Bike Power

The term “bike-power” (interchangeable with pedal-power) refers to power generated by use of a bike generator or bike generators. The bike stays stationary with the back wheel raised off the ground.

The back wheel would be connected either directly to your appliance or to a motor also known as a dynamo. Linkage options (for connecting your bikes) are varied and could include simple tyre-on-roller designs, chain and sprocket, Belt drive, and brushless. Either way you are trying to convert the rotation of the pedals by the participant into rotation of an appliance or an armiture and stator encased in a motor (dynamo) housing to create electricity. Although seemingly simple to do there are challenges to using the power safely effectively and efficiently. It is possible to regulate power by pedalling at the correct speed but this would require concentration and training for participants.

One of the main difficulties in designing such systems is to cope with the varying power output from people with different abilities while making it a rewarding activity for everyone.

We mostly concentrate on electrical power generation. In our experience the best demonstrations of electrical pedal power work reactively and only store small amounts of power. Thats how we keep it interesting. Ideally the number of bike generators would be matched to the thing you are trying to power. Measurement is great to show the cyclist how much power they are generating. Powering things directly can be very satisfying but care must be taken to control the output voltage to protect people and equipment which are connected to it.

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