We were asked to upgrade a “Disco-bike” setup for the Sustrans cycling charity earlier in the year.  They already had a couple of standard bike-generators which had DC motors and blocking diodes running a 12V amplifier but they found the system a bit unreliable and fiddly so asked for our help. We decided on using a hub-motor (from an electric bike) to provide a more simple system – no roller and no tensioning to worry about. The wheel is designed to run as a 3 phase motor but, combined with a three-phase bridge rectifier provides a close-to-DC output for running their existing electrical system. Ebike motors typically have quite a few wires coming out of the hub for various sensors but there are generally three thicker wires that provide the AC output.

A nice aluminium enclosure to provide heatsinking for the rectifier was fitted with some “Powercon” connectors to make it plug-and-play, robust and waterproof.  They take the disco-bike into schools as part of their work in Tower Hamlets, London – now they have a more reliable system that will help them spend more time pedalling!

Jeremy from Sustrans was very happy with the finished product and had this to say:

“The end result is works really well and just what was envisaged. It great that it is self-contained. We can ride it to where we need it and not have to transport it by courier.”