Scott en Aztlán said:http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ecotrans14.html
Driver's bicycling alternative sure to be a hit
August 14, 2006
BY GARY WISBY Environment Reporter
People switch to fuel-efficient vehicles for all kinds of reasons.
Margaret James realized it was time for a change the day an impatient
driver rear-ended her bicycle."I wasn't injured, but it scared the [censored] out of me," the Evanston
musician said. "I started looking on the Internet for safer ways to
bike."Now James tools around in a Twike, a teardrop-shaped contraption that
combines pedal power with battery propulsion.Vehicles, bikes at show
Her Swiss-made three-wheeler, one of five being driven in this
country, is among the alternative vehicles that will be on view
Tuesday at the first Eco-Transportation Show.It's sponsored by the nonprofit Foresight Design Initiative as an
extension of the monthly meeting of Chicago Green Drinks, composed of
professionals, students and others with an environmental bent.The event at the Jefferson Tap, 325 N. Jefferson, will precede a 7
p.m. talk on "sustainable transportation" by panelists from the CTA,
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and Metropolitan Planning Council.
Admission to the discussion is $5.But there's no charge for the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. outdoor show, which
will feature 13 enclosed vehicles and half a dozen specialized
bicycles.Among them are the biodiesel-burning Volkswagen that Scott Schechter
fuels with used vegetable oil from restaurants; an electric 1992 Chevy
S10 pickup truck that carries Ted Lowe 50 miles on a $2 charge; and
Payton Chung's Extracycle, an SUB (sport-utility bicycle) on which at
various times he's carried an armchair, a case of wine, a folding bike
and another person."Twike" stands for twin bike. It's built around two recumbent bicycles
and looks like a cockpit that fell off a jet fighter. Empty, the
machine weighs only 520 pounds -- "Guys are always picking up the
front" -- and James can get it going 52 mph.Mechanics abroad
A passenger can pedal too, but the added weight means James' job isn't
necessarily any easier. She works so hard that even in winter the
heating/defrosting system -- two hair dryers mounted at the bottom of
the windshield -- is more than adequate. "You pedal for two or three
minutes and boy, you're toasty," said James, 50.She depends on the battery to make it up hills. "All the energy is
regenerated on the way down," she said. "It's such a brilliant
machine."Twikes cost $16,000 new. James bought her used 1998 model for $12,500.
She's in contact with the other U.S. owners in Indiana, Minnesota,
Ohio and Vermont.Each gets an annual service call from a mechanic sent over by the
Swiss manufacturer. "If there were five Fords in Switzerland," James
said, "do you think Ford would send a mechanic there?"
$16,000.?????????????? That's crazy. This is another rip-off.