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Electric Recumbent Bike

Old 11-26-14, 08:10 AM
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Electric Recumbent Bike

Hi guys,

Me and a few colleagues in my apprenticeship have been challenged to design a military spec Recumbent Bike. As we have no personal experience of using, let alone designing these bikes, we wondered if anybody that has used them could lend some advice on the problems we might encounter. The basic plan is to have a short, pedal driven chain at the front that powers a generator, this would then be transferred by electric cable via a battery cell and finally on to an electric motor that would power the back wheel(s).
What potential problems do you feel we may encounter?

Thanks in advance,
Harry
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Old 11-26-14, 08:59 AM
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You might try the Electric Bikes subforum.
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Old 11-27-14, 09:19 AM
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Err ya go Mister
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Old 12-01-14, 06:06 PM
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I think you need to take a hard look at the efficiency of a motor pulling weight in conjunction with the output of a small generator being pedalled. You have a serious shortfall in that equation.

You will note that the majority of existing electric powered vehicles pulling weight require an outside power source and a storage battery to operate long. All types of passive charging systems (brakes, hubs, etc) only help lengthen your time out and most often in a very miniscule way, or only to power accessories without dragging off the main storage cell. If you can figure out a way to produce the power output you need with that small amount of input you will be rich beyond your wildest imaginations....or in a lot of concrete.

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Old 12-01-14, 06:35 PM
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Yeah, my first thought was efficiency. Losing 20% in converting pedal energy to electricity is bad enough, but losing another 20% powering an electric drive unit makes the idea a non-starter in my book. Besides, for mil spec, you want bulletproof. You know, the opposite of double conversions?
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Old 12-06-14, 07:36 PM
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Originally Posted by harrygover
Hi guys,

Me and a few colleagues in my apprenticeship have been challenged to design a military spec Recumbent Bike. As we have no personal experience of using, let alone designing these bikes, we wondered if anybody that has used them could lend some advice on the problems we might encounter. The basic plan is to have a short, pedal driven chain at the front that powers a generator, this would then be transferred by electric cable via a battery cell and finally on to an electric motor that would power the back wheel(s).
What potential problems do you feel we may encounter?

Thanks in advance,
Harry
What is the purpose of the bike (i.e. where will it be ridden and what does it need to do)? That will drive the entire design.

My gut reaction is that anything that's reasonably fast is going to weigh too much for the pedals to be valuable except on the easiest terrain.
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