Sanyo eneloop e-bike at CES

You have probably seen the Sanyo eneloop bike quite a few times in the past year, both on this blog and at other sites. Though it was making news on the web long before, the pedal assist hybrid e-bike, which offers regenerative braking and coasting, was officially unveiled to the US bike market at Interbike this past September. Well… now the bike is getting more attention at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. At CES, journalists not affiliated with the cycling industry will get a chance to try it out, and I am looking forward to reading some of those impressions as they start trickling onto the web.

I was lucky enough to test ride an eneloop bike while I was in Vegas for Interbike (thanks to Carlton Reid who let me try his loaner eneloop at the BikeHugger Mobile Social). Unlike a typical electric bike, which uses a hand operated throttle to control the power from the motor, the Sanyo motor kicks in as soon as the rider starts pedaling. It takes a little getting used to as you can really feel the extra acceleration when you first start pedaling. After a couple of laps around the interior area of the US Crits Finals though, I was really enjoying the effortless speed provided by the electric pedal assist (as you can tell from the smile on my face in the photo shown here). The motor assist diminishes as you go faster and cuts off completely at a certain speed (around 18mph if I remember correctly). That doesn't sound fast, but the top speed feels pretty fast when you are pedaling easily on an upright style bike. My first impression of the eneloop was that the initial, almost jerky, acceleration might be off-putting (and potentially dangerous) to those who are new to cycling for transportation (the target market for a bike like this I assume). To me, it seems like the motor assist shouldn't kick in at all until the rider has pedaled a few feet to get the bike moving. If the system is refined a bit (and maybe it already has been), I think the electric pedal assist technology does have the potential to open the possibility of bike commuting to those who would otherwise never consider it…definitely a good thing in my opinion.

My test ride on the eneloop was pretty limited, but Richard Masoner (Fritz from Cyclelicious) had a chance to try one out longer term. His review appears in the 2010 “Gear Issue” of Momentum Magazine. It sounds like he liked the bike overall. I will be looking forward to reading more about his experience with the bike soon at Cyclelicious. (update 1/10: Richard already posted more of his thoughts about the eneloop here).

Finally, I will mention the carbon version of the eneloop (pictured here) that Sanyo had in their booth at Interbike. That version of the eneloop is for the Japanese market only and is not slated for release in the US. Too bad, the 50-pound weight of the bike is potential issue for people, like Richard, who sometimes carry their commuter bike onto a bus or up stairs for storage. The carbon bike is less than 10 pounds lighter, but after lugging it up a few flights of stairs, that would probably be a pretty noticeable difference. So who is going to be first to market a performance oriented carbon fiber e-bike in the US… Sanyo, Trek, or someone else? I am not sure, but I think it is something we will see pretty soon.

A naked bike and lots of links

I hope that you have been enjoying the holidays. I have been taking time off work to spend with my family, so the blog hasn't been getting much attention in the last week or so. That doesn't mean that the links haven't been coming in though, so today I want to quickly pass along several links that have come to my attention recently.

Murray is a reader who sends me links pretty often. He forwarded these pictures of a nice looking custom Naked bike with some interesting details.

A while back, Murray also sent me a link to this French electric hybrid bike, the Matra MS1.

Several readers let me know about Africa Bicycle Design's new blog. I will be following along as the design team chronicals the development of new bikes for a Cycling out of Poverty project in Kisumu, Kenya.

Before Christmas, BikeHugger was asking readers to submit questions for Trek's art director, Mike Pfaltzgraff. The deadline has been extended so hurry up if you have questions about the graphics that go onto Trek bikes.

Gizmodo posted a unicycle built for two. It certainly doesn't look easy to use, especially with riders of different weights.

Good.is posted an article titled, “What the bicycle can teach us about the design challenges of the next century".

Don't fall for this claim from Ritte Racing that the UCI banned their bike for “being too good looking”. It is pretty funny though...good marketing for the bikes too. Via Cyclelicious.

Airnimal just released a new fixed gear folding bike that I think looks pretty nice. I would love to have something like this for travel.

Seth pointed out this student designed wooden recumbent trike that is worth checking out.

Wend Magazine tells us that the “The Dweeb-Free Bicycle Helmet is Finally Here”. I am not so sure about that, but take a look and decide for yourself.

Inhabitat posted about a “Recycled Christmas Tree Made of Bike Wheels”. It reminded me of our Bikeville parade float from last year, which featured different diameter wheels to make up the tree.

OK, I will close this post with that last Christmas themed link. I need to get back to the framesets that I am building up with my 11 year old. I was a little nervous yesterday watching him thread a bottom bracket into a new aluminum frame, but we are having a lot of fun assembling the bikes together.

Photo credit: Swhittingham on Flickr

The Copenhagen Wheel

“Transform your ordinary bicycle into a hybrid e-bike that also provides feedback on pollution, traffic congestion and road conditions in real time!”

That is the opening statement on the website for the Copenhagen Wheel, a project by MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory. With a claim like that, it is no wonder the project has been getting so much attention on the web since its debut at the COP15 climate Summit in Copenhagen a couple of days ago. Like the Sanyo Eneloop bike that I mentioned last year, this design stores kinetic energy from braking for future use by way of technology similar to the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which has changed Formula One racing dramatically in recent years. Unlike the Sanyo bike though, this design stores that energy in a battery that is contained in the wheel, not on the frame of the bicycle. For that reason the Copenhagen Wheel is retrofitable on any type of bike (including the Cinelli Mystic pictured here courtesy of the SENSEable City Lab’s website).

In addition to a battery and motor, the Copenhagen Wheel has a variety of other functions that are hidden within the oversized red hub. By using a series of sensors and a Bluetooth connection to the user's iPhone, the wheel can monitor the bicycle's speed, direction and distance traveled, as well as collect data on air pollution and even the proximity of the rider's friends.

"One of the applications that we have discussed with the City of Copenhagen is that of an incentive scheme whereby citizens collect Green Miles - something similar to frequent flyer miles, but good for the environment," says Christine Outram, who led the team of researchers at MIT.

You can read more about the technology, and the team’s ideas behind the design, at the MIT Media Relations site.

The idea of storing braking or downhill coasting energy, and using that energy for a burst of speed later is nothing new. Whitt and Wilson’s 1982 book, Bicycling Science (coincidently…or not… published by The MIT Press), discusses energy storage systems going back many years. Thirty plus years ago, the most successful designs used flywheels to store energy (as opposed to those systems which relied on elastic bands or springs). Flywheels are heavy though, so the practical application for bicycles was pretty limited. Even with modern technology, some would argue that practical applications of energy storage systems are still debatable. In a New York Times article about the Copenhagen Wheel, Dr. William Mitchell, who runs another lab at M.I.T. called SmartCities, is quoted as saying:

“Regenerative braking hardware adds mass, complexity and cost, and the energy efficiency gains from it turn out to be surprisingly limited."

Steve Hed and Jens Martin Skibsted are also quoted in that NY Times article, so be sure to read it for a different perspective than you get from the MIT press releases. Another place to read about the Copenhagen Wheel is TreeHugger. They mentioned it in a post along with 4 other bike solutions spotted at COP-15.

Not related to the wheel, but while I am throwing out Copenhagen related links, I’ll mention this StreetFilms video which features Mikael Colville-Anderson from Copenhaganize talking about bicycle infrastructure projects in that city. Great stuff! Watching that video akes me want to visit Copenhagen all the more.

Hen and Chickens

This cargo carrying penny farthing pentacycle, 'Hen and chickens', was the featured bike in a VeloVision story that was forwarded to me by a reader, Ross. The Canberra Bicycle Museum in Australia closed last year and this old bike is one of nearly 150 that are still to be sold. On the museum website you can find an older pdf catalog of bikes for sale (an updated one is due to be posted soon). Contact oldbikesincanberra (at) gmail.com if you are interested in any of the bikes.

Another reader, Nick, pointed out one of the bikes that looks pretty familiar. This 1984 trick bike, with its unicycle style direct rear drive, is very similar to the minimalist bike design that you saw here not long ago. As Nick said in his email, “What's old is new again.”

I may not get a chance to post again this week, so I am going to pass along a few more links while I am at it:

Ron of Cozy Beehive points us to this video of Mike Burrows discussing his latest designs. Another interesting Beehive post recently pointed out that 60% of cycling hour records were due to engineering. Click through to the Science News article that is cited; it is pretty interesting.

The Matra MS1 is an “Electric Bicycle Hybrid” from France. This is one of those designs that begs the question, is it an e-bike or a moped?

Speaking of e-bikes, the SANYO eneloop synergetic hybrid bicycle was honored with the 2010 CES Best of Innovations award for Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology.

TreeHugger mentioned the Pardo, a prone position human powered machine of some sort. I am not sure I want to trade my bicycles in for one of these, but it does look like it would be fun to try out.

Also at TreeHugger was a mention of the Feetz Tribike, a nice folding design for transporting kids or cargo.

I recently noticed the Pteranodon mountain bike concept by JinSeok Song on Coroflot.

MTB by 198 recently interviewed mountain bike pioneer, Joe Breeze. It is interesting to read his responses about the industry and mountain bikes today.

Cool Hunting shared some nice pictures from the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show not too long ago.

Finally, I will mention that I just uploaded pictures of the Batavus BuB prototype urban bike that I was trying out for a couple of weeks. Look for a write up on that soon.

Beyond Bicycles

In May of 2010, Oakland, California’s Rock Paper Scissors Collective will be hosting Beyond Bicycles, a celebration of the art, science, and politics of harnessing human power. From now until March 15th, they will be accepting entries for the exhibition. They are looking for “human-powered machines, bicycle-based inventions, and interactive kinetic sculpture” from artists, designers, and creative people. If you have a concept that you wish to share, send it here. Questions can be directed to Mark at this address.

Here is more information about the exhibition from Rock Paper scissors:

"BEYOND BICYCLES will be an exhibition documenting the many ingenious uses of human power past and present. The Gallery space at Rock Paper Scissors Collective is limited so large works will only be displayed during opening night. Our month long exhibition will consist of a collection large color photographs of works, accompanied by a printed zine. There will also be a web zine which will be more extensive than the printed version."

I have a few unrelated links to pass along while I am at it:

The Core77 blog posted a bicycle carrying case design not long ago. The interesting thing about this design is that is can accommodate a frame with an integrated carbon seat mast.

Cojoy is a side-by-side tandem design that was apparently inspired by “a dual paddle boat and a wheelchair.”

Designboom posted about beer-cycle by Raphael Betillon. Basically, he recycles old steel forks into bottle openers.

Finally, I will mention this Lexus carbon fiber, 2 wheel drive electric assist “racing bike” that was spotted at the Tokyo motor show. My first thought, which I posted on Twitter,
was…where does one race an electric bike? Ross, who originally sent me the link, pointed out that “in Portland there runs a free-for-all race that includes a factory team from Ecospeed.” I would love to see some pictures from that race if anyone can point me toward a few.