You are hereA different take on Luke's DIY Pedicab
A different take on Luke's DIY Pedicab
So I've been following the Luke Iseman DIY Pedicab story for the last few days and WOW, the response has been overwhelmingly AGAINST him operating his pedicab. Go check out the article's comments section to see what has been said.
If you read the comments section of my write-up on the article, you'll see that one of the local pedicabbers chimed in there as well. It's good to hear from people who have had first-hand experience with the business of pedicabbing, as I can only look at it as an outsider. To see more pedicabber opinions, you should head over to the Austin Pedicabbing Blog:
In this blog they compare and contrast Luke Iseman's pedicab to pedicabs used both locally and around the world. It's a very informative site and I'll be checking in often. Pedicabbing is a fascinating business and hopefully after today's Frankenbike I'll have a vehicle capable of hauling one. Yes, I'm sorry to say that gears are going back on the MONSTERMONKEY, but I'd like to give it a shot and I think that'd be the best tool for the job.
Thanks for the link to the article about Luke's cab.
Luke likes to paint a romantic picture about him being the David to the City of Austin's Goliath. At other times he will suggest that his business model is a threat to the established paradigm found in Austin. In those conversations the other Pedicab companies become the Goliath keeping him down.
Every pedicab company owner and city employee that I have spoken to about Luke's cab have expressed concern for the safety of his cab. The issue here is not about someone making their own cab. A number of the pedicabs operated in Austin were made locally, a few by the drivers who operate them.
Unfortunately, Luke's cab does not pass the stink test. It looks bad, has obvious structural flaws, and was constructed by someone who has very little finesse with the materials that he has chosen to work with.
Worst of all Luke refuses to listen to the criticism of his peers. As a result we are left with an unsafe cab that is likely to cause serious injury to both its passengers and it's operators.
The pedicab company owners that I have spoken to on this subject all expressed concern that an injury on Luke's cab will make all of the pedicabs in Austin look unsafe, and lead to higher insurance premiums. Again Luke has dismissed these concerns.
This has put the Austin pedicab community in the position of waiting for something bad to happen and saying "I told you so" when it does. After the death of Peter Dzioba while riding a pedicab unsuited to the steep hills of Seattle, remaining silent on this issue would be irresponsible.
-Ken Cameron
austinpedicab.org
Holy crap. I liked the "little guy sticking it to the man" aspects of the story, but it disturbs me that people that know what they're talking about have a problem with it.
That entry with the pictures of pedicabs with his at the bottom is thought-provoking, to say the least.
And if you want a pedicab, I'm trying to unload one.
I wish I had that kinda jack, I'd take you up on the offer. Let me see what I can work out in the next week or so and I may be giving you a shout. Do you have a brand name or anything, I'd love to see the specs on that 'cab.
I just now (thanks to that austin pedicab link) found out who made it.
http://china-vehicle.cn/Product_info-57569.en
And I pulled that price out of my ass. As with everything on CL, it's negotiable.
Interesting, how many gears does it have, and do you know the range? The mention of "iron" seems to equal "heavy" in my mind, but I might be up for taking a look at it nonetheless.
One on the crank, and one on the rear axle.
So yeah, single speed.
Here's the drivetrain:
http://www.cws.org/~joed/drivetrain.jpg