Well, it's been a good summer filled w/adventure great & small but alas... it's back to cold & gray frosty blech, so I'v started to burrow in, tinkerin' on the taddy again lol & I figured I'd get this thread up to date;
Well let's see... turkey day came and went & delicious as the bird may be, it's also a harbinger, the final warning of the impending chill, the long cold dark that's here to stay. While I still ride ofc, the wanderabouts & meaningless meanderings are remarkable only in there brevity lol
So, time to dust off the tools & the taddy while I'm at it, it's amazing how much chaos can collect in a mere matter of months, my mental state included as I strain to remember just what exactly I may be doing...
Right, stuff & stuff heh
Anyhoo - turns out I made a grave miscalculation, I'd assumed I'd be done "testing" the electric drive components of this hybrid months ago when if fact I seem to have gained another addiction instead:
Ruined by an electric bike... and can't seem to bring myself to stop riding the "test" bike, which is obv a test bike no longer after over three thousand miles and here to stay. Which is all fine & good and I'm very pleased w/it... except ofc I'd pilfered the taddy for dealies, widgets, bits & things - perilously close to a grand in parts have been reallocated, usurped for another cause.
I'd ofc toyed with the idea of scrapping the hybrid aspect of the taddy, to simplify the build and to make amends, to calm the pitiful wails of my wallet...
Yea, ta heck with that lol - if anything 'Mongo' the "test" bike made me
more determined to make this work, the electric bit just too nifty to ignore. I've learned a few things however such as while the 48v 15ah LiFePO4 battery pack & Magic Pie 1000w hub are great on a bicycle - they are in fact a touch "overkill" as just a supplementary drive on a hybrid, I'll not need the 30 mile range or all the nifty, fancy-pants things the 'Pie's controller is capable of.
So I decided to experiment some more, to take a chance with a ever so slightly more powerful hub motor, yet one that doesn't have all the bells'n whistles... or reputation for customer support as it's a "generic" no name knock-off... but w/e lol, I s'pose we'll see *shrug*
It's from a fleabay merchant, so the listings expire and as I've not tested it yet I can't recommend it.... but it seems to have some potential, it's rather drab name is: 'Rear Hub Motor Kit with 26" Rim, 7 Speed Gears Flywheel and Brake Disk' which supposedly is capable of up to 1200w from;
items in moreBatteryStore store on eBay!
...for a mere $250, I'm willing enough to give the kit a shot, but ofc that doesn't include the pesky batteries - the real cost of an electric setup.
I also ordered a bigger (wider) rim for the hub
Alex DX32 26" 36H Black - while it turns out the hub kit comes with exactly the same double wall rim as the 'Pie (just not painted black), I just don't want such a skinny one as that (the Alex is 1.5", the MP 1");
Fate was smiling for a change however & as luck would have it a friend just happened to have a 36v 12ah GM LiFePO4 battery pack and was willing to part with it, provided I could make it work w/my setup... while it's 36v and I need 48 - getting another three cells & a different BMS is simple enough, adding them not a big deal at all so that settles that I figured.
The GM LFP-3612S-LT (36v 12ah LiFePO4) stripped of it's case;
Only it didn't lol as there seems to be a 36v conspiracy afoot - not only did I end up with a 36v pack, the b'danged fleabay seller sent me a 36v controller instead of the 48 I wanted - I could ofc simply demand what I ordered, I could ofc just buy another...
I think I'll accept destiny and just 36v the taddy lol, I really don't think for this particular application it'll make much of a difference, the lower the voltage the higher the amp draw to maintain the wattage - which combined with the smaller (but lighter ofc) battery will result in a range penalty, but as it's a hybrid range doesn't matter as much, not to mention my wallet is
very pleased with the decision heh
So, now I just have to make a completely different electric drive system work with a project designed otherwise. There's a bunch of lil things that now need to be altered such as the hub is a 1/2" too wide for the dropouts, the disc brake caliper needs be relocated, the controller is no longer internal and the battery is ofc a completely different size & shape so I'll hafta figure out where & how to make them fit on a project that's been an ongoing fight for every fraction of an inch - which should be interesting.
...and while I was "patiently" waiting for the blasted brown truck, I did manage to knock another little thing off the to-do list, minor perhaps but every bit helps heh
I'd gotten a set of 'Blazer' driving lights from ol' wallyworld, chrome & halogen they were too shiny for my eyes & too hungry for the amps, so I converted them to a pair of 'Torchstar' LED MR16 Halogen replacement spotlights (12V 4W/440 Lumen), one with a 30° beam angle (high beam & cool white) and one with a 60° for the low/daytime driving (in a warm yellow). Just 4w instead of 50w & jus' four bucks each FTW, then I painted some of the shiny away as I'm not the biggest fan of chrome... particularly right where it'd reflect the sun's glare right into my eyes, headlights being to help ya see not hinder it right?
Not a big deal at all 'cept ofc the LED bulbs were almost 1/4" taller (longer?) so I had to gut the housing & make different plugins, easy e'nuff & 'nother thing done;
