Get Out And Get Biking (or Scootering, etc.)... An Experiment In Alternative Transportation

Everyone knows that one of the most harmful and un-green of the things that we do to the environment is drive our gas-guzzling cars everywhere we go. We complain about gas prices while we are driving our cars that get 8 miles to the gallon. One of the greatest ways to reduce your impact is to stop using your car! I know, it sounds impossible. It actually is rather easy when you use a different form of transportation.

In this experiment I only test manually powered vehicles. While electric vehicles are great, the majority of electric energy is produced by burning coal. I thought this took away a bit from the green-ness of it. The three vehicles I will be comparing to the car are a caster board (ripstick, wave), a scooter, and of course a bicycle.

Last thing before we get on to the actual experiment. I'd just like to say how great it is that Instructables is doing a "Green" contest. I'm going to make multiple entries (if that's allowed). I got this one done so quickly because I had already been doing it for a school project. Well, enough about that, lets get on to the experiment!

Step 1 The Testing Course

The course that I'm testing these on is the strip of road from the end of my street, to the neighborhood pool. It is almost exactly one mile long and has varying terrain (uphill, downhill, flat ground, turns, etc).

Each vehicle will get one overall time (the time it takes to run the entire course). In additon to the overall time, I'd like to time how long it takes each vehicle to do segments of the course, namely the uphill, downhill and flatground portions.

Comments

[j2daleft]

i ride a mountin bike with an 80cc motor - yes it uses gas - but i get 150 mpg at 35 mph and when i ran out of gas then i'll pedal

[BtheBike]

yea, those gas kits are cheap and powerful. Do you or others find that they are loud and smelly ? When people sell them on craigslist /bikes they always get flagged . They get harsh flames from the bike community out here.
For this and many other reasons I got electric bikes . When I talked to my landlord , he says it was good that i went electric instead because gas is not allowed indoors .

I'm still temped though

[PKM]

Stand back- Gjdj3's going to try science. (science) Well, what do you know. Bikes are a practical/cheap/green method of transport, but a pain to transport if not being ridden. + for objectivity, impartial attitude, attention to detail and trying to persuade people out of their cars and onto bikes. Two wheels good, four wheels bad :)

[xana]

   if you think about it changing the laws to suet the pigs and keep the uneducated farm animals under their hooves, is exactly what the green leaders are doing by telling you where you can live, what you can eat and what you can drive and where.     Tell me one time they have not wanted you to limit your self by there standards?

[bylerfamily]

You got that off animal farm! "four legs good,2 legs baaaaaaad."

[thapropguy]

"all modes of transportation are equal [in that they get you where youre going], but some are more equal than others"

[masterochicken]

Not if you skate or drive a pedal car.

[Musicman41]

How about the end of that quoted book "animal farm?" "Two wheels good, four wheels BETTER!" just kidding Great instructable!

[pineapplenewton]

it is true that a bike is hard to transport wile not being ridden but, a car is much harder

[zleebme]

a skateboard has four wheels

[Xellers]

lol

[teh darkcloud]

"a pain to transport if not being ridden"

Maybe consider a folding bicycle?

http://ridethisbike.com/products/Kent/folding-bike-Superlite-Nexus.htm

I bought that one a few weeks ago.
I had to return it because my mom thinks bicycles are "dangerous". -_-

Also check out Downtube.com, I heard people are pretty happy with those.

[Gjdj3]

Wait a minute... was there an xkcd reference in there too?

[PKM]

Indeed there was. I think that's the most common webcomic t-shirt I see people wearing in this country. Because it rocks.

[Gjdj3]

Haha, nice. I just started reading xkcd and vaguely recognized that. Then I remembered your comment.

[Wasagi]

Science- It works B*tches! -xkcd

[Gjdj3]

I dig the animal farm reference! And thanks for the feedback. I know that it's a bit simple, but sometimes simple gets the message across well.

[killerjackalope]

Must say I got a scooter for christmas from my brother, think two guys in smart jackets, on scooters, has has two and half feet of hair, I have giant spikey hair...

Best spectacle transport yet, mainly because flaming skateboards are impractical and will ruin your trousers, shoes, socks and legs. 

[bmxsvh052]

umm actually i have a ripstik and i can turn on a dime (literally i tried this morning ) by putting ur back foot on the edge of the board and pushing=]

[Mike13815]

Sharp turns are for experienced riders, only. After owning one for awhile and going through a dozen or so back tires, you learn to pick up the back a bit and kick it instead of flowing into a turn. That prevents you from ruining the tire.

[merpius]

Your method is flawed; you have a control sample, but then don't compare anything to it. Why even have a "control"? In fact, given your results and testing basis, the car is, by far, the best choice, empirically.

[MattPendley]

While I wouldn't go so far to say it's flawed, I do agree that the control sample is a bit pointless. The only reason you would put the car in as a control if you were talking about total energy used (IE: Joules). You can't really compare human power to motor vehicle power without going into such detail; it skews the data. That aside, it doesn't surprise me that the bike wins from the human powered vehicles considering it's the most efficient means of transportation, including cars.

[Gjdj3]

I'm sorry, I don't follow you.

[CybergothiChe]

you really worked at this...cool

[123456789pos]

did you make it up a hill on a ripstick? how did you do that?

[Wasagi]

Isn't it Objective if you can measure it, and subjective if you can't? I'm confused.... I may just have no idea what I'm saying.

[Molant]

I will mention that bicycles are the most efficient means of transportation we have - up to 99% of the energy exerted goes into forward motion, nearly all bikes over 90%.

[I smell bacon]

Go Bikes! In terms of speed, terrain they can cover, energy, pollution and load, bicycles are on of the most efficient vehicles around. I ride everywhere I can. Cycling is great as it is exercise, has minimal impact on the environment, and is a fast way of commuting (compared to walking ripsticking ect.)

[freerunnin1]

ive got a ripstick and i started a craze in a camsite called bunree in schotland just outside of fort william, a shop called toy master was sold out cos of the craze lol

[cjj1]

teh darkcloud man unlucky my mum likes me to ride my bike everywhere

[cornboy3]

course then you actually have to exercise. :)

[Gjdj3]

Haha, true

[argentum86]

Good scientific work... bike rules... mmmm i dont have a car... well i can feel better helping to keep our planet "clean". Its a excellent choice for people who live in big cities, you can cover very fast short distances and its an easy transportation method you can combine with train. At least in here in Buenos Aires there's a special wagon in the train for hanging your bikes, and then you can ride to your work or college from the train station... don't forget helmet, kevlar, life insurance and 5 heavy duty chains to lock your bicycle and hahaha.

[pfeng]

An additional characteristic you could have tested: ability to transport additional items (such as: a backpack, a few [non-plastic] bags of groceries, or a small child). My bicycle is totally awesome at any of these, although for the child I have an additional accessory (bike trailer). I will guess that the scooter is not as good at groceries or small children, and the ripstick is probably worst for each. I have not actually tested this hypothesis, however, and I'm not sure how ethical an experiment it would be trying to carry a kid while riding a ripstick... :-) Nicely done, overall!

[Gjdj3]

Thanks. You'd actually be surprised about the ripstick. For a child, it may not be the best but it works pretty well for groceries.

[tshadow6]

I may not ride my bike to work, but I motorcycle to work. My m/c gets about 50 mpg vs. my truck's 18 mpg. I do ride my bike to my local library. I also combine my errands. Go Green!!

[GorillazMiko]

THE EVIL INSTRUCTABLER STRIKES AGAIN!!!!

[Gjdj3]

Haha. I'm seriously thinking of changing my name to that.