I want an exercise bike which can charge my phone. Does such a thing exist? If not, could I make one?

July 25, 2007 6:49 AM

Is it possible to buy an exercise/stationary bike which generates electricity? If not, how hard would it be to build one or modify an existing exercise bike?
posted by handee to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

Best answer: like this?

google has many, many, many results about this.
posted by onedarkride at 6:56 AM on July 25, 2007

Response by poster: I must have been using the wrong keywords. That looks great, thanks.
posted by handee at 7:15 AM on July 25, 2007

Put "bike electricity" in that search bar on your upper right and you will see several previous questions about this as well.
posted by ND¢ at 7:38 AM on July 25, 2007

FWIW, the amount of electricity you'll be producing will be pretty negligible. There's an article floating around about how a gym owner did this for all his exercise bikes and never generated more than, say, 15% of his eleectric bill. As a gimmick, it seemed to work out well for him, though.
posted by chrisamiller at 1:46 PM on July 25, 2007

Response by poster: I realise the amount generated will be tiny, however, I am enough of a geek to want to give it a go. I particularly like the idea of recharging the batteries for the lights of my commuter bike using a stationary bike...
posted by handee at 1:52 PM on July 25, 2007