Riding Uphill with the Brakes On

October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Tire mark on wheel well

Tire Rubbed on Wheel Well

In my last post I talked about having some trouble (aka getting stuck) getting up the very steep hill on my commute without my BionX. I knew that something felt wrong at the time, but I wasn’t able to confirm it right away. With each pedal stroke (which were necessarily very vigorous pedal strokes) the entire velomobile heaved backwards on its rear shock. At the same time that this happened I was feeling some incredible resistance. Well, it turns out I was basically bottoming out the shock and my tire was rubbing on the underside of the shell’s wheel well. It’s like I was hitting the brakes every time I pushed on the pedals. You can see rubber residue and worn fiberglass in the photo here.

I imagine this has been happening for some time at least – especially those times that I accidentally catch some air when I’m flying down our bumpy streets. I’m also guessing that I didn’t notice the problem on the hill earlier because the BionX evens out the torque, so the velomobile doesn’t rock as much. Either that or the BionX just powered through the friction. In any case, not a good situation.

Tire guard

Tire Guard

My solution was to craft a tire guard that will keep the velomobile body from bottoming out on the tire. I made the guard out of a piece of aluminum flat bar because it is light and easy to work with. It attaches to the axle, and small tabs (not visible here) bend into the dropouts to keep it oriented vertically. We’ll see how it holds up.

Now that I have this installed as well as my new, refurbished BionX battery (still waiting on my old one to get repaired), I don’t think I should have any trouble tackling the hill of death once again.

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BionX Won’t Turn On

September 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Dead BionX

Dead BionX

Update 2:

I just heard from the BionX dealer, Bicycle Center of Seattle, today that BionX will not accept a return from him. I don’t completely understand why not, but it sounded like it might be because they get their BionX kits through another distributor – though they’re still listed on the BionX website as a dealer (BionX had told me just to bring my battery to a dealer, no special caveats mentioned). In any case, I’m pretty confused and very miffed.

I’m trying to figure out where I can go or what I can do to get this repair done now. Problem is now I won’t be able to get back to Seattle for at least a week and a half unless I take time off from work. Add on to that a minimum of a few weeks (my guess) for repair and shipping back and forth from Canada and I’m looking at a month or more without my BionX – which for all of my other riding would be fine, except for the “hill of death” at the end of my work commute.

Out of desperation I just ordered a refurbished battery from NYCeWheels so I can at least keep commuting while I get this sorted out, but my credit card and I are not very happy right now.

Update:

After some helpful emails with both NYCeWheels and BionX, I was able to pin down the problem more definitively to the battery. Fortunately, it sounds like I may be able to get my battery rebuilt for less than the price of a new one. On the downside, BionX requires that returns be handled through a dealer and the closest one is about an hour’s drive away in Seattle. I managed to get up there on Sunday though and the process is rolling. I still don’t know exactly how much it will cost or how long it will take. At this point I just have to wait and see.

Original Post:

Doesn’t my velomobile know that I have better things to do than constantly troubleshoot it? I was feeling very excited about finally having my Team on the road again with everything working smoothly, including my BionX electric assist.

But yesterday when I got the velo out to ride to work, the BionX wouldn’t turn on. I just figured that maybe, however unlikely, the battery had gone dead since the last time I rode it. I agonized for a bit about whether I should still ride it (thinking of the hill of death on my route), but decided to just go for it since I was already geared up for a ride. I thought I might still be able to make it (albeit really slowly) because the Team has a really good gear range. As it turns out, I only made it about a quarter of the way up the hill before I got stuck and had to jump out and push my velomobile the rest of the way up the hill. It’s a pretty terrible place to be stuck during morning rush hour since there is absolutely no shoulder, but fortunately no one ran me over before I could move the velo up onto the sidewalk.

I recharged the battery and the BionX still won’t turn on. Checked all the connections and still nothing. If I hold the power button down the display will come on, but it goes back off as soon as I let the button go. Searching on some forums I found a few people with similar problems, but their solutions generally seemed to be replacing the battery, which I really don’t want to have to do right now. I also checked the NYCeWheels BionX Troubleshooting Guide, but I didn’t like the results of the battery wakeup test – nothing happened (which, again, points to replacing the battery). I also emailed BionX, but have yet to hear anything back. I have no idea why it would just suddenly stop working like this.

So I’m feeling pretty frustrated right now since it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to ride to work without pushing my Team up the hill, which kind of takes the fun out it. Really hoping that I don’t need to shell out about $1,000 for a new battery when I haven’t even gotten that much use out of my current one.

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On the Road Again!

September 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I got the swing arm back from Cory at the Bike Stand/Olympic Outfitters. He did a remarkable job getting the axle dropout bent back into shape and welding on a reinforcement that looks nearly indestructible. With some amount of effort I got everything back together over the weekend. Doing maintenance on a velomobile definitely made me appreciate the simple accessibility of working on a bike. It seemed like half the time I either was contorting myself to reach an almost inaccessible bolt or connector or working by feel alone. Once everything is together and working though, it’s much more enjoyable.

Here are the before and after shots:

Axle dropout bent by BionX

Axle dropout bent by BionX

Axle dropout repaired and reinforced

Axle dropout repaired and reinforced

When I was putting the wheel back on I noticed that in all the banging around that happened when the dropout was bent out of shape the axle must have gotten rotated within the BionX hub motor also. This changed the orientation of the notch (visible in the photo at left) that controls the power sensor. Basically, if the axle isn’t properly aligned the BionX won’t sense your pedaling power and thus cannot provide proportional assist. Although brute force got it out of alignment, I’m going to wait until I receive the proper tool to make the adjustment. I put an order in with Electric Cyclery in California for the special BionX tool for pulling the blocker loose. In the meantime I’ll just have to pedal a little harder.

We had friends visiting from out of state and are just starting to get settled from a rather spontaneous move (into a beautiful 3-bedroom house), so today was the first time I’ve been back out riding. Unfortunately, it didn’t start out so well when I was almost hit by a car that cut in front of me across the bike lane and then stopped in the middle of the road. The brake lever in the TEAM is not particularly suited to panic stops – being a very short “T” in the middle of the handlebar, partially blocked by the BionX control unit. On my way home from work I was squeezed out of the lane by a guy talking on his cell phone who never seemed to notice me. Kind of a frustrating way to get back into the saddle. Normally my commute is on very bike-friendly and low-traffic roads, but construction has that route closed for the next month and a half. The only other ways of getting to my office involve elaborate detours, busy roads, and hairy intersections with only intermittent bike lanes or wide shoulders. I might have to resort to my regular bike (which can be walked past the construction site) until the road reopens.

Our friend Charlie shared this great video with me while he was visiting, which is just about the best thing I’ve ever seen. So here you go.

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2009 Tenino Rainier Yelm Bucoda Rally (TRYBR)

August 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

My first long-distance ride in the velomobile was lots of fun and I didn’t explode myself, though I do still have a few sore spots. Although the day started out a bit rainy, it eventually cleared up pretty nicely. I met a bunch of nice folks and got to share some information about the TEAM. The velomobile is definitely a people magnet – at every rest stop other riders seemed compelled to come over to take a look or ask questions. The funniest thing was that whereas most people who I talk to about the velomobile seem shocked by the price, other cyclists typically shrugged and said “Not bad”. I guess when you’re used to looking at bikes that go for $3-5k or more, you have a slightly different (perhaps skewed) frame of reference.

The ride started in Tenino, about 15 miles south of Olympia. I rode the velomobile down (that stubborn, rugged individualist streak I have), but turned it into a 20 mile ride when I missed one of my turns because I was enjoying myself more than I was paying attention to street signs.

I had already decided that I didn’t want to use the BionX electric assist at all during the ride, despite it being a rather hilly course (do you see any kind of pattern here?). So I used the BionX on the way down to keep me relatively fresh and saved the rest of the battery for the ride home when I knew I would be pretty wiped out. I had really wanted to do the full 100 mile ride, but the night before I finally gave in to reason (aka, my girlfriend’s persistent nagging thoughtful warnings): it would be my first long ride in the velomobile (and of the season for that matter), I would be tacking on an extra 30 miles just to get there and back, I still had an only partially healed hole in my stomach, and like it or not, I had just plain gotten out of shape. I had been putting in some easy miles on the stationary bike after my surgery, but nothing like this. So I opted for the 50 mile route, which all together meant I rode about 90 miles on Sunday. I’m glad I didn’t go any longer.

Overall, I was really pleased with how the TEAM performed on this ride. I made it up even the steepest hills without any problem. I just dropped into low gear and settled in for the grind. Although I was much slower on the uphills than the bike riders, I could just let my head roll back and watch the sky and the trees go by (at 3 mph). It was really kind of relaxing. The downhills were actually more frustrating. With the current gearing in the TEAM I hit my maximum cadence around 22-25 mph. So even on very mild downhills all I could do was coast or put the BionX in regeneration mode to slow me down enough to where I could pedal again. I had one guy tailing me for a while – I’m not sure I can rightly say that he was drafting me – who kept right up through a section of rollers, but on a final uphill where he passed me he commented that I was able to coast a lot more than he did. I’ve been talking to Ray at bluevelo about getting a bigger chainring for the Schlumpf Speed Drive, which should increase my top speed.

The thing I was most impressed with was the comfort of riding in the velomobile. The recumbent position and the Ventisit seat cushion were simply amazing. Even though I shredded my legs, I wasn’t in nearly the sorry shape I was when I rode my Felt 80 miles last year in the Two-County Double Metric Century. On the Felt my neck, back, shoulders, butt, and wrists were extremely displeased both during and after the ride. The most obvious difference came when I hit the rough chip seal paved rural roads. On my road bike every mile of that grinding vibration was torture. In the velomobile it was rather slow and a bit noisy, but otherwise not unpleasant. One drawback for the TEAM, and I would guess most velomobiles, is the lack of ventilation. I stayed pretty comfortable, but there was no breeze to evaporate my sweat. On the other hand, being shaded from the sun is nice and I felt like I wasn’t working quite as hard as I would on my traditional bike. I have seen some people prop the lid open just a little bit to let some air in, but I’m also starting to think about how some adjustable vents might be added that wouldn’t contribute too much wind resistance. Or if I listen to some of the people I’ve been talking to, I really just need to install a stereo system and air conditioning.

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First Ride(s)

August 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Just got back from my third ride of the day. My first ride was short, just taking some time to get to know the velomobile and its controls on a ride around the quiet streets of my neighborhood.

A little later I decided to take it through town to get a feel for being in traffic. I crossed down along Legion and then headed around the lake on Deschutes Parkway. To cap it off I headed up Lakeridge Drive (a killer steep hill) to see what kind of crawl the velomobile could do. I really appreciated having the BionX electric assist right then to compensate for the extra weight of the velomobile. Even with the assist cranked up to the highest level, I still was working hard. I was impressed though that the assist allowed me to maintain about the same speed going up that hill as I do on my bike.

My last ride was to see how things went after dark. The headlight was reasonably bright, though it wasn’t quite dark enough yet to really get a good idea of how well it will light up the road. I’m somewhat concerned about the lack of a rear light and I may have to wire something to get a steady or blinky LED back there. For now the reflective tape should help.

All that riding got me a little sore. I’ve gotten a bit soft over the last month while I recovered from a minor surgery and couldn’t bike. The recumbent pedaling position also uses your muscles a lot differently than an upright bike. I was somewhat disappointed with the speed. I maintained about 20 mph during the whole ride, which is about what I do on my commuter bike. Hopefully as I continue to heal, get back in shape, and build up my recumbent muscles though I’ll be able to kick it up a bit.

I’m planning on riding the velomobile in to work tomorrow, though I still haven’t exactly figured out parking…. It’s a little unwieldy for the bike rack ;)

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BionX Upgrade – PL350!

July 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ray finally received a BionX at bluevelo, but not the one we were expecting. Apparently the P250 I had ordered was just so back-ordered that they finally sent their top of the line unit, the PL350. This version sports a more powerful 350 watt motor and a lithium battery that packs twice the energy at the same weight as the P250.

Unfortunately, BionX doesn’t seem to be very customer-oriented and still charged the full price for the more expensive unit – a difference of $600 CAD.

Fortunately, Ray and bluevelo do seem to very customer-oriented and managed to convince BionX to knock $400 off the price. Ray then offered to split the remaining difference. So for just $100 CAD I will be getting a very sweet upgrade in my electric assist.

This is a great deal, despite the frustration of the repeated delays. I have to commend Ray and bluevelo for their advocacy and support, it seems to be an uncommon level of service these days.

Hopefully this means I’ll have a velomobile arriving in my yard before too much longer!

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BionX Torture

June 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The BionX still hasn’t arrived. The delays on it just keep getting pushed out further and further. Supposedly it’s actually going to come this week, but if I was still holding my breath I’d be blue in the face. Every day that passes now causes me physical pain as I think about my velomobile languishing in a warehouse while BionX screws around. If I had known this was how it would be, I would have ordered  the TEAM without the assist. Mumble grumble.

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TEAM Deposit Sent

March 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I just sent off the deposit to bluevelo to start production of a TEAM velomobile. It should be ready by the end of May!

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Going Out for the TEAM

March 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

After exchanging a number of emails with Ray Mickevicius of bluevelo and asking a ton of questions, I’ve nailed down my vision of the TEAM and how I would like it spec’d. Ray has been extremely helpful in answering all my questions, sending additional photos and offering input. Due to this, it is only with mild trepidation that I’m deciding to pass up flying out to Toronto for a test ride. The money I’ll save will help cover some useful upgrades.

Since Olympia, Washington is  a rather hilly area and since I might possibly will let my girlfriend ride it (occasionally), I opted to include a BionX electric assist to help offset the weight disadvantage of a velomobile on uphill climbs.

The only standard color options are a gelcoat yellow or white. Just about any other color is possible as an upgrade, but at a $750 CAD price tag I just couldn’t justify it. After the other options and accessories I went for, this thing is already more expensive than our car! So, after looking longingly at some of the other very sweet colors, I chose to go with yellow since it will be more visible on dismal winter days. Maybe someday I’ll get the body repainted…

So, here’s what I’ve come up with:

All together this should make for an excellent year round commuter here in the Pacific Northwest.

The price for all this is rather scary. Although it is within my means, it will be a stretch for the next few months as I put the money aside. My girlfriend Breanna has been incredibly supportive through the thick and thin of my velo obsession and even gave me that last little kick I needed to get past my sticker shock. So I’ve sucked it up and decided to make the largest single purchase of my life. We’ll try not to talk about that part too much though.

Now I just need an official quote and details to send a deposit to get this velomobile rolling.

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RideVelo.com

February 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

After years of researching and dreaming about alternative, efficient, environmentally-friendly transportation in general and human-powered vehicles (HPVs) and velomobiles in particular, I’ve finally found my match.

Most velomobiles are still produced in Europe and in small numbers, so they are prohibitively expensive for both production and freight. A DIY option based on a standard recumbent trike struck me as appealing and (relatively) inexpensive, but I realized it would be unrealistic in my current situation. Finally, I came across one of a very few velomobile producers/dealers in North America – bluevelo, Inc.

I was strongly leaning toward the Quest, arguably the prima donna of velomobiles, which bluevelo had just acquired the North American production rights for. After finding out that it was incompatible with the BionX electric assist though, I wasn’t entirely sure it would be good for the Puget Sound region where sometimes it seems like every direction is uphill.

A good alternative appeared just over the horizon in the TEAM, which bluevelo was starting work on. Basically, it is the base chassis of a Cab-Bike, but with a head out speedster-type top. The price is among the best for any of the velomobiles I have seen to date and it is based on a tried and tested platform.

Setting my sights now on the TEAM, I’ve created an internet home for my velo adventures, ridevelo.com. Stay tuned for more info and updates.

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