Chainless electric bike (alternator)

This bike really drove up my curiosity...

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/10/this-chainless-electric-bike-makes-you-the-backup-generator/

I've had a peaked interest in an electric recumbent trike and was thinking of a diy due to the costs. One of the larger problems with recumbent bikes are the extended chains and drag and the fact that its so low to the ground that the chains can get caught easily and more exposed to dirt. I'm wondering if an alternator pedal system may be a worthy substitute? It may feel a little disconnected as you do not have direct drive, but I'm thinking that some of the benefits may outweigh the inefficiencies.

I've thought about it. It's a very expensive way to drive your bike, and you are going to take about a 20-40% loss in the energy you put in, since there is a 10-20% loss to turn that mechanical energy into electric energy, then another 10-20% loss to turn that energy back into mechanical energy.

The old fashioned way is certainly better

One interesting application of a chainless ebike, would be to pedal the pump of the cooling circuit. :wink:
When you force the motor to overheat, you deserve some workout to cool it down

MadRhino said:

One interesting application of a chainless ebike, would be to pedal the pump of the cooling circuit. :wink:
When you force the motor to overheat, you deserve some workout to cool it down

Click to expand...

Priceless!

Tommy L sends....

Lol! This one would be very easy to make a gas hybrid though! Lol! Just book the motor to the pedal shaft! That way you could have a near endless noisy smoke filled ride! Haha!

Now they just need to get Kevin Bacon to do test ride videos to promote sells lol.

Supersleeper said:

One of the larger problems with recumbent bikes are the extended chains and drag and the fact that its so low to the ground that the chains can get caught easily and more exposed to dirt.

Click to expand...

Who told you this? Where did you hear this? Are you saying that a chain on a recumbent bike gets caught on things on the ground? Maybe you mean to say this about TRIkes rather than BIkes. Even so, upright bikes typically have their chain run parallel with the ground for a fair distance. Recumbent bikes and trikes typically have different chain routing, for all recumbent bikes I've seen and been on, the average chain height is higher than that of a upright bike. I just went to compare a recumbent bikes chain to an upright chain, the recumbents chains lowest point was the rear derailleurs lowest sprocket and the chain stayed at that height for only that point. The upright's bike had the same height for the rear derailleur, but, as I noted, the chain ran at that lowest sprockets height for a ways.
Trikes often use http://www.hostelshoppe.com/tech_chaintube.php chain tube (even recumbent bikes do as well) making the concept of the chain getting you dirty and catching lots of dirt close to impossible much of the time.

I ride a recumbent trike. A Pocket, Catrike. The lowest point of the derauiler is about 3 1/2" above the ground. I can't jump curbes but I've logged several thousand miles, with and without a motor and no issues.

Been ridin' recumbent trikes for about 10 years now. Never caught a chain on anything. Only on road, of course. Most modern trikes use the tubes and keep your pants clean and out of the chain. Prolly the same for 2 wheel recumbents, which I used to ride.
otherDoc

My worst chain catch was a plastic bag, and that was with a 15" high BB. The bag twisted and stretched itself in the 9 spd freewheel, took me over 1 hour to clean the mess.

i find it perfect solution for velomobiles!!!
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53894