Pedal Powered Compressor

Thanks for the reply rhb, those links will prove useful. I think we're going to try and avoid converting to electrical energy and try and keep it mechanical, I think somehow linking the drive to the impeller of a leaf blower. A bit like a turbo trainer I guess!

do you want a air compressor, or a leaf blower? mechanically wise If you want to compress the air then thast a bit more difficult. leaf blower is simple, replace rear wheel with a fan and pedal, but I dout a you could create the pressure to use a valve or anything. to give a idea of how much air you could move with a 20" fan a gear ratio of 48-15 pedalling at 60RPM it would move over 12038RPM a minuite (if my maths is right). Not sure whether thats a suitable ratio, but I'd guess a fan would give less resistence than a wheel, could be very wrong though..... similar RPM 20" fans deliver up to 1.57 metres cubes of air per second.

if you want to compress the air you'd want to build something that works similar to a bike pump and innertube valve. you'd need some cams and cogs and what not to convert the rotation into linier movement of the piston. Its a bit more complex but cooler than a big fan.

mannn.... I dont have anything else to do but look up fans and stuff.