Sam Smith has created the Power Pedalled EL Wire Bike, a basic bicycle decorated with EL wire, a motor, and a phone charger. The EL wire only glows when in motion and apparently varies in brightness depending how fast you peddle, even changing colors. However, in order to get the EL wire to light up, Sam strapped up a stepper motor to the wheel. The cellphone charger is wired backwards in order to step up the voltage between the motor and the wire. Attach it all to the bike and you have a pretty awesome push bike.
A few words of warning to those wanting to try the project: This is best for people who know how to work with circuits and electricity. Even Sam gave himself a few nasty shocks. Plus, messing around with the power too much could shorten the EL wire’s life, or short it completely so read the instruction carefully and watch the output of the generator.
Check out the video below to see the bendy Tron-style bike in action.
Elizabeth Fish is still looking for where she chained her bike downtown a year ago…
[Instructables via Hack A Day]
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