How many people will it take to power my laptop and projector, or pedalboard (or any device)?
Pamela Parker’s pedal board at the Peace Day SF rally. Photo: Nio.
Okay, so you have a device or set of devices in mind (like a laptop and projector), and you want to know whether it’s possible to power them with people on bike generators. Here are the steps to figure it out:
First, you need to measure the power consumption of the device you want to power. There are two ways to do this. You can read the writing on the product or you can actually measure it using a device like the Kill a Watt. The second way is better for two reasons: It’s more educational and fun, and more precise; some product ratings (written on the product) are just approximate. Some products use different amounts of power at different settings. For example, a loudspeaker will use way less power than it’s rated for if you’re listening to music at moderate levels. So get yourself a Kill a Watt and get scientific!
Above: A Kill a Watt in use.
Connect the Kill a Watt to the wall, then connect your device(s) to it, and read the wattage number. (Be sure you’re in watt mode; the device may default to showing volts. If the reading is very close to 110, USA AC power voltage, then you are probably reading volts.) If you look carefully you’ll see that the watt mode will have the unit “watt” next to the reading.
Next, visualize what types of pedalers you are expecting at your event. The wattage you can expect per person will change depending on who is pedaling. This is common sense: A competitive cyclist can generate more power than a 3rd grader.
Read MoreGenerators available from Rock The Bike
We sell three types of complete Generator Bikes:
Not sure which one is right for you? Think about which activies you want to be able to power.
– sLEDge Generator Pro (our custom frame with wide size range and great branding possibilities – works with all of our attachments, mechanical and “electrical”)
– Svelte Generator Pro (our custom frame with wide size range and great branding possibilities – most efficient choice for all of our “electrical” except the sLEDgehammer tower)
*What’s the difference between the sLEDge and Svelte Generator Pro? It is the type of Generator wheel that it comes with. The Svelte is a lighter more compact generator wheel and is easier to install. It won’t work with the sLEDgehammer tower.
– Electric Fender Blender Pro (same but includes a bike blender so you can do two activities – Please let us know which Generator Wheel you’d like it to have)
And we sell a more cost effective solution for turning any bike in to a generator:
– the Roll Up Generator Stand
Generator Pro
sLEDge Generator Wheel
Svelte Generator Wheel
When you do events with Pedal Power, especially with groups of pedalers, it’s good to have a simple, comfortable bike that looks inviting and leaves no option but to get on and pedal. The Generator Pro is that bike.
It has no gears, no brakes — only the seat to adjust. The handlebars don’t even turn. Nothing rubs the tire, nothing gets hot and no parts wear out when people pedal continuously for hours at events.
What it does have is a large and effective brushless generator wheel. The size of it creates a flywheel effect that smoothes out people’s pedal strokes. The magnets and coils inside the generator never touch each other, and there’s nothing rubbing on the tire, meaning that all the pedal energy goes into electricity instead of heat. The power comes through a cable at the center of the wheel.
The hub is rated for more power than even the strongest Tour de France riders can summon.
The frame of the bike has a very wide size range. You’ll see 7-year-olds high-fiving adults as they pedal alongside each other. All you have to do is make sure the seat is adjusted for each rider. The ease, comfort, and fun of people pedaling in groups are what this bike was designed for.
This generator is for customers who want the best, like the way it looks in a group, and want the benefits of its simplicity
The lack of unnecessary features in this high-performance generator allows your staff to direct its attention to other things at your events, like people!
Above: The Generator Pro
- Compatible with any Rock The Bike electrical activity, such as the Recharge Station, the sLEDgehammer, or live sound.*
- Consistent performance.
- Cruisy looking and comfy.
- Looks great in a group at events.
- Powerful gear ratio.
- Uses the same frame as our bike blenders — you can add a blender later or get both now in the same package.
- Can be branded — see our examples.
- The Generator Pro is not a complete activity by itself. Pedaled on its own, it will have no resistance and the wheel will just spin faster and faster. You have to match it to one of our compatible Electrical Activities.
Electric Fender Blender Pro
It has all the features of the Generator Pro, plus you can blend smoothies! For more info, please go here.
Roll Up Generator Stand
Rock The Bike’s low cost, high-performance, smooth rolling generator.
Roll your bike on up to this sturdy stand, engage the generator, and voila! — you are immediately ready to create some serious pedal power!
Designed for continuous all-day use at events, this DC power generator stand is an efficient yet affordable way to get the Rock the Bike level of performance for one or many riders. Get several stands to involve local team members and volunteers who can bring their own bikes to an event.
Our child-sized version makes a good choice for teachers who want to do a demonstration of alternative energy in the classroom. Unique among every available bike generator, the Roll Up features a clear window where you can see magnets on the moving part spin past coils on the fixed part.That’s where muscle effort converts to electricity, and you can show it to your students!
The ride is easy on your bike, and easy on your body. While other bike generators shred tires, whine with inefficiency and aren’t nearly as fun to pedal, we engineered the Roll-Up with a four-times-bigger roller that both positively grabs your tire and creates a flywheel effect to smooth out generation.
The large contact patch formed between the 6” roller and your tire means less roller pressure is required to maintain contact. You won’t see any deformation of the tire. More of your good clean Pedal Power goes into the device you’re powering.
We make our rollers out of our own gritty composite similar to the concrete that tires were designed to roll on—producing a smooth, quiet, efficient ride.
Key Features
- Clear, built-in indicators show when you’re using it correctly: LEDs inside the DC generator glow at 12-24 volts.
- The generator is designed to accept more power than humans can generate, so the Roll Up never gets hot.
- Highest power capacity tire-rolling dynamo on the market.
- Almost any kind of bike works, see the requirements here.
- Standard model fits 24”, 26”, 29” and 700c wheels; small model fits 20” wheels.
- Use your bike gears to adjust level of challenge.
- For group events, pair your Roll Ups with a range of bike sizes to fit a variety of riders. [photo from Alabama]
- Generates 0 – 30v DC Anderson connector output.
- Using a 21-speed bicycle or higher will give you the greatest range of output voltages.
The Roll Up is not a complete activity — you’ll still need something to power.
Read MoreBasic questions to consider when crafting your Pedal Powered Stage
The technical needs of a Pedal Powered event vary greatly depending on audience size, venue, and power needs of musician’s devices. The questions in this post will help you to know what features are most important for you, and how much power you’ll really need. Please answer these questions and email us using the contact form. Also, please check out some of our recommended packages to see systems intended for different crowd sizes: https://oldsite.rockthebike.com/pedal-powered-stage-packages
Above: Shake Your Peace! performs during the Bay Rising Tour on their Pedal Powered Stage crafted by Rock the Bike.
- In your mind’s eye, how many people are taking in the music at your ideal event? Audience size is the most important factor in knowing how many loudspeakers, generators, and circuitry to get. Are you aiming for school assemblies? Street performing? A festival stage?
- Who is pedaling to generate power at your events? Is it competitive cyclists? fit adults? the general public? teenagers? kids? How family friendly are your events? Doing events with kids means you’ll need more bikes! The reason: Kids love to pedal but can’t generate much power. Also, they need to use bikes that are sized accordingly. If you want to do these events, you need to plan ahead so kids can participate.
- What style of music do you want to amplify? Or do you have a specific band your are planning to work with? Are you a bandleader? If so, what is the instrumentation in your band?
- Indoor vs. Outdoor? In your mind’s eye, where are your Pedal Powered events taking place?
- Do you want or need to be completely off the grid? Off The Grid means that you are completely independent and not relying on power from any other source. Some people just want to demonstrate Pedal Power, but are doing so in places where there ready access to wall power. Perhaps they don’t mind using some wall power and some bike power. This can be a way to decrease the number of bikes in your system, but still offer people the chance to create power with their bodies. For example, if you want a Bike Powered Cinema, you could power the loudspeakers with bikes and the projector with wall power. Other people want to make a statement by using NO power from the grid, or they are trying to bring a concert to a natural setting or park where there is no built-in power at all. They’ll need to be completely off the grid. What is right for you?
- Related. What is your main motivation for doing Pedal Powered events in your community? Examples: Have fun, get involved in music events, raise environmental consciousness/bike excitement, encourage healthy lifestyles, publicize a commercial offering. It helps us to know why our customers are interested in Pedal Power, and it may affect our gear recommendations.
- Are you planning to bike it there? Biking it there requires more crew, gear, and experience than loading a truck, but can be enormously gratifying. Check out these photos to see if this inspires you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/sets/72157622547485971/
- Will you be doing nighttime events?
- Do you already have a crew? Are you interested in leading a crew? Doing larger events with the general public requires a crew, including specific roles like Sound Guy, Roadie, Coach, Tech, MC and more.
Read More
What are the elements of a Pedal Powered Stage?
Pedal Power Generators:
Above, two Mundo 500 generators in use at the Eugene Bicycle Music Festival. The rear wheel is elevated off the ground so that you can pedal in place and generate power.
You will need enough bicycle generators that the pedaling effort per person is approx. 50-75 Watts. Based on our experience at events, 50-75 Watts is the amount that an average audience member can continuously provide. You should also have ‘ringer pedalers’ in your crew. Ringer pedalers are strong racer or everyday commuting cyclists who can contribute up to 4 times more than an average pedaler. Whether you’re relying on ringers or the GP (General Public), you’ll need to provide enough bikes that the effort can be shared.
| Number of Pedalers | Estimated Crowd Size Possible in an Outdoor Location |
| 1 | 200-500 (with One Bike / One Speaker) |
| 4 | 500 |
| 8 | 500-1000 |
| 12 | 1000-2000 |
| 20 | 2000+ We haven’t had enough chances to test at these power levels. |
Pedal Powered Stage Gear
A Pedal Powered Stage is a system that must include ALL of the following:
- Generator(s)
- Loudspeaker(s) and
- Audio Gear (microphones, cords, stands, etc)
- Pedal Power Utility Box
- Wiring and interconnects
- Pedalometer
The following elements are optional:
- staging
- lighting
Creating a system yourself can be a great team-building experience but has a serious learning curve. Working with Rock The Bike will get you up and running much more quickly and with higher quality components. You’ll be able to put your focus on organizing events much sooner.
Let our experience work for you. We’ve been Pedal Powering music events since 2007. This will translate to less frustration and more empowering moments when you use our gear at your events.
We would be happy to assist you in customizing a quote for your Pedal Powered Stage. Please note that the items in this category are often made to order. Please help us help you by giving us enough time to do our best work.
If you aren’t sure if you want to purchase or rent, you can check out purchasing prices with the “BUY” button below, or you can contact us for rental quotes HERE, or email info@rockthebike.com
Read MorePedal Power Utility Box
The Pedal Power Utility Box makes team efforts possible! Up to 10 people at once can convert their good clean Pedal Power to usable AC power, for devices rated up to 1000W.
A Pedal Power Utility Box in use at an event. All the essential circuitry and wiring needed for Pedal Powered events is safely beneath a polycarbonate panel, so wires don’t get yanked. A four-line LED ‘Pedalometer’ displays current power levels to pedalers, so they can adjust their effort to keep power ‘in the green’.
Dealing with wiring, protection circuitry, and power display is often the most challenging part of planning and building a Pedal Powered Stage. Why not let the pros handle it? Rock the Bike has been building Pedal Power gear and wiring up bike music systems since 2003.
The Pedal Power Utility Box has an ultracapacitor that stabilizes the spiky DC power coming from bicycle generators and makes it useable and stable power for lighting, music, projectors, and other devices to run dependably for hours at your events. Plug in anything short of a hair dryer or electric kettle into its standard 110V or 220V AC outlets. The integrated Pure Sine wave inverter provides up to 1000W of continuous AC power. Higher total power levels are possible when you use our Modified JBL PRX loudspeakers, or use the DC output ports, as these bypass the AC inverter.
Continuous pedaling is needed to keep devices on. There is no battery, only an ultracapacitor lasting a few minutes.
Above: The Pedal Powered Utility Box can include an output for a 4′ tall Pedalometer, which is visible to more pedalers and to your audience. The Pedal Powered Utility Box shown above also features a Wattage Display, which is now available as an upgrade.
Features:
— 5 pedal power inputs for use with our pedal power generator, the Electric Fender Blender Pro. Expandable to 10 people by using a junction box
— 2 DC outputs for external devices such as our LED Stage Lighting Panels
— Over-voltage protection
— Ultracapacitor provides a 2 – 5 minute buffer of power (depending on consumption levels).
— 1000-watt Pure Sine Wave inverter with two outlets. Use a power strip to run more devices at once.
— Latched lid protects system during transport, retention strap, heavy duty handle
— Well labeled inputs and outputs
— Major components visible through clear polycarbonate panel, good for education purposes
— 4-Line LED output, or upgrade to a wattage display (+$600)
— Durable Neutrik twist-lock connectors — the gold standard in the event audio world. Yanked cables don’t disconnect.
See our Video Demonstration of the Pedal Power Utility Box
