Author Topic: E-bike (Read 8133 times)

Simen · « **on:** June 18, 2009, 10:41:00 PM »

I received my hub-motor from www.goldenpower.com today, and have now mounted it on my bike.

The motor are 36V, 750W.

Everything worked perfectly at first test run. Top speed downhill was 50km/h; around 35km/h on flat country without any pedaling, and 25-30km/h uphill with light pedaling...

I'm using 3pc. 12V, 17Ah batteries, but alas, two of them seems to be more or less dead; they were flat after a 4km run... Though, they were old, and i had them laying around, so no great loss...

More pictures in my own gallery...: http://mwlmf.net/gallery/ElBike

Cornelius

spinningmagnets · « **Reply #1 on:** June 18, 2009, 05:32:46 PM »

Looks great! I'd add a front basket for odd stuff, helmet, gloves, bottle-o-water, sunglasses, bringing stuff home from the store, etc...

You may even want to consider adding a 45-degree brace from the bottom of the trunk support rod to bottom of the seat tube, I have heard of the trunk pole clamps cracking over time.

I also lost my key and had to cut the lock off the cable, so I got a combo lock thats programmable to 4 digits I can remember.

dnix71 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 18, 2009, 08:28:43 PM »

Nice. Yeah, I would brace your backpack, too. If it takes the seat off, you could have some trouble getting home.

You have to baby agm's in that kind of application. The 1/2 U1's you are using are commonly used in portable auto jump-start boxes in case you have to get replacements.

They sulfate if you don't use and recharge them gently. They were not made to deep cycle.

zap · « **Reply #3 on:** June 19, 2009, 12:16:23 AM »

How hard is it to ride the bike when you hit the "reverse button"???

Nice looking setup.

zeusmorg · « **Reply #4 on:** June 19, 2009, 12:30:41 AM »

Those things are MUCH easier to install on a conventional type bike than my installation. I'm glad it all went smoothly for you. I went 1000w 48v app. You may consider the nicad, nimh or even the lipo options on batteries! Any type of lead acids just get too heavy.

Simen · « **Reply #5 on:** June 19, 2009, 12:35:27 AM »

Yes, i have to get a basket. One point of this 'motorizing', was to make it easier/more fun to take the bike; not the car to the store etc...

I'm thinking of finding another way to mount the batteries. The box with batteries etc weighs around 15kg now; that luggage carrier says 'max 10kg' No offroading with this bike now as it is..

Simen · « **Reply #6 on:** June 19, 2009, 12:42:25 AM »

How did you guess i have ripped those batteries out of some abused auto jump-start boxes?!

They were almost free, so no great loss there...

Simen · « **Reply #7 on:** June 19, 2009, 12:45:50 AM »

'Hard'...

But since the bike now weighs a bit more than normal, it's good help to hit the reverse when trying to back up in tight spots when the rear are turned uphill...

Simen · « **Reply #8 on:** June 19, 2009, 12:55:39 AM »

I had some problems with the positioning of the wheel; it got too far to the left, so the tire started rubbing towards the rear-fork. Maybe because i've got a 7-gear cluster... Or more probably; this bike has been through a beating before...

Apart for the structural, i'm not worried of the weight of the lead acid batteries, but you're right; any other kind of batteries would be better in this application... But for now; my choice came down to price...

Simen · « **Reply #9 on:** June 19, 2009, 01:21:02 AM »

Thanks all btw, for comments.

Every comments and suggestions Helps getting things better...

Cornelius

ghurd · « **Reply #10 on:** June 19, 2009, 06:12:07 AM »

How "strange" does the handling feel with 15kg of battery that high?

Looks good!

G-

Stonebrain · « **Reply #11 on:** June 19, 2009, 06:28:49 AM »

Looks good,

I just wanted to say that a bike without mudguards is not really cool for daily use when the road is only a bit wet you will have a stripe off mud on your back,and mud everywhere on your front,probably even in your face.

Well, you'll find it out yourself if you want to become a serious bike-user.

cheers,

stonebrain

Simen · « **Reply #12 on:** June 19, 2009, 06:57:09 AM »

Actually, the battery box and the seat works fine as a mudguard.

As for the front wheel... I just had a ride on wet road, and i'm still clean in my face.

The frame are rather thick on this bike, but i do see the need for a mudguard over the frontwheel in the long run...

Simen · « **Reply #13 on:** June 19, 2009, 07:12:55 AM »

As for riding on the road using the motor with light pedaling, the weight are ok. But as soon you stand up and realy pedal; wiggling the bike from side to side, it's like someone pushing the bike sideways...

Idéally i would have mounted one battery on each side of the rear fork, and one laying on top of the baggage carrier; that would have made it much more balanced. (But that's metalwork, and i'm not so good at metalwork... :-/ )

I also do see the advantage of not using a mountain bike with rear suspension. It's easier to mount sidebaskets to the luggage carrier on standard bikes.

Or preferably bought that 36V, 16Ah LiIon battery pack at 5.26kg from Goldenmotor... (But that's $425 + $96 for shipping.)

ghurd · « **Reply #14 on:** June 19, 2009, 07:54:07 AM »

Maybe connect (somehow) the seat area fasteners to the bolt at the yellow end of the shock. It wouldn't be dealing with a great amount of force, after the batteries are near the axle.

Bet the range would increase considerably with townie-type comfort-bike road tires.

G-

zeusmorg · « **Reply #15 on:** June 19, 2009, 10:39:08 AM »

I went with a 6 gear cluster shimano 11-34 as it was the same in total range as my original 9 sp cassette. I'm not as concerned at mid-range positions since so many overlap and are nearly the same. front crank is 30-36-50.

I really wish i could come up with a decently priced taller crank gear as at full speed, I can get very little pedal effort going! you may have to re-adjust your spokes a bit to get the wheel better aligned. I know with my 6-sp the chain is REAL close to my fork. I mainly just used some washers to get good wheel alignment.

Simen · « **Reply #16 on:** June 19, 2009, 02:15:39 PM »

I didn't quite follow you on that one...

Did you think of mounting two more luggage carriers with some L-brackets to the bolt at the yellow end of the shock absorber, and strap one battery on each? (And the third one behind the seat.)

I've actually taken your advice, and changed the tires... I don't know about the range yet, but it's definitely a smoother ride. I seldom use the bike for offroad, so i really didn't need those tires i had...

ghurd · « **Reply #17 on:** June 19, 2009, 04:30:08 PM »

A rack like in the link, but where the factory intended it to connect near the seat,

run it down to the shock with extensions?

http://www.topeak.com/products/Racks/SuperTouristDXTubularRack

Not sure what the differences are between all the variations, so that specific one may not fit.

G-

dnix71 · « **Reply #18 on:** June 19, 2009, 09:28:23 PM »

We have a few of those at work. I tried with partial success to desulfate them.

I think the proper application is an electric wheelchair. If you use them for jump starting cars it ruins them quickly. The fine print on the portable jump start box says not to actually jump a dead battery with them. You are only supposed to boost a weak one.

They're heavy, too. I'm suprised you don't mash the rear tire when you hit a bump. I bent the back rim on my ebike the first time I rode with a second battery pack. After that I boosted the tire pressure to 60psi and rode more carefully.

spinningmagnets · « **Reply #19 on:** June 19, 2009, 09:58:01 PM »

This guy has a rear suspension bike and added aluminum braces from the rack to the brake arm pivots

spinningmagnets · « **Reply #20 on:** June 19, 2009, 10:03:06 PM »

This guy added an angle brace to his trunk pole which is similar to yours

Simen · « **Reply #21 on:** June 19, 2009, 11:52:26 PM »

That could actually work!

On 'normal' bikes, there are 2 holes at the end of the fork where those racks are fastened; i got the same holes on my fork, so adding 2 bars from the rack to the bolt where the shock-asorber are, should work...

Thank you both.

Madscientist267 · « **Reply #22 on:** June 20, 2009, 08:12:39 AM »

Im a little late in on this one, but nice ride dude!

I once pondered the idea, and between you and Zeus, I'm considering looking back into it. You seem to have had better luck from the git-go with the motor and controller; whatcha got invested in it so far, less batteries?

Steve

Simen · « **Reply #23 on:** June 20, 2009, 10:20:51 AM »

I paid $248 for the kit + $115 for freight. (by air.) The price varies depending on what model and equipment you want...

Simen · « **Reply #24 on:** June 20, 2009, 12:31:37 PM »

Just mounted a new rack, suggested by you guys.

The fastening at the end of the forks was purpose-built i think. The top-front support bars was two alu-bars just 4" short, so i (by chance) had a alu-tube with the same dimension; 8mm/2mm wall. I cut it to length and hammered one end flat and drilled a hole for the shock-absorber bolt; perfect fit!

Simen · « **Reply #25 on:** June 20, 2009, 12:36:00 PM »

I just discovered that my pictures that i've resized to 640x480, 96dpi, actually shows up here at over 800x600; though, they're around 80-90kb... Do they get converted to 72dpi during upload?

Sorry about that... :-/

kurt · « **Reply #26 on:** June 20, 2009, 01:08:29 PM »

your browser will scale the pictures to fit your screen depending on your screen resolution etc. if you are running a proper browser but we go by the photos true dimensions when determining whether they are within the rules or not. decent browsers will list the photos true dimensions and the dimensions it scaled it to when you check the photos properties

Simen · « **Reply #27 on:** May 14, 2010, 06:43:59 PM »

Just an update...

I recently bought a 36V, 16Ah Li-Ion (LiFePO4 actually) with rack and builtin switch-key. Now, the bike are a dream to ride! This battery weighs 5.5kg, and i get 35-40km out of one charge. (My old battery'pack' of 3 good 12V/17Ah sla was around 20kg, and lasted 15-20km...) The controller are now in the saddlebag.

The trailer i borrowed from a friend, just to test how it was to drive. It behaves surprisingly good, so i'm going to get one myself.

No need for a car to go shopping now...

zap · « **Reply #28 on:** May 14, 2010, 08:32:00 PM »

Nice Simen... 24 mile range... sweet!

Lithium is amazing eh?
Where did you get the battery? What brand?

I did a range test with my trailer (no pedaling, 36v 10ah I think it's LiFePO4 but not sure) and Woody did:
12 miles (19km)
16.7mph average (26 km/h)
22.5mph was the highest speed recorded (36 km/h)
43 minutes riding time

I have yet to do a pedaling range test.
How much pedaling did you do?

I like the looks of that trailer.

Thanks for the update

Simen · « **Reply #29 on:** May 15, 2010, 02:45:58 AM »

Got the battery from Goldenmotor, where the motor also are from...

35km range would be with no pedaling at all, and the 'pedal to the metal' (throttle at max)

; with a little pedaling in the steepest hills, the range extends to 40km+. I've yet to test the range with mostly pedaling, and using the motor just to assist; having way too much fun motoring...

You didn't mention your motors power? (Mine are 750W...)
A 10Ah battery would have lower 'max continuous amp' delivery capabilities than a 16Ah one, so that would probably limit your max speed if your motor are similar to mine...

Simen · « **Reply #30 on:** May 15, 2010, 02:57:53 AM »

btw:
I just checked the battery spec, and they're LiPF6 with Manganese spinel structure cathode...

(They can't explode, like other LiIon chemistry's...)

REdiculous · « **Reply #31 on:** May 15, 2010, 02:59:09 AM »

I must've missed this one..nice.

So you got about 8 miles per 17ah SLA? Is that with coasting or always-on, go-go-go?

Looks like fun..later

Simen · « **Reply #32 on:** May 15, 2010, 03:12:04 AM »

Quote from: REdiculous on May 15, 2010, 02:59:09 AM

So you got about 8 miles per 17ah SLA? Is that with coasting or always-on, go-go-go?

That would be mostly-on.

Lead acid batteries tends to drop the voltage when the charge drops when driven 'hard'; Lithium batteries doesn't. The motor controller on the e-bike have a low-voltage cutout at around 32V i think, so with the sla batteries the motor cut-out when there still was 30-50% of capacity left...

Luckily, the controller has an 'override-in-case-of-whatever-fault' mode, including low power, giving the motor 50% speed as an emergency...

News:

Author Topic: E-bike (Read 8133 times)