Velomobiling

A fifteen minute ride in a velomobile. Previously: The velomobile: high-tech bike or low-tech car?

Pedal Powered Wool Carding Machine

pedal powered wool carding machine

The Cyclocarder by Fibershed-contributor Katharina Jolda is a wonderful update to the article on pedal powered machines. The Cyclocarder can turn your backyard, community center, or farm into a human powered wool processing station.

When Low-Tech Goes IKEA

when lowtech goes ikea

What happens when two industrial design students from Sweden end up in Kenya creating a pedal powered machine for small-scale farmers who are often illiterate and speak more than 60 languages? You get a do-it-yourself design that seems to have come out of the IKEA factories – pictoral manuals included.

“Made in Kenya”, the bachelor project of Niklas Kull and Gabriella Rubin, is a textbook example of low-tech made accessible to everybody, regardless of their native tongue and language skills.

[Read more…]

Flywheel Bicycle

flywheel bicycle

Maxwell von Stein’s bicycle invention uses a flywheel to store energy. Instead of braking, he can slow the bicycle by transferring the kinetic energy from back wheel into the flywheel — which spins between the bars of the frame. Then Max can send the flywheel energy back to the wheel when he wants a boost. Watch the video. Thank you, Rasmus.

Related: Job Ebenezer’s Dual Purpose Bicycle, mentioned in the article on pedal powered machines.

Pedal Powered Machines

pedal powered machines

  1. Pedal powered farms and factories: the forgotten future of the stationary bicycle
  2. Bike powered electricity generators are not sustainable
  3. The short history of early pedal powered machines

Pedal Powered FlatBed Truck

Pedal powered flatbed truck “Originally designed to serve the load carrying requirements of the Tri-Sled factory, the FlatBed Truck is a high-bulk load carrier. We use one of these for getting around our local industrial estate, transporting frames and fairings to our powder-coating and painting contractors, or picking up steel and other oversized materials.”

“The FlatBed Truck is far more convenient than carting large items to and from a car or van. With this maneuverable vehicle, you can simple roll straight in and out of your business or factory. It even serves as a handy rolling work bench for working outside on sunny days.”

“The FlatBed Truck is also incredibly easy to store. Just flip it up on its end when not in use, and use the rear rolling wheels to move it against a wall or into a small space. The rolling wheels also serve as a back bump stop.” Trisled FlatBed Truck.