<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Childress, Matt</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:childrss@illinois.edu">childrss@illinois.edu</a>></span><br>
Date: Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 11:00 AM<br>Subject: RE: Joint Meeting with MakerSpace, Bike Project?<br>To: David Noreen <<a href="mailto:davidnoreen@ymail.com">davidnoreen@ymail.com</a>>, Stewart Dickson <<a href="mailto:mathartspd@gmail.com">mathartspd@gmail.com</a>><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">We actually have a member that has done several eBicycle as well as gBicycle (gas bicycle) conversions. While we’re an EV club, gas bicycles ARE high MPG vehicles
and have a significantly lower cost-of-entry/conversion. Other than that, the gBikes are loud and stink and have safety issues (hot exhaust pipes). However they are very much the poor-man’s solution to high gas, insurance, parking. I’ll try to get him to
the August meeting with one of his rides.<br>
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A really decent eBike conversion, assuming the donor bicycle is free will run you about $500 to $1000 (a gBike is around $300-400). That being said, if you end up using it to eliminate the use of your car for most local travel (even if it’s just on the ‘nice’
days) you’ll easily get paid back in 2-3 years. If you work on campus and you are able to give up your parking space because you can now park for free with the rest of the bicycles, then the payback period is much shorter.<br>
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If you make it a folding eBike, then you can transportation mode-shift with it: a good folding bicycle will set you back $300-600, then then $500-1000 to make it electric. However it will go INSIDE the MTD bus system (so if it’s raining and you need to stay
dry you don’t have to fight with the other bicyclists for the two available racks on the front), Amtrak trains for free and potentially an airplane as checked baggage (the Lithium-Ion battery packs may or may not be able to go with you on a plane). At that
point you have one of the most functional forms of local transportation combined with medium-to-long distance mass transit.<br>
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>From a maker/hacker-space perspective, there’s also the concept once you have a decent mass of batteries on your ride of lojacking it with an Arduino with a GPS unit and a cell phone shield so if somebody steals your ride, you can find it and recover it…<br>
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M@<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> David Noreen [mailto:<a href="mailto:davidnoreen@ymail.com" target="_blank">davidnoreen@ymail.com</a>]
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<b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 30, 2012 10:07 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Stewart Dickson<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Childress, Matt<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: Joint Meeting with MakerSpace, Bike Project?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hi Stewart,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Thanks for your email. Yes, this sounds like a very interesting synergy between the groups, and one very much worth exploring. We've
mentioned the Bike Project and the MakerSpace (and the FabLab, as well) in our meetings and on our ListServ mailings, and there has been interest in projects and collaborative work along these lines. As you can see, I've copied our Illinois EV Club President,
Matt Childress, on this email, and I'm sure he'll be glad to read of your suggestions, as he and I have discussed similar things many times.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> A bit before Engineering Open House 2011, for example, one of our members was interested in ordering an electric bicycle from China
in kit form (for around $1000). Another member mentored students who were interested in gaining additional mechanical skills, so the students and their mentor assembled the electric bike during the morning of EOH, and some of our club members demonstrated
it (and tried it out on the Engineering Quad) later that same afternoon. (As a second example, we've also talked a number of times about the possibility of converting a folding bike to electric capability.)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> For our August meeting, instead of meeting at the University YMCA (as we do in the non-summer months), we're going to participate
in the Green Fair at the Research Park this coming Friday (and announce that to our members as being our August meeting). Perhaps we can arrange to set up close to the Bike Project area, so that we might have a chance for some of our members to meet each
other (and possibly give an opportunity for some synergistic connections to get a start)?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> - David Noreen<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Stewart Dickson <<a href="mailto:mathartspd@gmail.com" target="_blank">mathartspd@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>To:</b> David Noreen <<a href="mailto:davidnoreen@ymail.com" target="_blank">davidnoreen@ymail.com</a>>
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<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, July 29, 2012 9:12 PM<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Joint Meeting with MakerSpace, Bike Project?</span><span style><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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Hi, David,<br>
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Would anyone at the Illinois EV club be interested in having a joint meeting with the MakerSpace?<br>
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I think that we'd like to explore the possibility of workshop/presentations on the following topics:<br>
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o Bicycle Modifications<br>
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o Mutant Bike builds<br>
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o Bike Electrical Systems, Lighting<br>
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o Bicycle Motor/Generator retrofits<br>
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Does anyone at the Illinois EV club have experience in bicycle hub generators or electric<br>
bicycle motorization projects?<br>
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You may be aware that the Makerspace is just at the opposite end of the corridor from the<br>
Urbana (IMC) Bike Project. It came out at out meeting this evening that more than one of the<br>
Makerspace members owns welding equipment. And we have tons of raw materials (salvage<br>
bike parts) right nearby. <a href="http://thebikeproject.org" target="_blank">http://thebikeproject.org</a><br>
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Do you think that anyone at the Illinois EV club might be interested in such a thing?<br>
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Thanks,<br>
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-Stewart<br>
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