Surly Big Dummy
This time,
Cycle 9
will be working
hard to get some of the Surly Big Dummy frames into
the store when the next shipment arrives. Our goal is
to have at least one demo model for people to test
ride before they buy.
So, if you want one, drop us a line, we can put you
on the waiting list, and the top names on that list
will be the first ones called when the frames arrive.
We are also happy to spec out a custom package of
components to go with the frame (Shimano or Sram),
and as a fellow enthusiast, we'll treat you well.
The Big Dummy is not inexpensive, it retails for
about $900 for frame only. So a built out Big Dummy
will retail for anywhere from ~$1450-$1900 depending
on the quality of components used. The Yuba is a
great lower cost alternative (at <$900 for the
complete bike), but will not be nearly as custom
tailored to the individual rider.
The Xtracycle is my inspiration
But today I was reminded again of why the Xtracycle was so inspiring and revolutionary when I first got it.
My daily load hauling machine: An Xtracycle carrying 8'X10' carpet, office chair, and other miscellaneous items, for a 7 mile ride. It handled fine.
I went by a
friend's house to drop off something I borrowed from
her. She is (sadly) moving out of town. When I got
there, she had put together a big bag of food that
they don't want to move across the country. No
problem, it fit right into the expandable Freeloader
bags on my Xtracyle. Then, I called home before
heading there, and found out that we needed a few
groceries, and that we had a pickup of our food share
from the Carrboro Farmer's
Market. Two stops
later, I had a well loaded bike with the
equivalent of four large grocery bags stuffed full
of food and other items like laundry detergent,
books, and clothes. I rode merrily on my way home.
In the past before my Xtracycle (now a distant
memory) it would have gone something like this:
Go by friend's house. She offers me food and items. I
accept a few items and stuff them in the remaining
space in backpack or pannier, but I can't take the
big jug of laundry soap and big box of detergent, nor
the books, nor several of the other large items. Then
I call home, find out that I need to pick up
groceries and stuff at Farmer's Market. So, I ride
home (7 miles), drop that stuff off, and then because
it is late already, I get in the car and drive back
to pick it up (there is no way that a big bag of
groceries and the whole farm share would fit in my
backpack or pannier, or even a big basket). Then, all
that money and CO2 saved goes right out the tailpipe.
That is how my bike life used to be before the
Xtracycle. It was frustrating at times, to say the
least.
And the thing is, the Xtracycle, though it looks a
bit odd, has little impact on the feel of the bike.
It still rides like a normal bike, and in fact, it is
more stable than a normal bike. Sure, it is 7 pounds
heavier - but it is a 7 pounds that has saved me from
extra trips many times. It has freed me of paying for
an expensive University parking permit (the cost of
which could buy a new bike every year). This thing is
incredible.
Sometimes, when I show it to people here in the
Southeast, they kind of say "cool" and then quickly
move on. They don't know what to make of it. There
are no "celebrities" they've seen on TV riding one.
Their friends don't (yet) ride one. So they just see
it as an oddity from the "Left Coast" and dismiss it.
Sometimes it makes me sad, I want to tell them in a
loud voice: "this thing could change your life, it
changed mine!" But pushy proselytizing never works.
But, if it weren't for the Xtracycle, Cycle 9 would
likely not exist. It was this one single product that
made me realize how much more a bike could be a part
of everyday life. I really long for the day when more
people are riding bikes like this, realizing they
don't have to be financially chained to their car. Do
I hate cars? No. They are great in certain
circumstances. But I love not being dependent on one
every day. Not being dependent on foreign oil, on gas
stations, on insurance people, on auto mechanics (I
do all of my own bike maintenance, it is not very
hard). It is freeing. So, my personal goal is to
share that sense of freedom with more people. And
that is one of the important reasons why we created
this little venture.
Yuba Mundo is here!
This is a serious load carrying bike. Originally designed as part of the WorldBike project, this has now hit the USA, and we at Cycle 9 have been fortunate enough to get our hands on a few for testing and for customers.
We'll have more hints, comments, and observations as we further experiment with the bike.
Available now in our online store, or in our Chapel Hill store.
News from China
But car use is on the rise. Here there are many car ads, and cars are seen as a wealth and status symbol - a sign of the good life.
Every society seems to go through an evolution with cars - in the first phase with cars being a luxury item only for the rich, in the second phase cars being something the middle class aspires to have to show wealth and status, in the third phase, society reaching saturation where the number of cars is so large that it puts strains on the system, causing health problems, air pollution, and traffic congestion. There also appears to be a fourth stage, where countries realize the detrimental aspects of cars, and work to reduce their usage, replacing them with age old solutions like bikes, public transport, and walking. My perception is that China is still in stage 2 - the broad middle class acquiring cars as part of the rapid growth of wealth here. But already traffic problems are great - and so are pollution problems. In Bejing, it is gridlock during rush hour - and that with only 1 in 3 people owning cars. Also, there is an almost constant a haze over the city, which during my stay, only broke after some heavy rain.
When I was in the city of
Shenzhen, I inquired with several locals about
bicycle rental. I love to see new cities by
bicycle, because I can see more on bike than on foot,
yet it is still much more intimate than in a car.
It is also good exercise, to offset the extra
eating I tend to do when visiting new places.
However, when I inquired with one of the young
students, she said, "Why would you want to bike?
Shenzhen is a modern city!" The implication was
that in a "modern city" nobody would bike. She
seemed dumfounded that anyone would prefer to ride a
bike, especially a "rich westerner". She viewed bikes
as a contrivance only for the poor.
Ultimately, countries like China will continue the
evolution to more and more cars, until the problems
start becoming so apparent that there is a push to go
back to other modes of transportation for the masses.
If oil prices continue to rise, this may happen
sooner rather than later.
Morgan
Thanks to everyone who came out today
We have one of our bikes located at Johnny's for the next few weeks. This is a standard mountain bike, with the eZee kit and an Xtracycle Freeradical installed. Feel free to stop by to try it out! Also, if you enjoy music and enjoy bicycling, make sure to ask the owner Ben about his I-ride bicycle stereo. These are neat little stereos for your bike, to which you can attach your iPod or other favorite mp3 player. We have them in stock, in our online store. (If you're a local customer, the Paypal store may try to have you pay shipping, but we'll refund it).
We'll also be doing more electric and sports utility/cargo bicycle demos, including Earth Action Day on April 26.
Keep your eyes on this space for other demo dates and times.
Yuba Mundo
There's a cool new utility bike on its way to us, the Yuba Mundo.
Assuming that initial testing goes well, we'll be carrying this in two configurations, the singlespeed version for around $749, and the 6-speed version for around $799.
This cargo bike can carry up to 440 pounds of payload!
That's 2-3 adults.
or 900 bananas
or 10 kayaks (whitewater variety)
or 25 lightweight racing bikes
or a baby cow
or way more tofu than you care to eat in a lifetime, unless you really like it a lot.
Also, we already have some Xtracycle Freeradical units in stock, which is a way to convert your own bike into a sports utility bike.
Either of these bikes can be paired with an electric assist kit like the Crystalyte or the eZee to give you the ultimate sports utility bike experience (we'd love to carry the Stokemonkey, but those aren't available at the moment).
Email us, or keep an eye out for our shopping cart, coming soon.
Bicycling Safety in a Nutshell
One of the common concerns people raise is about bicycle safety. For various reasons, a lot of people think biking is "unsafe". It is true that accidents happen, and people debate a lot about how to interpret the accident statistics. I've read a lot of these sites and arguments, and I think they can be boiled down to two simple messages.
1. Sitting on your rear end is more dangerous than biking. Heart disease is the number one killer; regular exercise through activities like biking has a major impact on reducing it and many other diseases including diabetes, cancer, and more. According to research in Pedalling Health, the reduction in heart attacks from regular biking significantly outweighs the risks of the biking activity itself. And besides, per mile travelled, biking is safer than a car anyway.
2. What's more, bike accidents can be drastically reduced by realizing a few simple facts:
• Riding on sidewalks is one of the riskiest places to bike and one of the major causes of bike accidents. Cars are not looking for bikes as they pull out of driveways or at intersections.
• Riding at night without lights is another major cause of bike accidents. Riding intoxicated at night without lights is just plain stupid.
• Riding the wrong way against traffic is another major cause of accidents.
• And, running stop signs is another sure-fire way to increase the odds of getting clocked by a car.
Then there are the people who do all these things and more - I see them occasionally around, weaving in and out of traffic, running lights, riding on the sidewalk. Sadly, they don't realize how much danger they are putting themselves in. They are the folks responsible for the majority of all bike accidents.
It is simple: two-thirds of all bike accidents are a result of these kinds of changeable behaviors. That's right, if the biking populace followed a few simple guidelines, it would reduce bike accidents to about 33% of the current rate. And that, combined with the savings in health by getting regular exercise biking, adds up to a simple equation. Biking is a safe activity if done properly, compared to sitting on your rear end in the car.
For more great information on this subject, check out Ken Kifer's pages, and in particular, his piece on "Is Cycling Dangerous?"
Pre-order sales begin
We are building out our product pages with all the gory details as fast as we can, so keep your eyes out there. Our shopping cart will be coming soon, too.
In the meantime, we are offering a pre-order discount of 15-20% on many items including the folding bikes and the electric assist bikes. So now is the time to save big by pre-ordering. For more information about pre-sales orders, please drop us a line.
Replacing two car trips per week....
I came up with the charts below to show what would happen if 1/3 of the USA population replaced only 2 car trips per week with a bike trip using an electric assist bike. The bottom line is that this would save 5.5 billion gallons of gas, prevent the release of 59 million tons of CO2 and save $17 billion dollars, keeping them in American's pockets rather than sending them overseas.
Maybe this is just a drop in the bucket, but 5.5 billions of gas is a mighty big drop. Could 100 million Americans bike an average of 30 miles per week? It doesn't seem like a stretch.
Here is the table on which the calculations are based:
Bike-vs-car-trips (PDF)
PHET LiFePO4 E-bike pack update
We have been testing the pack for about two weeks now, on our Xtracycle/Currie USPD high-power drive setup (600W+).
At an average 1C rate, the pack does appear to have the rated capacity of 7.5AH. This is just enough for a 15 mile trip with the loaded Xtracycle, in our moderately hilly area. When the pack voltage drops to about 25V, the battery management system will turn it off temporarily until voltage recovers.
The voltage curve on these is flat. They stay above 36V until about 7.1~7.2 AH of use. This is really nice in comparison to a lead acid, it allows use of nearly all the battery capacity. There is more information on the PHET batteries here (this is a large PDF file).
The charger is built very solidly. We haven't measured the efficiency yet, but we will do so and post here.
Earlier, we posted that there was a current limit at 20A. Based on conversations with the manufacturer and our own further testing, this isn't true. Instead, the BMS system is set up so that if cell voltage drops below around 2.5V/cell (maybe a bit less) it cuts out power for a few seconds until the voltage recovers. The only time this seems to happen is when we are accelerating uphill on the Xtracycle/Currie/BMC setup, which can easily drain 30A. We've tested at a relatively constant 20A current for 1 minute or more, and it doesn't seem to cut out.
About the only negative so far about this pack is that the plastic handle on the end is a bit flimsy. It is solid enough for carrying the battery, but we cracked ours when we dropped the pack on it from a few inches height. A bit of duct tape fixed that right up!
All in all, this is a solid performing pack! We don't use our NiMH or SLA packs anymore (drop us a line if you want to buy a lightly used SLA or NiMH pack in a nice case).
Folding bikes!
It looks like we'll be carrying a brand new style of folding bike, that folds in 1 second to a neat little package! We will be evaluating the bike for durability and quality. As soon as we've had a good look at it, we'll post some pictures here.
New LiFePO4 batteries!
Some pictures are below. We may be taking pre-orders at a discount once we do further testing and set the final price. Please contact us if you are interested, and we'll let you know when the batteries will be ready to roll.
Side view showing pack
and rear rack mount
Front view, pack plugged into mount
Front view of pack with charging port and discharge
port
