4 miles? Pshh... EASY!

[MadisonMPG]

Christ pissed me off one day, I don't remember what it was about, but i'm good now.

Yeah I didn't want to bike because it was "lame" and only kids that were nerds did it. But then again, I am on an Ecomodding forum talking about driving 55mph in my Geo... haha

I went to a local thrift store, picked up a second bicycle nearly identical to mine, and I want to experiment on it before I mess up my "new" one. I have a few things that will probably help in my electric endeavor. An old electric scooter of mine... Do I need anything else? lol

[Christ]

Hey, you could salvage batteries from most people's throw aways... most times, like in stereos and CD players and such, people replace all the batteries, and it's usually not that they're all dead. Of course, these are also usually alkaline, and you'd need all kinds of adapters and pack holders to make different types of packs that wouldn't last very long, so maybe you could just use them for stuff around your house... making this post completely irrelevant to the topic of the thread!

OTOH - if you wanted to make a battery pack out of, say, AAA cells, you can get them from cordless phones for free. Break the packs open, there's 3 AAA cells in there, and they're Ni-MH usually. 1.2V ~2200mAH each.

[MadisonMPG]

Will that type battery work? I have the two batteries from my electric scooter.

[Christ]

I'm going to build a battery pack for my TwinStar from C cell Ni-MH batteries. They don't require a stupid charging process, so my alternator won't destroy them. I had briefly considered AAA or AA's, but it would take too many.

I was half joking about the AAA thing, but I use them in my remotes around the house, from cordless phones and the like. The two batteries from your scooter would be great for what you want, if not a bit heavy.

You'll probably want to look into lightening the bike as much as you can before adding weight, and being minimalist in what you do add to it.

That means the handlebar dingy bell has to go, man. (Probably those grip tassels, too... )

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

That means the handlebar dingy bell has to go, man. (Probably those grip tassels, too... )

DAMNIT!

But seriously, they are pretty heavy, and so is the motor. But they are "free", so I don't know what I want to do. Pay money to make my life a little easier, or save some money and have to work a little harder.

[Christ]

Well, see what you can do for now with what you have. Get it working, upgrade later.

Like, if you can find some 5/8" aluminum tubing later on, it's lighter than the steel you have for handle bars right now, and fairly easy to make decent bends around an old bike rim. You might find it free, too.

There are several places that you can lighten frames by literally cutting holes in it, but I don't usually recommend it, especially if you're going to add stress to it. They're usually pretty over-engineered, though.

Another thing that can really affect you is proper maintenance. Make sure you have lightweight grease in the bearings, and make sure they're not overly worn, or if you're unsure, replace them.

Ensure that you don't have tires with lugs on them, since you're not going to rough terrain. If you can find smooth tires, they'll be easier on you. You can get them at K-mart for around $10 each, usually. Bell brand.

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

Well, see what you can do for now with what you have. Get it working, upgrade later.

Like, if you can find some 5/8" aluminum tubing later on, it's lighter than the steel you have for handle bars right now, and fairly easy to make decent bends around an old bike rim. You might find it free, too.

<snip>

I'm not nearly as concerned about the weight of it as I am the RR. The wheels are 24" and Walmart doesn't carry that size street. I will go to K-mart of maybe a local bike shop and look around for thinner/smoother tires. The ones one it are pretty luggy. *is that a word? lol

It is an old Walmart bike, so i'm not sure about all the bearings, i'll probably go through the bike in the next week and see what all is worn. It does squeak sometimes though.

The 3 mile trip was REALLY hard, and I thought/think I am in good shape. So there may be something to this RR thing.

[Christ]

On a bike, when you're only making ~500 watts of effective propellant energy, aero is a large consideration as well. If you can score some bits of coroplast, maybe work on that?

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

On a bike, when you're only making ~500 watts of effective propellant energy, aero is a large consideration as well. If you can score some bits of coroplast, maybe work on that?

I draw the line at aero... (as of now) it's just too lame.

[Christ]

Noone said you had to make a huge fairing or anything, but you could consider things like clear wheel covers, etc.

Of course, "for now" still applies, right?

Aero could be as simple as remembering to tuck after you've stabilized yourself, ya know? Lowering the handlebars could help out a bit, but don't make yourself uncomfortable doing it.