Urban bike

Treball de recerca realitzat per un grup d’alumnes d’ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l’any 2008. Es presenta un pla d’empresa del sector turístic. L’activitat de l’empresa serà organitzar viatges amb rutes organitzades per diferents capitals europees i també algunes rutes dintre del territori espanyol amb bicicleta, oferint un servei complet.

You'll like to bike

This poster promotes cycling as a form of health-enhancing physical activity.

The effect of mountain bike suspensions on vibrations and off-road uphill performance.

AIM: This study evaluates the effect of front suspension (FS) and dual suspension (DS) mountain-bike on performance and vibrations during off-road uphill riding. METHODS: Thirteen male cyclists (27+/-5 years, 70+/-6 kg, VO(2max)59+/-6 mL.kg(-1).min(-1), mean+/-SD) performed, in a random sequence, at their lactate threshold, an off-road uphill course (1.69 km, 212 m elevation gain) with both type of bicycles. Variable measured: a) VO(2) consumption (K4b2 analyzer, Cosmed), b) power output (SRM) c) gain in altitude and d) 3-D accelerations under the saddle and at the wheel (Physilog, EPFL, Switzerland). Power spectral analy- sis (Fourier) was performed from the vertical acceleration data. RESULTS: Respectively for the FS and DS mountain bike: speed amounted to 7.5+/-0.7 km.h(-1) and 7.4+/-0.8 km.h(-1), (NS), energy expenditure 1.39+/-0.16 kW and 1.38+/-0.18, (NS), gross efficiency 0.161+/-0.013 and 0.159+/-0.013, (NS), peak frequency of vibration under the saddle 4.78+/-2.85 Hz and 2.27+/-0.2 Hz (P<0.01) and median-frequency of vertical displacements of the saddle 9.41+/-1.47 Hz and 5.78+/-2.27 Hz (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Vibrations at the saddle level of the DS bike are of low frequencies whereas those of the FS bike are mostly of high frequencies. In the DS bike, the torque produced by the cyclist at the pedal level may generate low frequency vibrations. We conclude that the DS bike absorbs more high frequency vibrations, is more comfortable and performs as well as the FS bicycle.

On your bike. 'En tu bicicleta'.

Contiene: Libro del profesor, Libro del alumno

Arjo's bike.

Arjo y sus amigos salen a dar una vuelta en bici por los alrededores de su pueblo, Wolf Hill y encuentran una vieja fábrica. Allí, unos adolescentes han fabricado unas rampas con dos tablas colocadas sobre un viejo bidón de gasolina y pasan por encima con la bicicleta. Arjo les imita pero cae al agua del canal, este desatre conduce a un extraño descubrimiento.

Use of Photovoltaic on an E-bike? : A Feasibility Study

In recent years the number of bicycles with e-motors has been increased steadily. Within the pedelec – bikes where an e-motor supports the pedaling – a special group of transportation bikes has developed. These bikes have storage boxes in addition to the basic parts of a bike. Due to the space available on top of those boxes it is possible to install a PV system to generate electricity which could be used to recharge the battery of the pedelec. Such a system would lead to grid independent charging of the battery and to the possibility of an increased range of motor support. The feasibility of such a PV system is investigated for a three wheeled pedelec delivered by the company BABBOE NORDIC.The measured data of the electricity generation of this mobile system is compared to the possible electricity generation of a stationary system.To measure the consumption of the pedelec different tracks are covered, and the energy which is necessary to recharge the bike battery is measured using an energy logger. This recharge energy is used as an indirect measure of the electricity consumption. A PV prototype system is installed on the bike. It is a simple PV stand alone system consisting of PV panel, charge controller with MPP tracker and a solar battery. This system has the task to generate as much electricity as possible. The produced PV current and voltage aremeasured and documented using a data logger. Afterwards the average PV power is calculated. To compare the produced electricity of the on-bike system to that of a stationary system, the irradiance on the latter is measured simultaneously. Due to partial shadings on the on-bike PV panel, which are caused by the driver and some other bike parts, the average power output during riding the bike is very low. It is too low to support the motor directly. In case of a similar installation as the PV prototype system and the intention always to park the bike on a sunny spot an on-bike system could generate electricity to at least partly recharge a bike battery during one day. The stationary PV system using the same PV panel could have produced between 1.25 and 8.1 times as much as the on-bike PV system. Even though the investigation is done for a very specific case it can be concluded that anon-bike PV system, using similar components as in the investigation, is not feasible to recharge the battery of a pedelec in an appropriate manner. The biggest barrier is that partial shadings on the PV panel, which can be hardly avoided during operation and parking, result in a significant reduction of generated electricity. Also the installation of the on-bike PV system would lead to increased weight of the whole bike and the need for space which is reducing the storage capacity. To use solar energy for recharging a bike battery an indirect way is giving better results. In this case a stationary PV stand alone system is used which is located in a sunny spot without shadings and adjusted to use the maximum available solar energy. The battery of the bike is charged using the corresponding charger and an inverter which provides AC power using the captured solar energy.

Relating Bike Racks and Bike Ridership

Abstract The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between bicycle ridership and bike racks in a given area. The goal was to discern whether or not the density of bike racks determines the number of riders in the area. I predicted that there would be higher ridership in the areas with a denser bike rack concentration. To investigate this point, I set up five different areas of varying sizes with a similar number of bike racks, and then observed them over a period of 5 business days. By using a simple tally of the bikes found on the racks and bikes locked to other objects, like railings, I collected data in the area during the day when there were likely to be many commuter bikes parked outside. The results show that there is a positive relationship between the density of bike racks in a given area and bike ridership. While there is a positive r-value, more data collection needs to be done to determine the relationship that may exist between bike ridership and bike racks.

Delayed intracerebral abscess due to retained bike wheel valve cap

We present a case of delayed intracerebral abscess due to retained bike wheel valve cap after head trauma.

E-bike injuries: experience from an urban emergency department-a retrospective study from Switzerland.

Background. Between 2005 and 2012, annual sales of E-bikes in Switzerland increased from 1,792 to 52,941. This continuous and rapid transition from human-powered bicycles to an electric bicycle technology may indicate the increasing demand for low-cost transportation technology in combination with a healthy lifestyle. Material and Methods. In the present study, from April 2012 to September 2013, we retrospectively analysed E-bike accidents treated in the Emergency Department of our hospital by focusing on the following parameters: age, gender, time, period, and cause of the accident, as well as injury and outcome. Results. Patients were predominantly male. The mean age of injured E-cyclists was 47.5 years. The main causes of injury were self-accident. Most injuries were to the head/neck. The mean ISS was 8.48. The outcome showed that 9 patients were treated as outpatients, 9 were inpatients, and 5 patients were kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Only six patients underwent surgery (S). Discussion. This is the first attempt to evaluate E-bike injuries in Switzerland in an acute hospital setting. Since there is increasing popular preference for E-bikes as means of transportation and injuries to the head or neck are prevalent among E-cyclists, the hazard should not to be underestimated.

Capability of E-Bike Tourism in Switzerland

AIM OF PAPER AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS The primary aim of this investigation was to examine, if tourism in Switzerland can be stimulated by focusing on e-bike offers. Switzerland is an attractive and manifold country for bike tourism. However, there are plenty of hilly and steep areas, where the topography is quite demanding and cycling is predestined to ambitious sportsperson. Less performance-oriented bike tourists are possibly discouraged by the challenges of the landscape. E-bikes seem to be a reasonable alterna-tive to enable less trained person to attend bike tours in steeper regions as well as to keep heterogeneous groups together. E-bikes are already popular in Switzerland for daily routes as the journey to work, but they are not very common in the tour-istic context. The presented investigation evaluates the current standing of supply and demand for e-bike tourism and asks for opportunities and threats in the future development. LITERTURE REVIEW The existing frameworks to analyse capability in the field of sport tourism are limited, because of the broad variation of sports and tourism types. Still several conceptions are valuable to evaluate the opportunities of e-bike tourism in Switzer-land. According to Higham and Hinch (2009) the potential of touristic products and destinations always depends on the interaction among the factors place, people and activity. Standeven and de Knop (1999) support this position by identify-ing the experience of place as a key component of the sport tourism experience. Bull (2005) assumes that place not only affects experience. In his opinion, the specific spatially located resources are even crucial for the existence of nature sports. He identifies four factors determining the attraction of touristic products or destination, as physical characteristics, accessibility and infrastructural arrangements, political and economic resources as well as cultural and perceptual aspects. Concerning the demand side (people) the contemporary research is guided by an individual psychological focus delivering mainly results about motives and the decision making process (e.g. Görtz & Hürten, 2011). RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA ANALYSIS The presented study is based on a between method triangulation, consisting of qualitative interviews with important stake-holders on the supply side and a cross sectional survey on the demand side. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the first provider of touristic e-bike routes and with the manager of the leading e-bike rental company in Switzerland. The interviews were evaluated by qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2008). The survey covered a randomized sample of 748 adult persons and focused on interests and needs of potential consumers. The concluding potentials analy-sis combined the results of the interviews and the survey with the findings of literature research. As central outcome the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated and presented by SWOT-analysis. RESULTS Results showed that the development of e-bike tourism in Switzerland was not initiated by tourism promoter, but by an innovative e-bike producer. However, also for the manufacturer the fit between landscape (place), product (activity) and visitors (people) was the crucial criterion. The first e-bike tours were offered in a demanding and rural region, in order that the experience of place was able to promote a positive overall experience. Due to the success of the first touristic e-bike products, several tourism regions started to extend their portfolio with e-bike offers. To date a nationwide network for signalised e-bike tours, rental stations and changing stations for rechargeable batteries is established. Despite the attractive offer, the demand is only moderate. The obtained results of the consumer survey pointed at a certain barrier to use e-bikes for tourism activities. The most substantial barrier is the missing affinity for bike tourism in general. Another notable group considering themselves as “fit enough for normal bike tourism”. Nevertheless 55% of the respondent are interested in tour-istic e-bike products. Looking only at people with e-bike tourism experience, even 92% are interested in further activities. DISCUSSION AN CONCLUSION The current study findings are encouraging because they suggest a superior suitability and an attractive level of e-bike tourism products in Switzerland. The results of the consumer survey indicate an increasing demand for e-bike tourism. The investigation also points at some risks, as the rivalry for bike tourism or the raised safety hazard because of the increased driving speed. Summing up, the results support the conclusion, that e-bike tourism will become more important in the com-ing years. However, to reach the goal relevant trends as the requirement for customised offers must be considered and marketing activities are supposed to be extended. REFERENCES Bull, C. (2005). Sport tourism resource analysis. In J. Higham (Ed.), Sport tourism destination: Issues, opportunities and analysis (pp. 25-38). Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Görtz, M., & D. Hürten (2011). Motive der Radurlauber, psychografische Merkmale und Reiseverhalten. In A. Dreyer, E. Miglbauer & R. Mühlnickel (Hrsg.), Radtourismus. Entwicklungen, Potenziale, Perspektiven (S. 36-43). München: Olden-bourg. Higham, J., & Hinch, T. (2009). Sport and Tourism. Globalization, Mobility and Identity. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Mayring, P. (2008). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken (10. Aufl.). Weinheim: Beltz Verlag. Standeven, J., & De Knop, P. (1999). Sport Tourism. Campaign: Human Kinetics.

Understanding E-Bike Users' Behaviour, Motives, and Barriers to the Use - An Empirical Study with high Potential for Mobility Management

A representative study among e-bike owners and tenants in Switzerland (n = 1652) provides a deeper understanding of e-bike users characteristics, motives, values, usage behavior, and barriers to the use. In a micro simulation the implications of the findings for the energy demand and CO2 emissions are estimated.

Short paper: From streaming data to linked data. A case study with bike sharing systems

Current methods and tools that support Linked Data publication have mainly focused so far on static data, without considering the growing amount of streaming data available on the Web. In this paper we describe a case study that involves the publication of static and streaming Linked Data for bike sharing systems and related entities. We describe some of the challenges that we have faced, the solutions that we have explored, the lessons that we have learned, and the opportunities that lie in the future for exploiting Linked Stream Data.