Day 5 or 6 of working on the solar bike. The main bike is effectivaly finished. Decided to go lightweight on everything and it was definantly the way to go. On the back is a 24qt milk crate big enough to hold another few bike batteries. That has a thin as possible sheet of hobby plywood above it that is ziptied to the 50w flexible solar panel. And mounted to the milkcrate with hobby screws. The panel recharges the bike through a mppt step up charge controller. The front panel charges just a simple 5v battery pack for my phone. All in all, I think it turned out well.
Her company, Wahu!, assembles each bike by hand in Accra, Ghana, and they can travel up to 80 miles on a single charge.
"A Ghanaian-English entrepreneur has designed an electric bike from the ground up that’s transforming short-range transportation in her home country, proving that problem-solving in Africa can be done in Africa, by Africans.
[Valerie Labi's] company, Wahu!, assembles each bike by hand, and they can travel up to 80 miles [128 kilometers] on a single charge. This means that a delivery rider for Glovo or Bolt can comfortably cover a whole day’s work without refueling.
Anyone who’s visited Accra, Ghana, in the dry season will remember the incredibly poor air quality. Poor roads mean that cars are stuck in second and third gears, and old cars traveling in second and third gears mean plenty of extra car exhaust.
Poor roads also mean exposed dirt, and exposed dirt means fine-grained dust. Combined with a lack of rain, the smog, dust, and car exhaust make the air in parts of the capital unfit for human health.
Wahu! bikes help alleviate all three of these problems, and despite her English nativity [Note: Super weird and unclear way to phrase it?] and education, the bikes were designed and manufactured in Spintex, Accra.
“By introducing electric bikes into Ghana’s transportation ecosystem, we’re not only providing a greener alternative but also offering speed and convenience,” Labi told The Mirror. “Our bikes are a testament to how service delivery can be seamlessly merged with environmental conservation.”
Valerie Labi is a true inspiration, and besides her transportation company, she got her start in the Ghanaian economy in sanitation. She holds a chieftaincy title as Gundugu Sabtanaa, given to her by the previous Chief of the Dagbon traditional area in the Northern Region of Ghana. She has three children, holds a double major in Economics and Sustainability from two separate universities, and has visited 59 countries.
Getting her start in Northern Ghana, she founded the social enterprise Sama Sama, a mobile toilet and sanitation company that now boasts 300,000 clients.
During her travels around the small, densely populated country, she also recognized that transportation was not only a problem, but offered real potential for eco-friendly solutions.
“It took us two years to effectively design a bike that we thought was fit for the African road, then we connected with Jumia and other delivery companies to get started,” she told The Mirror. “Currently, I have over 100 bikes in circulation and we give the bikes on a ‘work and pay’ basis directly to delivery riders.”
According to Labi, each driver pays about 300 Ghana cedis, or about $24.00, per week to use the bike, which can travel 24 miles per hour, and hold over 300 pounds of weight. The fat tires are supported by double-crown front/double-spring rear suspension.
The bikes are also guaranteed by the company’s proprietary anti-theft system of trackers. Only a single bike has been stolen, and it was quickly located and returned to the owner."
the pedals on the bike I own can fold, wow, I didn't know this for almost one year of owning this bike, the manual for the bike didn't say this either, and the only info on how to do it on youtube is one person who covers the pedal with his arm while folding it
so anyway here's a very unscientific instruction on how to fold "VP Components VP-F55 Folding Bike Pedals", posting it in hopes it gets into google's search terms
This is another update for my situation, to catch up to speed, please read my pinned post.
TW: Attempted murder, bodily injury, graphic discussion such as gore and medically graphic discussion,
I come bearing both good and bad news.
E is now in a medically induced comma. His lung is collapsing and his brain damage is spreading according to experts. I didn't know brain damage could spread, let alone how his condition is worsening under medical attention. I saw him a few days ago and without any other words, he's borderline disabled. He can barely speak and when he can it's slurred. He can't control his movements at times, and at times he stares off for extended periods of time. He is miserable to be around because of it, not out of annoyance, but out of pity and empathy that he is the way he is right now without anything I can do to help. His eyes were bloodshot, they claim it's normal for his condition, I doubt it. A part of me tells me they are lying to me, I don't understand it, I don't understand why people are this cruel. I miss my friend. I miss how he was before all of this.
This feels like my fault, I could have done more to stop them from doing this to him and I didn't. I hate those two bastards so much.
To shift the light, police in my area have been contacting us asking us questions about the incident, to me it sounds like they are making progress, for me it's something to put some better thought of mind at. How long that will last is out of my understanding.
His bike has begun being rebuilt by an expert in California, the shipping of all the parts was ludicrous, fucking stupid how expensive stuff is.
I'm sorry this was more of a rant than update, I have a lot on my platter to handle, even after all of this time.
