Anotherpower.com Forum
Transportation => Human Powered => Topic started by: Norm on February 23, 2012, 10:23:41 pm
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I have been pedaling the exercise bike that we bought
while adding a few touches to the PedGen ....not just
making any electricity.
Boring....altho' it does burn calories....I don't think it
is really that truthful especially the part where I'm doing
70-75 mph. ::)
Resistance with a strap wrapped around the flywheel only
works where you set it up to a certain speed pedal any harder
and you overcome the resistance and it gets easier the faster
you pedal....unlike the PedGen where it gets increasingly more
difficult the faster you pedal.
Just gotta get the PedGen going again !
Norm
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You built a better more realistic exercise machine that actually does some good..
I love it!!
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You built a better more realistic exercise machine that actually does some good..
I saw an exercise machine once that was part exercise machine, part video game.
You "ran" in this virtual environment. The harder and faster you ran, the more quickly you passed through the place. It had some feedback between the virtual environment and the treadmill - so when you were at a steep incline, it was harder to run, etc. You had a screen in front of you to "place" you in the scene. It was pretty crude, but certainly had potential.
Not that I've ever used exercise machines - because the very thought of them bored me to sleep - but this might be a way to make it less boring. Heck, they could run a bevy of beauties on the track to give you something to look at while you're running! (Keep them just far enough ahead to keep you motivated to run that bit harder perhaps!)
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They have them now that are integrated with the internet, google maps, and a so called trainer gives you different workouts that show you street views of your path. Inclines are simulated and based on the real journey in the maps.
Yeah, not cheap either.
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The Weslo E-26 is an upright exercise bike with arms
connected to the pedals....but I make a recumbrent out
of it by sitting in one of the kitchen chairs behind it and
pedaling.....I watch the arms going back and forth and
think....now if one of those were connected to an agitator
on a washing machine.....that's one of the ways it is less
boring.......
Norm.
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Just gotta get the PedGen going again !
Is it broke?
G-
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Not broke...but apart for modifications need to fix it
for better adjustment of the generator rubber wheel
( Razor scooter 4 inch red plastic rubber-like wheel
against the solid rubber 11 inch bike tire.
.....between that and 3 other projects ....know what
I mean? Hard to decide which one is top priority....LOL !
Norm.
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Yup, I know what you mean!
G-
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The PedGen now has small 2 inch wheels in front by picking up the back
it can be rolled around like a cart....now I can take it from room to room
or outside to keep cool while I pedal[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
Next will be a folding attached stool that will take the place of
the bar stool that I use at this time.
all in all I have worked a pretty satisfactory arrangement.....
50 watt hrs. a day is starting to get easier and easier....I've
managed to get a day ahead as I pedal a little more each day.
.....thinking of hooking a handsaw to the Weslo E-26 one of these
days soon ....at 75 rpm of the crankpedals connected to the flywheel
should saw thru a 2x4 quite easily and sawdust drops on the floor
instead of flying all around like with a circular saw.
Norm.
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I will be cutting my 50 watt/hrs. a day down to 10 watt/hrs.
My therapist has advised me that I'm doing too much of the
right kind of exercise as far as my knees are concerned.
I was shown and went thru some of the exercises I really need
....I'll tell you this....It's much more tiring right now, until I get
used to the change, than pedaling the 1hr. and a half to generate
50 watt/hrs. plus I keep losing track of the various sets that are
required.
But it will be fun doing research into various machines that will
help me towards my goal.
Appreciate people that are in worse condition than I have ever
been ...but keep on going!
Norm.
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That's one of the tricks to weight loss and muscle/nerve (re)building.
One of the terms for this is muscle confusion. This is an insufficient term as the nervous system is very much involved. As muscle condition and nerve conductivity/pathways build to accommodate a certain exercise or function they get much more efficient at it.
Once this happens the benefits plateau and you get less return from doing more of the same exercise.
Changing the routine up once you realize you have adapted, or just as it gets easier makes workouts MUCH more effective.
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You seem to be much more knowledgeable about exercise than I ....
thanks for the reply!
Norm
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Yes .....that's right I plugged the little Burton coffee maker (12 volt) into
the deep cycle battery .....paralleled the PedGen with it....flipped the
coffee maker switch and started pedaling ....looking at the digital bike meter
I noted the elapsed time that I had already pedaled this morning, 33.45 min.
2 minutes and I heard the gurgle of coffee starting to perk and the smell of
fresh coffee brewing.
10 minutes later and I had a fresh cup of coffee, I had pedaled the walking
equivalent of .5 of a mile had that wheel been touching the ground I would
have been going 3.2 MPH. with less effort than walking.
Eventually I will have a bike that does just that.
It is 2 miles to town....time and distance enough to make a cup of coffee
and put twice the amount of electricity into the battery that I took out.
At that price of coffee at McDonald's I would save enough to pay for about
2 KWH of grid electricity! :)
Norm.
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Neat comparison.
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Hey Norm,
Did you ever figure out what that coffee maker
used for amps?
Gotta love an efficient PMA,
and a cup of coffee made with an efficient PMA!
;D
G-
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Well I have to pedal about 20 minutes to put back in the
75 amp/hr. SLA 12 volt that's 10 watt/hrs. the beauty of
it...like you say very efficient I can almost power it direct
almost....probably could if I had a variable speed drive....
but I'm satisfied the way it is by pedal helping the battery
I can have a cup of coffee in 10 minutes as the voltage to
the coffee maker is higher....higher = faster brew. But it is
really quite causual pedaling....in fact I can sip on the coffee
while I pedal the second 10 minutes of the 20 minute session.
Just hooked up to the battery....battery reading 12.5 and drops to 12
when I turn on the switch coffee maker draws 7.96 amps.
It is a really efficient PMA....I figure 30 watts leisure pedaling
for a cup of coffee ain't bad at all :)
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I figure 30 watts leisure pedaling
for a cup of coffee ain't bad at all :)
Economically great advice!
What?
$4 for a coffee at StarBucks?
$2 at McD's?
Income tax?
etc.
To make enough spendable money
to buy a cup of coffee in that time...
a guy would have to make $25 an hour????
LOL
G-
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My coffee taste just as good as $4 or $2 coffee maybe better....
Next time you're down this way I'll make you a cup !
....working on a treadmill gen today treadmill motor becomes a
generator if you go faster than cut in speed.....altho I could never
drink coffee while I was walking....
(coffee cup in front just out of reach.....)
Norm