Pedal Powered Cars
LINK >> https://geags.com/2tlAaY
We start with a strong, tubular, steel-alloy frame and heavy-duty, solid steel axles. For ultimate stopping power, every vehicle comes standard with a rear hydraulic brake. We also offer reflectors, running lights, turn signals and brake lights. For 25 years we have been producing the safest pedal-powered solutions on the road.
Pedal powered trucks are a friendly solution to the challenges of modern transport. Our unique designs and craftsmanship combine to provide a healthy alternative cars and trucks. Reduce your carbon footprint while reducing costs. Go green with pedal power!
The Rail Explorers are easy to pedal, the terrain is mostly flat and the ride is relaxing and enjoyable. Everyone can enjoy this activity: couples young and old, groups of friends, and families of all ages and abilities. The pedal powered Explorers provide a smooth and comfortable adventure suitable for all.
The setup strips out both pedals, relocating the brake to a steering column-mounted arm (like those used by people with mobility issues). In place of the accelerator is a bicycle-type mechanism that occupies the footwell. Pedalling the thing spins a flywheel, generating an electronic pulse to engage the accelerator. Pedal faster, and the car goes faster.
The company claims there are three drive modes to accommodate low-speed traffic situations, high speed cruising, and sitting at rest (the driver/pedaller can disconnect at stoplights and in traffic jams to keep the workout going). Pedal resistance is also adjustable.
Okay, so I had a particularly exhausting day at work. Now I have to pedal home, great! Because I can't skip the gym if I'm too tired or in pain for some reason (fell and bruised my legs, dropped something on my foot, whatever).And, lest we forget, nobody wants a manual transmission anymore because heavy traffic makes it too much work. So, let's replace that with a freaking pedal system. That's way better.
The revolutionary vehicle consists of a 1986 Buick Regal body stripped of its engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system, and propelled by the energy of its passengers. The vehicle retains the illusion of the mass-produced luxury automobile, but is now reduced to a shell, with a top speed of 15km per hour. This unique car requires no gasoline and produces no toxic emissions, presenting a political alternative to the conspicuous consumption of car culture (no wars have been waged over pedal-power).
Mercer Union and artist Michel de Broin would like to invite you to join us on April 3rd, in courtroom R at 60 Queen Street West, at 3pm. Seating is limited, so please arrive early. With the expectation of winning the right to operate the vehicle on the streets of Toronto, the artwork will be towed to Old City Hall on the morning of April 3rd. We hope to leave the courthouse in victory, and slowly pedal home.
So, the police then had to decide if a home-made pedal-car (no doubt with homemade brakes and steering) with 800 pounds of steel bolted on and 4 people inside was in anyway entitled to drive on a public street.
Human-powered railcars began as 19th century work vehicles for railroad employees, but today you can ride updated versions at two locations not far from the Bay Area: the River Fox Train line I rode near Sacramento, which has railbikes, and at Handcar Tours in Marina near Monterey, which has handcars.
I joined a group ride on River Fox on a dry, cool Saturday in February 2021. We met at the boarding area near the Sacramento River, got our instructions, climbed onto our railbikes and headed south past fields and trees. Sometimes we rode at field level, sometimes on an embankment or across small bridges. Riding a railbike resembles riding on a rail-to-trail pathway, except the tracks are still there and the bike has four wheels. Our group included about 10 railbikes, with employees acting as guides at either end. After 5 miles, we took a break while a guide turned our cars, and then we rode back.
The final 8-bike pedal Scalextric system had a very tight build deadline as it was being sea freighted to its first event. This meant my final photos and video are not so great. I hope to get more images and video of the system in action at the event it was built for.
The control box needs to regulate the output from the generators (to stop the Scalextric cars blowing up), but it also needed to apply a decent load to the bicycles. This was done using a number of low value resistors, along with some DC-DC converters.
Our sister business, Bespoke Gear have been building interactive pedal-power systems for over 15 years. Doing events and selling equipment to a wide variety of customers in that time we have learnt what works. We design and build high-quality, robust pedal-powered equipment and bespoke, interesting and interactive displays. If you are trying to promote environmental awareness, energy efficiency, getting people fit or just want something thats a bit different for your event then we might have something for you.
To facilitate this claim, Morgan says that the 3-speed crank pedal car is similar to a recumbent bicycle, and should offer exciting performance with low effort. To keep weight down, the car is crafted from lightweight aluminum, but still features an imitation cast V-twin engine, a tubular chassis and hand formed louvres. The SuperSport Junior also features working lights and hand stitched adjustable seating, for the more discerning of the younger generation out there.
Ever since the arrival of fossil fuels and electricity, human powered tools and machines have been viewed as an obsolete technology. This makes it easy to forget that there has been a great deal of progress in their design, largely improving their productivity. The most efficient mechanism to harvest human energy appeared in the late 19th century: pedals. Stationary pedal powered machines went through a boom at the turn of the 20th century, but the arrival of cheap electricity and fossil fuels abruptly stopped all further development.
Rotary motion has been the fundamental mechanism of most machines throughout human history. There have been several important innovations in applying human power to rotary motion, many of which already appeared in Antiquity: the bow (see the article on human powered drilling tools), the hand crank, the capstan and the treadwheel (these are described in more detail in the article on human powered cranes). Successively, each of these brought an improved mechanical advantage, being the factor by which the mechanism multiplied the human (or sometimes animal) input force into an higher output force.
The cleverest innovation in applying human power to rotary motion only appeared in the 1870s. Some of us still use it as a means of transportation, but it is rarely applied to stationary machines anymore: pedal power. Initially, pedals and cranks were connected directly to the front (or sometimes rear) wheel. With the arrival of the 'safety bicycle' shortly afterwards, this direct power transmission was replaced by a chain drive and sprockets - still the basics of most present-day bicycles. Pedal power did not come out of the blue: some of the first bicycles were equipped with treadles, which could be considered the predecessor of the pedal.
On their own, pedals and cranks did not offer a better mechanical advantage than the hand crank, let alone the capstan or the treadwheel. What made pedal power so revolutionary was that it offered the possibility to use the stronger leg muscles in a continuous motion while at the same time offering a much more compact mechanism than the capstan or the treadwheel.
Moreover, using the appropriate gear ratio (using chains and sprockets of different sizes) a mechanical advantage similar to that of a capstan or a treadwheel could be achieved (multiplying torque at the expense of speed or vice versa). This made pedal power suitable for a much larger variety of applications.
From 1876 onwards, pedals and cranks were attached to tools like lathes, saws, grinders, shapers, tool sharpeners and to boring, drilling and cutting machines. These machines - which became very popular - were intended for small workshops and households without electricity or steam power. They were made with heavy cast-iron bodies that could be collapsed for shipping.
Steel treadles were applied to industrial machines like hat, broom, cigar and hook making machines, printing presses, punch machines and riveting machines. The farm saw the appearance of foot powered harvesters, treshers, milking machines and vegetable bundlers. The late 19th century dentist used a treadle powered drill.
The historical importance of pedal powered machines can be easily overlooked by people who grew accustomed to fossil fuels and ubiquitous electricity. Therefore, it cannot be stressed enough how much of an improvement pedal power was in the light of thousands of years of human drudgery. Pedals and cranks make use of human power in a near-optimum way.
The circular pedalling motion mainly activates the thigh muscles or quadriceps which are the largest and most powerful muscles in the human body. Furthermore, using the appropriate gearing, pedals and cranks make use of these muscles at an optimal speed: about 60 to 90 revolutions per minute. Research in the twentieth century has shown that muscles develop maximum power when they are contracting quickly against a small resistance.
Historically, the motions used to harvest human muscle power used inappropriate muscles moving against resistances which were too large at speeds which were too low. While human powered capstans and treadwheels were much more efficient, their use was limited because of their sheer size (and especially in the case of treadwheels, their high costs).
Good examples of the misuse of human muscle power throughout history were large human powered rowing boats, as well as most farm work. In the third edition of 'Bicycling Science', the same David Wilson writes: 59ce067264