Monday, April 13

     Success! Today, Eli and I finished the electric bicycle and rode it for the first time. What a rush! We are so happy to finally have something to show for all our work. We began our day by adding some finishing touches to the bicycle at Patrick's. One of the final installments we made was installing a PAS, which stand for Pedal Assist System. This is a small magnetic device that fits in between the two pedals. When we initially installed it, we weren't sure what it did, as our instructions weren't the best or most descriptive. We thought we should install it because we thought the bike might not work without it. So, just to be safe, we spent some time installing it onto the bike, and before we knew it, we were ready to ride!
     Eli was the first one to try our new electric bike, which was really cool. We were so surprised it actually worked when we turned it on, as we thought we had surely done something wrong. However, brave Eli was man enough to risk his life and try our contraption. We took it out to the street, and he turned it on and zoomed away. The bike actually goes a lot faster than we expected, and we are excited to show it to Lovett. After Eli rode it, it was my turn. I soon realized the bike had a lot of kick to it, which was useful. However, we noticed what the PAS was meant for when we started riding it. Basically, once you pedal for about 5 seconds, the PAS turns the motor on and send the bike zooming off. Though this addition to the bike is cool, we think we're going to take it off tomorrow. We didn't like it because it eliminates the ability to pedal, which will be a cornerstone of our argument for practicality of the bike. We also think the PAS is a bit useless, as there is a throttle that also kicks the motor into gear. We want riders to be able to both pedal and use the motor when necessary.
     Now for the bad part. After we finished our electric bike, we immediately began our gas powered bike, and we had a slight problem. Turns out a very small but crucial piece for our gas powered bike (the sprocket) will not fit on our bike. Suddenly realizing the problem, we of course took to Craigslist and began searching for another bike! Of course, we were also worried about funding, but Patrick graciously offered to buy our bike from us for what we paid, which was very kind of him. We met with Hwang today, and came up with another plan for our bikes if we cannot find a bike quickly. We do not want to spend nearly as much time looking for a bike as we want to make sure we have time to do efficiency tests. So hopefully all goes well.
      We are so excited to finally have something to ride after all our work. We cannot wait to test it out and test the efficiency of it. We are having a blast doing this project. Mr. Hwang is expected to come by tomorrow and try the bike for himself, and help us out where he can. All in all, it was a good day!