Well... it's been awhile (soz folks, been busy jus' cruising & havin' fun) and despite my intent, my plan to just use this as a temporary test platform for a weekend or two - it's now fall, the temperature is starting to plummet and somehow about three thousand miles have rolled past already, a coupla thou less than my usual summer average due to the limitations of an ebike it's true, but still enough to have gotten me from coast to coast with the only issues encountered being a wonky throttle (easily fixed), one flat tire & having to remember to periodically lube the chain & cables...
...not too shabby considering I only threw this thing together on a whim lol
So the time has come to strip it down & stick a two smoker in there, to make it the winter beater commuter the Mongoose was meant to be... right?
...right?
...
Um...
right?
Maybe not lol - after much deliberation, and I do mean a
lot of arguing with myself I've decided what the heck, might as well kick it to a whole new level of testing and abuse, to leave it as is and actually try and use an ebike in some of the worst conditions for such imaginable - a Maine winter with it's sub-zero temperatures and worse yet, a near constant immersion in the devil's brew of rock salt and calcium chloride we use on the roads around here.
Bad enough on it's own, but take an aluminum frame & add a high electric current to the already existing issues of galvanic electrolysis and dissimilar metal corrosion and it's a recipe for an electrochemical bath of doom... certain death for the humble ebike right?
Maybe... probably... almost certainly actually...
...then again there's only one way to find out lol and TBH, much as I do like the in-frame two smokers I just don't feel like building another. I figure I've gotten my money's worth outa this hub & the batteries are where the investment is in any case, they should be well protected & safe from harm tucked away in the panniers - or at least I hope so lol
So I've gone ahead and ordered a buncha toys to "winterize" Mongo, some knobby tires to replace the semi-slicks & no, they're not studded - I've found lotsa lil but tall lugs works well enough in the ice & snow to make the $100+ investment in studded
bicycle tires not really worth it, nor the effort of making my own. Some fenders that may not look as "cool" as the 'Topeak Defender' fenders that are on it now - but while I think the Topeaks defo look sweet, they don't actually work very well save to keep just some of the crap outa my face, for winter use I need a bit more, so I got the kinda dorky but very effective mud flaps as well.
I've gotten a set of replacement panniers too - Mongo has been runnin' around with the batteries in a set of
M-Wave Double Day Tripper panniers, but I've really been less than impressed with them overall. They're a lil smaller than I expected when I got 'em but that's not the issue - the problem I have w/them is they're already falling apart... tho I s'pose "already" is comparative considering the mileage, price & use lol - w/e the case may be I need new ones so I'm gonna give the Avenirs below a whirl. Other'n the usual use for panniers, groceries, tools and w/e else eventually accumulates in what are essentially "guy purses" (laugh - it's true), mine not only need to hold & support the batteries, for winter use I'll need to create some sorta smash guard for the batteries, to protect them from the inevitable impact & slide damage - riding in the winter isn't a case of "if" but when ya crash lol *shrug* happens, hopefully not too frequently heh
Though it may well prove to be a can of wishful thinking, I grabbed some marine grade anti-corrosive for both the electrical connections & general surface use. The stuff actually works pretty dang good for it's intended use (salt water boating) so I'm hoping it'll help stave off the worst of the corrosive effects. I'll need some di-electric grease gloop gobbed here & there, but I've already got some somewhere in my shop... I think, if not the hardware store will help me out I'm sure.
...and I finally ordered a center stand, which is not really part of the winterization list so much as jus' a dealie-yo I've kept forgetting to order since I built the silly thing *shrug* Side (kick) stand or center - neither one works very well in ice & snow, but kick stands don't work very well at all w/such a competitively heavy, tall bike as this lol, we'll skip right over how long I've spaced getting one or why heh;
Kenda K837 Dart Tire 26" x 2.10" Wire Black Wall
Kenda K816 Aggressive MTB Tire, 26" x 2.10" Black Wall;
Planet Bike Mud Flap Set for ATB Fenders
Planet Bike Full ATB Front and Rear Bicycle Fender Set (60mm Wide);
Avenir Metro III Panniers (2, 165 ci);
CRC Industries 06026 Corrosion Inhibitor;
Acclaim Double Black Kickstand;
...and now I wait for the blasted brown truck again as I sit and wonder still - am I blithely consigning my trusty steed to a horrible, untimely death... or can an ebike manage a malicious Maine winter?
I guess we'll see...