Pedal Powered Stage Gear

A Pedal Powered Stage is a system that must include ALL of the following:

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

• How many people will it take to power my laptop and projector, or pedalboard (or any device)?

  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 [...]

• Basic 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 [...]

• What are the elements of a Pedal Powered Stage?

  What follows is an explanation of the key elements of a Pedal Powered Stage. If you are ready to buy individual components, please see the Pedal Powered Stage products section of our online store. If you’d like a custom quote for a Pedal Powered Stage, please start by emailing us with the answers to our [...]

• Rentable Pedal Powered Activities

  You can green your event by renting our Pedal Power gear, reducing your carbon footprint and inspiring people at your event. Pedal Power gives your event attendees a unique experience that they will never forget. Check out all our great Pedal Powered activities for rent, and let’s start talking about your upcoming event. (more…)

• Combining RTB activities to engage crowds at conventions and other large events

  This latest video, shot by our friend and partner, Natan Lawson of Wheely Good Smoothies in Baltimore, shows how eight of our rental activities created a large cohesive space with a large exhibit at the recent Democratic National Convention in Philly.

   

  Producers of large events are used to working in large spaces. Spaces that are typically empty and in need of shape, definition and life when they arrive. Just as it is the job of the wedding producer to remember the flowers, it is the job of our customers and rental clients to plan for both the visual impact and the function of everything in their spaces. (more…)

• York Catholic School Board remixes Toaster Challenge at energy awareness assembly

  

  Sitting on the stool on the right side of this photo is an unassuming white form, but push the lever on it and you have a beast of a challenge — match the energy needs of an electric toaster by pedaling your hardest on an efficient bicycle generator. (more…)

• Activist rapper Boots Riley's spoken word at the People’s Climate Rally Oakland, Rock The Bike's biggest event ever.

  Thanks to the 350.org Bay Area and System Change Not Climate Change organizers, volunteers, and attendeeds, and Rock The Bike crewmembers who came together for the People’s Climate Rally this past September 21 on the shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland. A major highlight of the event was Boots Riley’s spoken word and song during the peak of the event when at least 2500 people were in attendance. Skip ahead to 5:15 to hear the poem (warning, language!) Check out the awesome dance moves of the pedaler on the Tree during the song Ghetto Blaster (at 3:12). It’s inspiring to hear an activist talk about people power while using a people-powered PA system.

  In this second video, Rock The Bike’s Fossil Fool induces an outage in order to reenforce the message of people power:
  

  It was our largest audience size to date by more than double,  the previous being the 2013 San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival in Golden Gate Park at about 1000.

  

  The crowd size meant lots of new information to take in about live sound. (more…)

• When a bike gets stolen, activate your networks to get lots of eyes looking for you. And then get that bike back.

   

  After a recent Bicycle Music Festival volunteer meeting one of our best cargo bikes, a Mundo 500, was stolen. It was locked to itself. This electric cargo bike was heavy, immobilized and impossible to push. The thieves must have had to lift it into a truck. I realized it the next morning and felt dejected and ashamed.

  I gathered some resolve to ask around for my bike. I remembered my friend Kipchoge’s story of recovering his stolen laptop by spending 3 days lurking in the underworld of San Francisco’s seediest Tenderloin and Mission neighborhoods. When he finally found himself face to face with the man who’d stolen it, in the hallway of a dingy hotel, the man admitted he hadn’t yet wiped the hard drive or sold it yet because he liked a video on the desktop. The video showed Kipchoge and his friends riding into the woods on Xtracycles carrying chainsaws, in order to do trail maintenance.

  I printed out the photo below and headed out to talk to people in the nooks and crannies under highway overpasses and in the Plaza at Civic Center.

  

  I also reached out to crewmembers and friends on facebook for help. I posted it everywhere, in all the group pages for which I was a member. RTB’s Nio connected me with Jenny Oh, who has built a bike theft recovery network that is remarkably effective at getting stolen bikes back to their owners. She reposted my photo and shared her tips for getting bikes back. Following the advice I filed an online Police Report.

  I found that friends and even the people on the street were overwhelmingly sympathetic with my cause.  Alas, they weren’t giving me any leads. (more…)

• Generators 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 WheelSvelte 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

  Key features
  

  • 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.

• Festival Grade Pedal Powered Stage

  

  2 Bamboo Tripods for elevating precisely arrayed speaker clusters / 16 bikes / Stage lighting / AC power.  

  The Festival-grade package is both sonically and visually rich and serves as a prominent landmark at your event. Designed for the largest audiences, with large tripods angling the loudspeakers at distant rows. Beautiful at night.

  Crowd Size: 500-2500
  Setup Time: 3-4 hours
  Crew size: 8
  Getting it there: The entire sound system can fit on 6-8 cargo bikes and cargo trailers. Terrain will affect exact choice of roadie gear. Please consult with us!
  Generators: We recommend 5 Mundo 500, 1 Boda Boda, 4 RTBGen, 2 Electric Fender Blender Pro, 4 generator wheel and stands.
  Event space: We recommend a 12 x 24  stage. Additional space for Pedal Power generators, approx. 8×20.
  Storage space: All gear will fit into a 10×15 storage space. Please see our storage recommendations for more info.
  Lighting: Includes Stage Lighting panels for night events. Tripods have integrated lighting.
  AC Power rating: 1000 W, Pure Sine Wave.

  Audio Gear: 2 * Modified JBL PRX 635 mains, 2 * Modified JBL PRX 612 monitors, 2 * Modified JBL PRX 618XLF Subwoofers.

  Budget: $49000 +-
  Options / Upgrades:
  You supply:

   

• Pedal Powered Stage packages from Rock The Bike

  Here is a range of Pedal Powered Stage packages you can purchase from Rock The Bike. All of these systems are fun to pedal and simple to set up, and allow you to get people dancing and enjoying music at your event. The larger systems allow for more participation and larger listening audiences, so please take a look and decide which is right for you!

  After producing over 150 Pedal Powered music events, Rock The Bike has designed and created a dependable, reproducible system for you. The packages on this page show possibilities and rough budget ranges. Most likely, you will customize your package somewhat. Please use this page to get an idea of budget as it relates to crowd size:

  One Bike / One Speaker: Specifically catered to the Live PA performance artist. Cello Joe lives by the words, “Make the world your stage.” Our most popular, simplest, lightest and most affordable Pedal Powered Stage package.

  1-Minute Setup, 1 Bike, 1 Speaker, Audiences up to 300

  $3,025 and up   |   More Info

   

  Band Ready: Power up a live band. A robust system designed for a live band, complete with AC power, for instruments such as amps, keyboards, and effect pedals.

  30-Minute Setup, 4 bikes, 2 speakers, Audiences up to 500

  $13,950.00   |  email for details: info@rockthebike.com

   

  Live Concert: Power up a live band. A robust system designed for a live band, complete with AC power, for instruments such as amps, keyboards, and effect pedals.

  2-Hour Setup, 10 bikes, 2 speakers, Audiences up to 500

  $27,200.00  |  email for details: info@rockthebike.com

   

  Festival Grade: Make history.

  4-Hour Setup, 16 bikes, 7 speakers, Crew of 8, Audiences up to 2,500

  $54,000.00  |  email for details: info@rockthebike.com

  Please answer the questions in the following survey to clarify your event needs e.g. target audience size, crew size, etc: https://oldsite.rockthebike.com/basic-questions-to-consider-when-crafting-your-pedal-powered-stage/

  We also recommend you read and see the following posts and videos before diving in to the packages above.

  What: Here’s a post that explains the components of a Pedal Powered Stage. Here we describe the basic building blocks of Pedal Power: Generators, Loudspeakers, circuits, etc.

  Why: Check out Paul Freedman’s “Fossil Fool TED talk” to get the motivation for Pedal Powering music events. It’s about teamwork, community building, fun, and replacing gas generators.

  Where: You can do it anywhere, but outdoor music events are the best settings. Our system uses cargo bikes to carry all the gear to events. Then we convert the cargo bikes into generators. See photos of past events:

  Who: Your crew should include strong cyclists, outgoing ‘coaches‘, techs, and performers. See pictures of the Rock The Bike crew in action.

  How: Call us to get an estimate going for your gear package. We ship almost anywhere and specialize in building gear you can learn quickly and use dependably. You can also come to a Rock The Bike event and learn from us directly. Typical lead time for a Pedal Powered Stage is 6-8 weeks.

   

   

• Band Ready Pedal Powered Stage

  An awesome demonstration, a great boom for your buck.

  4 Bikes / 2 Speakers / AC Power

  Audience: 250-500 people

  Cost: ~ $13950

  Also known as the SHAKE YOUR PEACE! rig (named for the band for whom we develop it). This is the smallest system we sell that allows you to truly power up a band. This option provides AC power; most bands have at least one performer who needs AC power for their instruments (amps, keyboards, effect pedals).

  Setup Time: 1 hour.
  Crew size: 4
  Getting it there: 2 of the bikes are cargo bikes. 1 tows another.
  Event space: Generators will take up about 12 x 8. Recommended stage size 10 x 14 including loudspeakers.
  Storage space: All will fit in 5 x 10.
  Lighting: Stage lighting panels can be connected directly to a bike or the included Utility Box.
  AC Power rating: Comes with a 600 Watt pure sine inverter capable of delivering 1200 Watt surges in power. However, for practical purposes, AC power will have to be less than 200 Watts (continuous) for a successful event.

  Optimized for what types of performances? Bands without many AC Power instruments.
  Other notes: With a Medium sized Pedal Powered Stage, you need to be conscientious about what types of bands you work with. Specifically, instrumentation.

  We recommend:

  Generators:
  Generator Pro’s
  3 Generator wheel + stand (upgrade any bike)

  Circuitry: Split-Rail Utility Box with integrated 1000 or 2000 Watt AC inverter.
  Pedalometer: 4′ tube, visible across a wide area.

  Barebones downgrade:
  No Pedalometer tube.

  Bass upgrade:
  Get a subwoofer.

  Required additional gear purchase/sourcing:
  2 speaker stands.
  Modified JBL PRX 635 Loudspeaker with built-in Dubla and single Ultracapacitor brick.
  All cabling included.
  $5000

  Substitution: Pedal Powered DJ Booth. Add 1-2 subwoofers. Keep only 1 monitor. Now you’ve got a righteous rig for dance music. If you’re working with a great DJ, your audio needs will be different than if you’re planning to Pedal Power bands.

• Large Pedal Powered Stage

  10 Bikes / 2 Subs / 2 Mains / 3 Monitors / 1000W AC

  

  Be at the forefront of the Pedal Power movement. Make history. The large Pedal Powered Stage includes enough loudspeakers, generators, circuitry, and interconnects for you to entertain a 1000-person audience, or larger.  ‘No compromise’ sound for performers, thanks to ample monitors and AC power. The experience of playing on a Large Pedal Powered Stage is about the same as playing on a conventionally powered stage. To the audience it also feels and sounds like a medium-sized festival stage from a major festival.

  Crowd Size: 300-1000
  Setup Time: 2-4 hours
  Crew size: 6
  Getting it there: The entire sound system can fit on 4-6 cargo bikes. Use of cargo trailers will help reduce the number of roadies needed! Also, terrain will affect how much each roadie can haul.
  Generators: We recommend 3 Mundo 500, 1 Boda Boda, 2 RTBGen, 1 Electric Fender Blender Pro, 3 generator wheel and stand.
  Event space: We recommend a 10 x 20  stage. Additional space for Pedal Power generators, approx. 8×20.
  Storage space: All gear will fit into a 8×10 storage space. Please see our storage recommendations for more info.
  Lighting: For nighttime events, we recommend 3 stage lighting panels, plus additional decorative elements like speaker grill lighting.
  AC Power rating: 1000 W, Pure Sine Wave.

  Audio Gear: 2 * Modified JBL PRX 635 mains, 2 * Modified JBL PRX 612 monitors, 2 * Modified JBL PRX 618XLF Subwoofers.

  Budget: $27200 +-
  Options / Upgrades:
  You supply: 3 bicycles for the Generator Wheels, mics, mixer, snake, audio cables, speaker stands.

   

• Many thanks San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival: World's largest Human Powered Music Fest.

   

  The 6th Annual San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival was our biggest ever and a milestone for our grassroots Human Powered Music Fest. Many thanks to the bands, fans, and our huge volunteer crew. Any one of the 3 phases of the day would have been epic enough. But we had a beautiful, idyllic daytime music festival in the park, an outrageous mobile party, and a post-modern urban block party all in one day. Daytime: 500+ people in a meadow, enjoying live music in the beautiful sunshine… Followed by a fire-truck dodging, freeway underpass screaming, Fossil Fooling LiveOnBike session, with captain Ariel using no electric assist to pull 3 performers and audio gear weighing 250 pounds on our Mobile Stage… Followed by a street party with an elevated stage,  a glowing Bike Tree, and a 3-person pedal powered stage lighting system.

  
  Rupa & The April Fishes perform at Golden Gate Park’s Log Cabin Meadow. Photo: Volker Neumann.

  
  We had 19 pedalers at the peak in Golden Gate Park! Plenty of power for our 10000-Watt sound system to run. In the distance you can see our Pedal Powered Line Array hanging from its bamboo tripod.
   
  
  We mobilized the entire festival on an outrageous LiveOnBike ride with yours truly, Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper, performing with two bandmates on an elevated Mobile Stage towed by a Mundo. Above: the view from the Mobile Stage.
  (more…)

• We're Pedal Power people.

  
  A mom and her son Pedal Powering a music performance on a Mundo 500 generator at the Oregon Country Fair. Rock The Bike built the Pedal Powered Stage used at the Fair.

  We help our event partners engage their communities to provide the greenest source of power possible. Read on to see how we do it!

  (more…)

• Pedal Powered Stage Gear

  This is the gear we use at our own Pedal Powered Stage events, including the San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival.
  

   

  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