Human powered vehicles, a way to travel, conserve fuel and get exercise

[jaqeboy]

I would love to have an enclosed trike for commuting to work, but the one major obstacle I experienced, when last I rode one, was hills. It was more difficult and took longer to ascend than on a bicycle.

They are heavier than bikes, but Ethan of Wiildfire HPV showed a model of the Greenspeed line that had a electric assist for hills (microprocessor-controlled to detect when you needed the boost). Saw at the Wings & Wheels Spectacular at the Owls Head Transportation Museum (Owls Head, Maine) (a fabulous car museum!) with some Porcs summer before last.

Ethan is also the manager of velomobiles.net and a co-organizer of the ElectroVelo 07 show, which Tim and I both went to back in May. I'll see if another one is planned and post here.

[jaqeboy]

...improved versions of some of the components and replace the stock parts with them.  I would love to get together with jaqeboy and Jim Johnson to discuss design ideas.

Yeah, let's do it! I have a killer trike idea that I'm committing to a design and I'm learning Tig welding in order to weld up a chromoly frame. Also due to tour a boat factory soon to learn up on the latest techniques for body shell molding. I've got a lot of components to pick, etc. and it'll be next summer before I'm rolling.

Btw, did you know that a bunch of us started the PorcEnergy Yahoo group for discussing and announcing a bunch of this stuff - it's not too active right now, but that'd be a good place to put events on the calendar and maybe upload files to. I've got a couple of things I've really got to post there today because they are upcoming soon.

[coffeeseven]

Has anyone had any first hand experience with a Rhodes Car?

http://www.rhoadescar.com/

I wanted one but wife was not enthused. Can't have a two seater with one seat empty.

[Jim Johnson]

Has anyone had any first hand experience with a Rhodes Car?

http://www.rhoadescar.com/

I wanted one but wife was not enthused. Can't have a two seater with one seat empty.

Russell owns one.

[Kat Kanning]

He gave it to his niece.

[coffeeseven]

He gave it to his niece.

Didn't like it?

[KBCraig]

HPVs with electric boost, all available from your nearest Wal Mart (or online):

Trikes:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5692925

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5691453

Bikes:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6339293

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6434753

[Kat Kanning]

He gave it to his niece.

Didn't like it?

He loved it.  He just couldn't think of any convenient way to get it to NH.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

He gave it to his niece.

Didn't like it?

He loved it.  He just couldn't think of any convenient way to get it to NH.

I was looking at the 4 seater as a possible next vehicle, but we have 3 kids so we'd have to figure out a way to add a 5th seat.  I would like to try to build a 5 seat recumbent trike or quad or something else that I could put the whole family on.  I would make it adjustable so that it could grow with the kids.

[Kat Kanning]

You'd keep getting stronger as you rode around with growing kids

[Recumbent ReCycler]

Cool   Do you worry about being hit, when you're so low?  Do you have a flag or something?

I don't worry too much about getting hit.  I have a flag that I sometimes mount on the trailer, but I have to take it off for it to fit in my little trike garage that I made since my wife won't let me park it in the house.  I have several tail lights, 3 headlights (and one backup which I only turn on if the other lights lose battery power) and a bunch of reflective tape.  If someone doesn't see me, they aren't paying attention to the road.  I'm a lot more visible than a dog or small child.  A few days ago I was turning into a parking lot while some lady was starting to run a stop sign.  After she crossed the stop line she saw me and stopped, then yelled "that's so dangerous".  I think what is dangerous is running a stop sign without looking both ways to make sure it is safe to proceed.  Some lady yelled at me to "get off the road before you cause an accident", but I'm guessing that she didn't know that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk.  I would prefer to ride on some of the sidewalks, as I rarely see anyone actually walking on them, but I don't want to get a ticket for riding on an empty sidewalk.  The other day I realized that I should have greased my cables before installing them, because now my cables are mostly frozen up.  I'll have to remove them, clean them, then grease them so that I can continue to ride this winter.  I would have taken the trike this morning if it weren't for the cables freezing up.  Saturday the trailer tipped over when I pulled into my driveway.  Fortunately my son was buckled in with a 4 point harness and it has a roll cage, so he didn't get injured.  If I take him for any more rides, I'll have to explain to him that he needs to lean into the corners.

[jaqeboy]

What grease are you going to use? Don't they come pre-greased or oiled from the factory?
just curious.

[Jim Johnson]

Good cable housing comes plastic lined, so no lube is needed.  Many cable installations allow water to run down the cable and into the housing and then the water freezes.  I have filled cable housing with a silicone spray before.  If there is a low spot in the line it acts as a reservoir and keeps the cable lubed for a long time.

Tim is a gun guy, he knows how to keep parts moving.   

[Recumbent ReCycler]

What grease are you going to use? Don't they come pre-greased or oiled from the factory?
just curious.

Mine didn't come with grease.  It was dry and I had to put the thing together myself.  I have a can of synthetic grease that I will probably use.  I've been considering converting it to hydraulic disc brakes, although I may just wait until I build my own from scratch to use hydraulic disc brakes.  I may replace all of my cables and housings with high end cables and housings.

[jaqeboy]

Hey, Defender and Facilitator, maybe you'd like to show your alternative vehicles at the Alternatives Expo = AltExpo #2 to be held in parallel with the Liberty Forum. We're just throwing it together now and are looking for presenters on Alt subjects.