shopping on an Etrike in winter with Uncle Ron

jmygann said:
so ..I'm thinking like this ....

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Jimmy,

Sure, why not, except perhaps you want to fence me into the vehicle more than I would be comfortable with. (g)

I like the fairing with the green nose for its partial side wrap downs, but that green nose has to go and become transparent or you destroy the trike in potholes. Beef-up and extend the frame of that trike to the rear with a 20" heavy duty rear drive wheel to allow for lots of storage and/or a second seat behind and slightly higher than the driver, add the solar panel from the Hauler trike for both juice and a more streamlined rear end, and you'd have a multi-purpose winner.

But the biggest trick of all would be to mass fabricate and sell it at a profit with a minimum 50 mile, lithium flat land range without pedaling with a 350 lb. rider(s) and storage load, for no more than $3.5k. Anybody up to that? (g)
 
lester12483 said:
Fairing needs to go. It slows down the bike. Just wear goggles instead.

An etrike for 3k? Not in this economy
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Lester,
'
I can't speak from experience, but from all I've read the fairing actually slightly increases efficiency and thus speed and distance. It may only be 3-8% but it is not a net drag on the vehicle. Just the opposite.

Looking at 3k for a bicycle, right, not in this economy. Looking at 3k for a direct car replacement, right for the even worse economy to come. I don't know when, best guess 2-4 years, but that will catch on after there are enough of us doing just that, i.e., when we get "critical mass." (g)

How was the critical mass ride?
 
Uncle Ron said:
I can't speak from experience, but from all I've read the fairing actually slightly increases efficiency and thus speed and distance. It may only be 3-8% but it is not a net drag on the vehicle. Just the opposite.

Looking at 3k for a bicycle, right, not in this economy. Looking at 3k for a direct car replacement, right for the even worse economy to come. I don't know when, best guess 2-4 years, but that will catch on after there are enough of us doing just that,
Click to expand...



I agree ... that's why i am looking at a car alternative (same eye level and seat height, visibility to others) for short trips in various conditions ...

for me its a tadpole trike ... just can't decide on the frame (Rover , KMX, or ?) or which frame to modify (lengthen/widen)
 
You guys would be in hog heaven where I live: Peachtree City, Georgia. The entire city is interlaced with multi-use paths, and electric vehicles are allowed. Speed limit 20mph. You do have to cross a residential street occasionally, but all the big roads and highways are bypassed through tunnels and bridges.

My wife and I own a minivan and a compact car. But what we use mostly is our electric golf cart. It gets about 20 miles on a single charge, goes 20mph, and is a true joy.

Every single neighborhood in this city of 35,000 is connected to the path system, along with every store, school, business, etc. You could literally be car free and have easy access to everything you need, and the only time you have to look for cars is when you drive through a neighborhood or parking lot. Other than that, golf carts, bikes, etc. are kept completely separated from regular cars. Very safe. Very fun.

I'm in the planning stages of building an electric tricycle. I'm hoping to have it ready by December 1st. Right now I drive my car because my wife uses the electric golf cart (four seater) all day.

Check it out:

The pathways are separate from the main highways. Very safe with only one fatality in fifty years. That's a good safety record.

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Nice ...

but with a Etrike you can go anywhere (if you dare) ... except freeways
 
DAND214 said:
Do we even have an economy?
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Dan,

What a cynical fellow you are. Life is good for the top few percent, but I don't think that we want to go there, here. (g)

However, here's something just out in the last few days that is very on-topic for the e-bike world. It's a professional article by Dr. Colin Campbell, a Brit, who is really "The Man," the foremost world expert on fossil fuel energy depletion, "Peak Oil," to we mere mortals. He hasn't written this for the popular press, so these 13 or so pages are very dense. If you take the effort to understand what he's saying (and graphically showing) as you plow through, you are rewarded by a glimpse into this century's future where e-bikes will play a much more significant role, than as simply adult toys and simple commuter vehicles.

http://iprd.org.uk/?p=6765

I know that most of us know most of this, but it sometimes pays to be backed up by the big boys. (g)
 
Uncle Ron (I didn't know you were my uncle ;) ),

About Peak Oil: Don't think too much on that. Since about 2002 I've been neck deep in peak oil research, and learned quickly that we were manipulated thoroughly.

The Peak Oil discussion preceded the spike in oil prices a few years ago, and the truth is that it could have been a ploy to drive up prices. With the recession oil prices dropped again, and now they are steadily increasing.

What's the point of my rambling?

Peak Oil, while a reality, is something that probably won't affect us for a really long time. Originally it was predicted for 2007 (I have a huge poster on my classroom wall dedicated to Peak Oil), but the only thing that peaked in 2007 was the price of oil, not the supply (as predicted).

I jumped off the Peak Oil bandwagon a couple years ago when I realized that I had perhaps been duped by the oil guys who kept hollering "peak oil is almost here."

It never came, and three years later I feel like a bit like the boy who cried wolf (I was all over the internet preaching peak oil).

HOWEVER, I don't think it hurts to think about and pursue alternative forms of energy, and I think those that get a jump on it will be in better shape, even if gas stays under $3.00 a gallon. Plus, by going electric we are making a real difference to the world. We can die saying, "I tried. I made the effort. I made a difference."

That's why I like electric bikes (and my family's electric golf cart). But I'm also aware that the electricity that flows into my home is made by burning coal (at least where I live). In Georgia there are three kinds of electricity: coal-generated (about 80% here), hydroelectric, and nuclear. The nation's first new nuclear power plant in 40 years will be built right here in Georgia (actually under construction right now) about 100 miles from where I live. I don't like nuclear, but I like it a lot more than coal. Coal is pretty bad, but for now it's cheap energy.

Maybe next year's project will be to get my e-bike powered by solar energy. Now that would be cool. I live in a place that gets about 260 days of sunshine a year, so it's entirely possible.
 
All I know is that I save about $400-$500 a month taking my electric folding bike rather than using a car where you have to pay car payments, gas, insurance, parking sticker, maintenance, etc. My commute is 9.2 miles and i love riding even during rush hour and in the winter. Its a challenge.

I wish more people knew what we all know.
 
Hey, Mike,

"Peak Oil, while a reality, is something that probably won't affect us for a really long time. Originally it was predicted for 2007 (I have a huge poster on my classroom wall dedicated to Peak Oil), but the only thing that peaked in 2007 was the price of oil, not the supply (as predicted)."

I'm kind of opposed to using recession to keep the price of gasoline down. (g) As Jimmy said and you know, the supply of oil has pretty much flatlined since 2005 with unconventional liquid fuels and dirty oil barely keeping up with the already declining counventional sources. Once world oil supply starts dropping by only a percentage point or two per year which may already be starting, we'll have to stop blaming speculators and "oil guys" and face the physical facts. You may have cried wolf a few years ago, but you have nothing to be sheepish about because your cry has been masked by recession keeping that ugly beast in control.

Not a really long time, but now, one way or the other, either recession or sensible green policies.

According to Colin Campbell's predictions for world oil and gas supplies we have about a decade of leeway to turn things around. Natural Gas supplies and unfortunately coal supplies in North America, which have a limited ability to increase supply, will enable perhaps that much time to get on a sustainable ramp up without total collapse. Colin has been on the money in his predictions for decades and the oil guys have been so far off that it's criminal economic/political malfeasance. Did you know that next year will probably mark the peak of world coal production. Yes, we are that close to the edge.

Your original instincts were right. Don't back down now.

"HOWEVER, I don't think it hurts to think about and pursue alternative forms of energy, and I think those that get a jump on it will be in better shape, even if gas stays under $3.00 a gallon. Plus, by going electric we are making a real difference to the world. We can die saying, "I tried. I made the effort. I made a difference."

Other than it being a hard imperative and not a matter of choice, you are exactly, precisely, compassionately right. We e-bikers have an imperative mission to do the best we can to do our bit to help save this crumbling civilization. If we do it right we can help to create a new, improved civilization where sustainable quality of life takes the crown from a consuptive standard of living that in moral reality isn't high at all.
 
lester12483 said:
All I know is that I save about $400-$500 a month taking my electric folding bike rather than using a car where you have to pay car payments, gas, insurance, parking sticker, maintenance, etc. My commute is 9.2 miles and i love riding even during rush hour and in the winter. Its a challenge.

I wish more people knew what we all know.
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Lester,

Challenges are good, particularly when they are met for solid, moral reasons, and not just for an adrenaline high. (g) I suspect you got enough of that in far off lands. (g)

More people will know, if you and I and hundreds of others here and elsewhere have anything to say about it. We do, don't we?
 
Back in 04-05 I used to email back and forth with John Howe. He's an engineer and professor who wrote a book called End of the Oil Age (or something like that). He was giving the book away and mailed one to me. It was really interesting.

He lives in, I think, Maine. He built a solar-powered tractor and car. I haven't kept up with him in a while, but we talked a lot about off-grid living and such, back when I thought it was all falling apart any minute.

Now I've stepped back quite a bit and am just taking it one step at a time. But, hey, our primary source of transportation in my family is electric golf cart, so we're doing something right. We also buy all our meats from a local farm and most of our produce (when in season) from the local farmer's market. We're not inconvenienced at all.

Check this guy's deal: http://www.solarcarandtractor.com/Home.html
 
MikeFairbanks said:
Hey, Ron: Do you ever have to climb hills on your trike?

Secondly, have you considered going to 48 volts? How would that affect the trike?
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We don't have hills of any consequence in the Chicago area. As I said in a private e-mail to you, "48 volts would definitely be better as would using a geared hub motor rather than a direct drive unit. You'll slow up more than a little on a hill of consequence, but with those two enhancements you won't slow to a crawl. Be aware that the Schwinn Meridian is single speed and you can't help out with pedaling at more than about 7 or 8 mph."

If your considerably heavier golf cart takes the hills well enough for you, the much lighter trike will do even better, even with an extra load on.
 
MikeFairbanks said:
Back in 04-05 I used to email back and forth with John Howe. He's an engineer and professor who wrote a book called End of the Oil Age (or something like that). He was giving the book away and mailed one to me. It was really interesting.

He lives in, I think, Maine. He built a solar-powered tractor and car. I haven't kept up with him in a while, but we talked a lot about off-grid living and such, back when I thought it was all falling apart any minute.
Click to expand...

Thank you ever so much for the link to John. Only a cursory look at his website and he is now my newest/greatest hero. He has a world view that is as comprehensive as any I've come across, plus he's putting his resources and effort where his mouth is, which I far too seldom come across. If I only had a few more resources, I'd do almost precisely what he is doing. I grew up on a farm.

Now I've stepped back quite a bit and am just taking it one step at a time. But, hey, our primary source of transportation in my family is electric golf cart, so we're doing something right. We also buy all our meats from a local farm and most of our produce (when in season) from the local farmer's market. We're not inconvenienced at all.
Click to expand...

What you do is important and laudable. It's even more important that the kids you teach and influence learn from you by example. They are in for a very rough go of it and the more chances they have to indulge their curiosity in practical things, the better, rather than the fantasy crap that's thrown at them constantly by the dying consumer society.

I know I'm a crackpot like John Howe, but frankly, My Dear, I just don't give a damn. Other things are far more important.
 
sk8norcal said:
[youtube]Ci4g2j-EMtA[/youtube]
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SK,

A neat device but good luck getting any but the brave and kool to ride just a couple of inches above the pavement. (g)
 
sk8norcal said:
i agree with you, I am not a big fan of low riding recumbents for practicality,

hopefully I will get to test ride an upright triker leaner soon..
Click to expand...

SK,

I'd love to hear about that. It's such a psycho/physical problem for some folks when they first get on a 3 wheeler after riding a 2 wheeler for years. After they get the hang of it, the problem is soon overcome, but at first they are often hilariously all over the lot threatening to bang into cars, fences, curbs and trees. I can't quite imagine whether a leaner would complicate or help things?
 
Ron, the one I am hoping to try is the Onya,
they are in SF..

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22270&p=324243&hilit=onya#p324243

here are some others,

Cavalo (chinese made I believe)
http://tiltingvehicles.blogspot.com/2010/07/cavalo-by-empowered-ebikes.html

feetz
http://tiltingvehicles.blogspot.com/2010/05/feetz.html

synchro
http://tiltingvehicles.blogspot.com/2010/05/synchro-system-trike.html


i got a bunch more on my tilting site.... :D
 
This video is hilarious, what a joy to watch!
 
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