2 Wheels Maybe

Let's start with the boat. [Yes, I know - it does not have wheels, but this is some seriously retro-cool low-carbon transport. Also, it does have pedals AND you can get it as a pedelec! So it belongs on 2Wheels Maybe - right?] Generally, 2Wheels is not a place for those of you looking to spend the big bucks on green transport, but we make exceptions when we run across something extraordinarily cool. You may remember the Budnitz titanium electric bike or the Morgan EV3 .   Well, another one popped up this week - the Beau Laker Pedal Boat.   The TreeHugger Article   Lloyd Alter over at Treehugger posted an article about this really beautiful water strider for two. Our staff is absolutely smitten! While it would not make much sense in this dust bowl, it would sure be nice to cruise around in more waterful places.   At first glance, it looks like a 1950's Chris-Craft wooden boat , but when you take a closer look you see that it's sm...

I got to ride it a few miles last Tuesday, and I was reminded how an e-bike can be a wonderful thing when you're facing a Lubbock summer. It was 99 degrees outside. I was riding into a 15 mph wind. And I was travelling 15mph. And it all felt great! Other than the PAS not working, I knew it was finally, truly, an e-bike I could ride. So I took it for a ride on Wednesday, and it was once again pretty darn cool - for about half of a mile. And then the battery died. Actually, it still had voltage (38 volts) but the amp-hour capacity was depleted. In real-world terms, my salvaged battery cells aren't up to the job of hauling me and the bike more than a few miles. In West Texas terms, they were rode hard and put up wet before I got 'em. So, I ended up ordering a small stack of these from IMR Batteries . So, after the new cells arrive, it's time to rebuild the battery pack (again).  The battery pack folly list: $80 worth of used cordless ...

Okay, maybe conquer is a little overboard, but Two Xtracycles Are for Sale and Another One Vacations in New Mexico doesn't have quite the same ring, so let's just focus on the Xtracycles. Xtracycle 1: An Edgerunner for sale in Albuquerque This one is being regretfully re-homed because its family is too. So, why am I including it here? You have to read the ad. There are some Craigslisters who rise above the usual details, price, and pics. This is definitely one of those. Check it out! Superheroes Don't Get Gas! What can you haul with a cargo bike? Apparently two kids and two more bikes - superhero indeed! Xtracycle 2: A Radish with Wheels The Radish is an interesting piece of Xtracycle history. Back when Xtracycle was still offering their original add-on cargo bike kit - the FreeRadical, they also offered the Radish complete bike for those who weren't into the whole DIY approach. Back in the day, they were about $1200, ...

A while back (Has it really been 4 1/2 years?) Grizz and I were lucky enough to spend a little time at Electric Avenue Scooters down in Austin. It was a great visit, and I test rode a Vectrix VX-2 scooter. That visit has fueled a lot of Mesquite Hugger dreams and schemes. Since then, I have followed Electric Avenue at a distance - what a thing to make it more possible for people to pursue a petroleum free life! Recently on twitter (@EAScooters), they posted a bike that is the epitome of what I'd like to be building - a beautiful vintage cruiser with the modern e-bike convenience of a Copenhagen Wheel. Truly the best of both worlds! How cool is that? Here at 2Wheels, we drool over $3,000 e-bikes all the time, but very few of them appeal to me anywhere near as much this sweet machine! Along the same lines but even more attainable, they posted a similar bike just before the Roadmaster: This one features the Huffy Panama Jack (Yep, it's the same frame as...

I love it when a project comes together! Nope, I can't quite say it's finished, but I can say that it's ride-able. And that's a big pedal in the right direction. Hub motors - aren't they sexy? The most recent progress came in determining that the geared motor I had planned for the bike has a problem. So I swapped it out with the direct-drive motor from another project and now it runs! The (Harbor-Freight/Dollar-Tree sourced) DIY PAS sensor (none too pretty, none too functional) What's left? My home-made PAS magnet sensor is not doing the trick - pedal assist is really important to me - so I have to fix that. I need to find a better home for the battery (that blue thing on the back in the first pic. I am leaning toward the $16 frame bag that Micah recommends . I had been thinking of a box on the rear rack, but the frame bag would offer a lower center of gravity and free the rack up for panniers and cargo and looking less dorky. ...

Yes, I love classic and oddball cars, so I've had this post in mind for a while. (Be patient, Mesquite Huggers, it'll turn green in a bit.) Growing up in West Texas, I didn't have much exposure to that many Bristish-made Austin cars, but I did fall in love with the Austin Mini and the Bug-Eyed Sprite early on. As a matter of fact I looked at each as a possibility for my first car. But I didn't become aware of the Moke's existence until much, much later. And I've never seen one in person.   Find it here   Find it here   Just last week, I almost had my chance. One showed up (You guessed it!) on Craigslist.   Don't find it on Amarillo Craigslist - it disappeared quickly!   Yep, there it was just a two hour drive north of here. But I invoked my new project mantra - The best way to avoid temptation is to avoid temptation. (I sent it to Chris and Grizz so they could be tempted instead - sorry, guys!) I guess we'll throw that on...

[Dual-posted on Mesquite Hugger and 2Wheels Maybe ] Cargo bike obsession - normally, I figure it's just me being an eco-dork. But lately it seems so much bigger than that. A homebuilt longtail cargo bike Cargo bikes siren sing to me for a lot of practical and impractical reasons. The biggest three are I want to do my best to go car-free/petroleum free I want to spread the word (and a cargo bike would invite a lot of questions!) I want to live healthier - both physically and financially. and a cargo bike should help with all three. A snippet of  the most recent runaway post (by MH standards) post Number 3 with a bullet! (by MH standards) Recently, though, a lot of you have been stopping by to check out cargo bike posts. Back in October, I wrote a post about a pretty simple way to build your own cargo bike. Most posts around here have an initial response of twenty to thirty clicks and then quickly die down to a click or two per week ...