barricades. This year we got a permit. duh!

No sponsors, no logos, no hype.

The block is on a bike route and around the corner from a popular ice-cream parlour with a patio so
there were lots of curiosity seekers and hapless wanderers finding there way onto wacked out bikes.

BIG FUN!
--
zk

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How about using the electricity you generate to run a fan to keep you cool?

Or skip the power loss from producing the electricity, and instead run the fan directly,
via a belt.

Fan speed is then directly proportional to pedaling speed, just as it is

on

Quoted message said:

the road. I believe there are addons for rollers to power a fan.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

That would depend on how much methane you produce while on a bike, and whether you use air
conditioning to cool yourself while working on the trainer.

Quoted message said:

The East Van Chopper Festival was a block party held over the weekend. The sound system for the
event was pedal powered for ten solid hours.

Sheesh, lots of interesting replies here! The only thing that occurs to me is that a trainer is
perhaps more likely to be used in the winter, when the fan (or AC) is not so essential...

Re the Chopper Festival, I estimate that an individual cyclist might produce about 100 watts of
continuous power, enough to light a bulb to read by. Wire up ten cyclists and you could run a
thousand-watt sound system. All of this is not much in terms of dollars and cents, of course. Ten
hours of one cyclist pedaling would produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity, worth what? --maybe 20
cents from Con Ed. But saving money per se is not the point, really...

--------------------

I see someone else here is old enough to remember "Gilligan's Island" .
%°>

Elisa Roselli Paris, France

Arthur said:

Just wondering if such a thing exists. Seems a shame to waste all that potentially useful
energy...

You might be able to power a computer. See
usatoday.com2003 02 12 net pedaling x.htmOpen ↗

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 09:32:22 +0200, <[email hidden]>, "AMG"

Quoted message said:

Ten hours of one cyclist pedaling would produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity, worth what?
--maybe 20 cents from Con Ed. But saving money per se is not the point, really...

Ten hours of pedalling costs more in bottled water than the fuel to run a generator.

It's the problem that sitting on a trainer is a waste of time and/or energy that is resolved. One
has _something_ to show for their effort.

I think if a person charged their headlamp batteries while on their trainers they'd be putting good
use to that "something" they gained from an otherwise wasted energy expenditure. By doing so you
would reap the output of your effort thus returning the normal balance usually found in cycling's
many subtle rewards.

I've taken this opportunity to edit and comment, for accuracy and possibly more clarity, that part
my previous post describing the machines. \--------- One rig was a road bike on a trainer with the
motor pulley acting as the resistance wheel. The tire rode in the V-groove of the pulley. It
generated a pile of black rubber dust. Having a selection of gear ratios was its best feature.

A second machine was a bicycle whose rear wheel had been replaced by an aluminium flywheel with
a belt turning the pulley wheel on a motor. It too was attached to a trainer stand and was
hardest to pedal.

A third machine was an old front wheel drive stationary exercise machine. The resistance wheel was
attached directly to the motor shaft. ---------/ Disclaimer: That's what I remember they looked
like. I'll post links to images when and if there are any. I never gave any of the machines or
circuitry a really close inspection though I pedalled three out of four.

When it was down to two machines you had to hope the other guy was fresh because it was spin-city
until a third bike came on stream. With four bikes it was a leisurely pace with minimal load.
--
zk

Quoted message said:

Ten hours of pedalling costs more in bottled water than the fuel to run a generator.

Yeah, that water sure is expensive...maybe they should pipe it to everyone's house. Perhaps that
would be cheaper.... 🙂

Peter

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:42:04 -0700, <[email hidden]>, Zoot Katz

Quoted message said:

I'll post links to images when and if there are any.

nai.dyndns.orgindex.htmOpen ↗

There's about six photos showing the generator setups.
--
zk

John Smith said:

Just wondering if such a thing exists. Seems a shame to waste all that potentially useful
energy... Plus, such a gadget would multiply the greenhouse-gas reduction resulting from the use
of bicycles.

I had a friend who took either an old bicycle or an old exercise bike and hooked it up to generate
power for the TV set. I think there was a battery in there as well (or possibly a series of
batteries).

The only way anybody in the house would be allowed to watch TV was to sit and ride, ride, ride...
otherwise there was no power for the TV.

It did not totally eliminate tv-watching in his house, but his kids were EXTREMELY selective about
what they would watch - and there were no couch potatoes! NO fat little kids who get winded going
around the block one time ... LOL!

Sojourner <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I had a friend who took either an old bicycle or an old exercise bike and hooked it up to generate
power for the TV set. I think there was a battery in there as well (or possibly a series of
batteries).

The only way anybody in the house would be allowed to watch TV was to sit and ride, ride, ride...
otherwise there was no power for the TV.

Could you post some details? I've been thinking about doing this in my house, and would love to copy
someone else's successful model, instead of trying to come up with my own :-)

thanks,

-Mujtaba

Quoted message said:

It did not totally eliminate tv-watching in his house, but his kids were EXTREMELY selective about
what they would watch - and there were no couch potatoes! NO fat little kids who get winded going
around the block one time ... LOL!

Oh, come on Pete, you're ruining their fun...

"Pete" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote

Quoted message said:

How about using the electricity you generate to run a fan to keep you cool?

Or skip the power loss from producing the electricity, and instead run the fan directly,
via a belt.

Fan speed is then directly proportional to pedaling speed, just as it is

on

Quoted message said:

the road. I believe there are addons for rollers to power a fan.

Pete

Peter Gardner said:

Quoted message said:

Ten hours of pedalling costs more in bottled water than the fuel to run a generator.

Yeah, that water sure is expensive...maybe they should pipe it to everyone's house. Perhaps that
would be cheaper.... 🙂

Having been to the US recently, though: USian tapwater is not really fit for human consumption. YOu
guys put *chlorine* in there? Ew.

Jasper

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Peter Gardner said:

Quoted message said:

Ten hours of pedalling costs more in bottled water than the fuel to run a generator.

Yeah, that water sure is expensive...maybe they should pipe it to everyone's house. Perhaps that
would be cheaper.... 🙂

Having been to the US recently, though: USian tapwater is not really fit for human consumption.
YOu guys put *chlorine* in there? Ew.

Some towns do, some don't; it depends on how clean the original source
is. Most areas which get their water from aquifers don't. Most surface water supplies need at least
a small amount of chlorine as a disinfectant, though not all.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.