New Bosch motor..

[trex]

perhaps a solar bicycle bag like this one would extend the range?

 

[Artstu]

Hmm, next we'll be having wind turbines on our bikes

[video=youtube;lD8RT9h7ZC4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD8RT9h7ZC4[/video]

 

[BAH48]

"That's something I'd of liked to achieve on my bike, I still can't help but think you'd do as well on a none-powered bike?"

I did a ride a few weeks ago on my Trek - no power - and felt really, really tired afterwards, its about 40 miles and 4000' of ascent. Did it last week with the Bosch, just using power on the hills and came back feeling good, just like I would have done 30 years ago. For me, I feel that I've rolled back the years and cycling is no longer a constant battle with the hills, very hilly here!

 

[amigafan2003]

perhaps a solar bicycle bag like this one would extend the range?

It would.

By about 500 meters maybe.

 

[trex]

The new flexible panels have up to 12% efficiency @ standard 1000W/sqm irradiance.
1 square metre gives 120W - that's enough to ride the bike on solar alone.
For topup charging, 0.3 sqm may give 150 - 250WH on a sunny day.
Imagine the sun recharges your battery while you stop for a spot of lunch.

 

[flecc]

The new flexible panels have up to 12% efficiency @ standard 1000W/sqm irradiance.
1 square metre gives 120W - that's enough to ride the bike on solar alone.
For topup charging, 0.3 sqm may give 150 - 250WH on a sunny day.
Imagine the sun recharges your battery while you stop for a spot of lunch.

The reality is a little different. The latest edition of VeloVision carries news of The Sun Trip, an event that takes riders in the 35 teams 10,000 km from France to Kazakhstan. The novelty is that the trip is to be completed using solar power with today's technology, not directly to power the bikes but to continuously charge their batteries at all daylight times.

The two examples shown are of a recumbent trike and a trailer variation, in both cases the solar panel area over the top of the trike rider and trailer is vast. The five panels on the recumbent trike are about half more than the length of the recumbent and the trailer is a similarly long affair. I'd estimate more than 8' long and 2' wide of panels area in each case, so about 1.5 square metres each to create sufficient all-day charging for riding in that way realistically possible.
.