Bicycle Power in NC

[UBERKron]

i will post a vid tonight. gearing doesnt really matter. resistance is same at all speeds. most i can do for short bursts is 45amp (450w). a tuned person can reportedly do 750w! car alternators need a battery to excite unless you fit a small permanent magnet to the rotor.

[UBERKron]

i have just finished building a car alternator based exercise bike. i can only just pedal fast enough to get it to self excite, after that i only pedal at 10kmh with up to 30amps of load. it is much easier to pedal than a brush or permanent mag motor though. no "chopping".

[daenergymon]

It is a car generator which isn't so tightly wound and is easier to pedal. A car alternator has a voltage regulator built in which you can use but is too hard to pedal. All the lightbulbs are 12 VDC.

[pixar5]

what are you using to power those light bulbs tryed car alt just dont work even hooked up to a batt still nothing can you help me ?

[mibars]

Car alternator will give you not more than about 14-15V. (DC)

This bulbs are 115V. (since USA uses lower voltage).

You need to use some kind of 115V (or more) motor (or even beter - generator) to make it work.

[kartkid100]

its simple physics, lower gear=low rpm=low output, if you shift into higher gear, you need to do more work to get more energy. the gearing setup on that bike is about as efficient as it gets in its simplicity, just goes to show just how much energy it takes to power our world

[AnonymousX2]

Pedal power seems like a good idea...they just need to improve the technology with better gear boxes and stuff.

[RCvolunteer1978]

just change gears and you would have the power to run all those lights