Electric bikes to take off
Electric powered bikes have a number of critical factors going for them.
1. Fossil fuel prices are increasing. It is becoming increasingly expensive to dash down to the store for milk and eggs or to take the little ones to school.
2. Global warming/climate change awareness. People are be coming more aware of the impact of climate change. If people all over the world do not change their behavior there will be a marked difference for our children.
3. Technology has has dramatic improvements in the last few years. Batteries have become smaller, cheaper and better performing. This has increased the utility of small and medium vehicles for short distance tasks up to 10 to 20 kms.
4. Governments in many developed countries have embraced a new city planning paradigm. This plans for less cars in cities instead of providing facilities for more cars. Instead of providing better roads and parking, the capital budget is spent on better local public transport such as bis rapid transit, trams and inexpensive covered cycleways. The result is that people leave their cars at home or at park and ride stations. Instead of driving people ride a bike to work or walk to the brt station.
Recently while in China teaching business at university I purchased and rode a couple of different versions of Foldee bikes. These are great short range folding electric bikes that can be taken on most bus and train routes. They have a power only range around 16kms and if you pedal too this can be extended to about 30kms. In practice on my 2km ride to work I would charge the bikes around every 5 days when the battery meter showed red.
Any way you look at the world something has to change and it is down to each of us to change the things we do every day. Charging from an electric socket, even if it is coal powered at source, is way better than burning petrol diesel or gas in an inefficient 2 tonne vehicle.
Thoughts of a 1 day old
I have recently been through a traumatic experience – the bringing of a new life into the family, with the associated pain of watching a loved one in pain, sleep deprivation and watching the delivery.
Thankfully, there was little in the way of pain on my part.
However, any trauma I may have experienced would pale in comparison to that of the new life itself.
Early in the morning a couple of days ago, while carrying my new little girl around the hospital room, calming her from waking after a big feed, my mind started thinking about what must be going through that little rosy, wrinkly, screaming bonce.
- What have you done with my bungee cord? I was having fun with that, counting how many times I could wrap it around my neck and swinging from it at night.
- Why do I now have to suck and swallow?
- What have you done with all my water?
- Why are my hands and legs now heavy? I think I will call that gravity.
- Why am I upside down? My head should be at the bottom!
- Who are these strange looking people and why do I recognise their voices?
- Hey, you look familiar. Have we met before?
- Why are you wrapping me in all these things? I think I will call them clothes.
- Really? Do I look like your father and mother? I hope they are good looking!
- Are they as smart as me?
- How come I can see stuff now?
- Hmmm…I have finished wrapping the cord around my neck, hiding from the ultrasound, kick boxing and playing punch bags, playing havoc with your hormones and sugar levels, made you huge, given you sleepless nights…what fun I can have now I can scream! Just wait ’til I get these legs working properly…
Great design of e-bike
Lomo images of the Foldee Mini e-bikes in Red Town arts centre, Shanghai
I came across this design of electric bike a few months ago and though I would try it out – see if it is as good as it looks. The Foldee Mini is also available as the Velomini in USA and a variety of other brands in Europe.
The bike frame itself is rust proof, being made of anodised aluminium and stainless steel components. The construction is almost industrial in its strength and yet, at about 14 kgs, is light enough to carry in one reasonably strong hand. I have been riding the red USA model to work for a few weeks now and carry it up 2 flights of stairs where it rests behind my chair.
I only live about a kilometre from my regular workplace and only need to charge the bike once a week. I go home some lunchtimes also, so I estimate my distance between charges at about 16 to 18 kms. I only let the battery go down to 1/2 to 1/3rd of the charge, to maintain the Lithium Ion battery in accordance with industry guidelines – ‘charge it when you can’ and ‘don’t let it stand discharged too long’ – ‘too long’ being a few weeks to a month, but I am a caring kind of guy! With the daily temperature here fluctuating between 27 and 39 degrees C, these trips have been 99% motor only, apart from a couple of pedals at the start to kick in the electrics and a pedal boost to get past some other e-bikes in my way.
Hidden inside the strong lower box frame is a 10Ah 24V battery and the front part of the frame is home to the controller.
The motor is street legal in Australia, EU and just about anywhere else where bicycles are allowed to have any motors. (I am not a lawyer, so seek your own advice on this!)
There is a choice of brakes – standard V-brakes, disc brakes and rear drum brakes.
Gears are also optional. The single speed hub is great for getting a start and then letting the motor take over on the USA standard model with a very handy throttle. Optional Shimano Nexus 3 speed gears or Shimano Tourney 7 speed gears can be fitted. Both my bikes have the Nexus 3 speed option – the gearing is fine and good for going uphill but most of all I like the concept of a sealed unit hidden away from knocks and dirt when I am carrying it up the stairs to the office. The Nexus hub gears are not compatible with the rear disc brake fitting so a drum brake is used instead.
I must say that I was a bit suspect of a drum brake on a bike, but really it is quieter, smoother and feels just as powerful as the front disc. AND it is maintenance free. Very happy with this option.
On brakes, I was entering my lane to my apartment block a few days ago and another, bigger and heavier, e-bike with 2 guys on board cut right in front of me. I slammed by brakes and my rear wheel ended up half a metre in the air. The disc brake at the front stopped me and the bike very effectively and prevented me from becoming an inadvertent third passenger on their bike! Kudos goes to the small diameter fat tyre also, which seemed to stick like superglue to the tarmac once the full weight of me and the bike were on it.
The seat is a bit low for my long legs but a slightly longer seat post will fix that up soon and also will mean that I will not have to adjust the seat prior to folding.
I was also initially suspect of the small fat wheels. I thought that they would be getting caught in the potholes, giving me more rolling resistance and not be as comfortable as my bigger Giant Tallerway folding bike. How wrong I was! The fat tyres provide a good bit of spongy feel on rough roads, cushioning the ride just like a car tyre. If they are allowed to get too low pressure however there is a bit of slow speed understeer possible under increased G loading, for example going down my drive way then trying to steer sharply at the bottom. Slowing down to a safe speed solves this, as does pumping in more air!
The Foldee Mini handlebars can be a bit busy, but have enough room for the essential light, bell, gears and electrics.
The handlebars are not very wide and hence are a bit busy with the electrical control panel on the left for the EU model and the 3 speed shifter for the USA model. A rather nifty one action locking mechanism for folding the bars against the frame takes up the centre 10 cms. The right side is taken up with the ‘throttle’ on the USA model and a really lovely to use 3 speed Shimano twist grip on the right for the EU model. There is enough room however for a bell which I rarely use, gears, control panel and an LED head light fitted upside down under the left hand 3 speed gear shift. I like to be seen at night and in the day, so I have another 3 watt LED light placed on the head post with plenty of room here for more.
I tried to fit a bicycle computer on the EU model but the wire was a bit too short to reach the short wheels – stay tuned for a solution once I find the time and motivation to extend the wires by a few centimetres!
This model is not a speed demon, and as such is fantastic for kids learning a bit of road responsibility or university students trying to get to lectures on time, but still fresh and not sweaty. For adult workers this model would be great for getting to work from inner city locations or for getting to the train station or to the bus stop from longer distances. The ability to take the bike with you in the elevator or up the stairs means that you don’t have to worry about it being chained to a railing on the side of the street. Your main concern is the pranks your colleagues might play, hiding the bike as you are about to leave for the day, as happened to me recently!
The colours of the bikes are really cool. I like to be seen, so I chose red and gold models. The deep red is a bit darker than I expected but it has grown on me and looks very stylish. It still catches people’s eye and many people will now look down at the bike as I go past, instead of looking at my strange foreign face! My favourite colours are the red, gold and blue, but I also saw a deep gunmetal grey which looks really very cool – kind of like the F22 stealth fighter colour but a bit smaller and much less firepower!
The down side to these bikes is that my Giant Tallerway folding bike (non-electric) with it’s 8 speeds has not seen fresh air since these bikes arrived. Once the cooler weather arrives I am sure it will get a spin again. In the meantime, the Foldee’s will get lots of exercise!
Underwater kites and global warming
Saw this release today about underwater kites. It seems every week there is a new solution for cost effective power generation to add to the electric power mix. These initiatives are providing some hope, as the situation with our ice caps is getting worse.
Something along these lines has to be done soon – here’s an experiment you can do at home to prove why we MUST ALL pay attention to these effects of global warming. Read the rest of this entry »
“Daddy, what are whales?”
Desired response…
“Come here sweety, I will show you.” I then take my daughter’s hand and lead her through the garden path, turn right, walk 200 metres to cliff edge. Read the rest of this entry »
The best little chocolate shop in Shanghai as told by Panasonic!
Sign of Truffle and Sweets in Taikang Lu
Today I had the opportunity to sample the wares at a small chocolate shop in Taikang Road. I also used the chance for some close up chocolate to test out my new Panasonic HDC-TM700 camcorder. The owner of the chocolate shop, Anita, is a kind lady who is very knowledgeable about her products and runs one of the few chocolate shops in Shanghai that actually ‘hand makes’ the chocolates in store. Read the rest of this entry »
Xose Manuel Budino concert
Xose Manuel Budino put on an energetic concert in Shanghai
Last night I went to a concert arranged by the Spanish Consul in Shanghai. A friend invited me along without much notice or info about what I was letting myself in for and, for those of you who know me, those are the most exciting pathways for me! If I am hiking and there is a fork in the path, one with a sign and I know where it goes, I will tend to take the other, unmarked track instead. Read the rest of this entry »
Lijiang
Impressions of Lijiang are that it is a nice place to visit and even to live for a few years.
Tough life in Lijiang
The people there are very nice and welcoming, the dogs are fun to play with and the sights are worth seeing. The old town is a place where you could easily get lost, but you would not mind this for a while!
There are plenty of places to rest and relax while you get your bearings. I stayed at a place called the Lion House Inn, high on the hill to the west with their own eating place above the main rooms. This space is an excellent spot to overlook the rest of the Lijiang Old Town and take photos of the sunrise over the hill opposite.
A Lijiang sunrise from the hillside restaurant above the Lion House Inn.
The back streets of Lijiang are mostly just wide enough for the cycle like carts that are pedaled through, seeking garbage to collect, or selling their wares or delivering goods, mostly beer it seems, to local shops, pubs and restaurants.
Lijiang Side Street - the cobble stones give the place a very nice olde worlde feel but knock the poor bikes to bits.
Wake up world
I suspect we are all concerned about the slick in the gulf of Mexico at the moment. Today I read this article from CNN and it resonates with my thoughts from a couple of days ago when at a big bicycle exhibition here in Shanghai – how to move away from a dependence on fossil fuels.
Bikes are big in China, but these are for export. There are not many places to go fast on a bike in the big cities.
Over the last year living in Shanghai I have realised that China has had a hidden advantage over the last few decades. That advantage has been it’s ability to develop without the domestic consumer driven need for driving and consuming fossil fuels to excess.
Many Chinese people cannot drive a car or even swim, however, almost everyone in China can ride a bicycle. It is that ability to be a migrant using ‘public’ transport such as a train, to relocate to a work area, then use a free to operate bicycle to commute to their work place that has provided a huge economic benefit to the society. In the last 10 years, with the promulgating of the Internet for communications, influx of American and European cars, China, along with India, looks like it could be one of the biggest threats to climate change in years to come. Imagine the car and transport needs of USA and Europe combined that have developed over the last 20-30 years. See the changes in society with medium density housing, increasing congestion and the environmental harm that has occurred around the globe because of this development. Now imagine that over again. That is China’s potential. But there is an upside.
Laughing Kookaburra
Today I thought I would explain what a laughing Kookaburra is and found this video on YouTube.
For more background, this is a good explanation from America!