Using a stationary bike to make electricity

[roosterk0031]

[ Is there anyway that a charger could be used backwards as an inverter? hook the drill directly to the charger bypassing the battery?[/QUOTE]

Not sure about that, you will need to add a diode(I think - check valve) so the electrity only flow away from the drill, use it to charge a 12v computer battery backup(or just a marine battery and invertor), use that to power your TV or what ever. Just need to peddle fast enough to get 14 or so volts to charge the battery. if 10-18 speed bike is used, friction drive the drill chuck off rear wheel and monitor voltage output to find the best gear.

I'm guessing the charger must have some diodes in them otherwise I would think they would drain the batteries once unplugged.

[redneck]

Some good info can be found here.

Low-tech Magazine: Bike powered electricity generators are not sustainable

And.

Low-tech Magazine: Pedal powered farms and factories: the forgotten future of the stationary bicycle

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[pete c]

There is one method of bike riding that makes huge financial sense. That would be acctually riding a bike to get some place as opposed to using gas to carry you and 2 tons of steel to do the same.

I bike commute. During the summer I try to do it most of the time, but, in reality, it's closer to half the time. It's 25 miles round trip and it adds less than an hour to my work day. At 3.50 a gallon, I can hypermile my ranger up to maybe a tad more than 25mpg. So, it is better than 4 bucks saved.

To anyone out there that can bike commute, I really can't recommend it enough. A 12 mile ride first thing in the morning, makes the entire day go better.

As for using a bike to generate power, I can see maybe doing it to directly power a PC or laptop or maybe to recharge various batteries IF you are a geek and can make your own generator. If you have to buy anything, forget it. Electricity really is pretty damn cheap.