ebike dilemma

[Grant-53]

Career change joke: A salesman would rush between customers and soon accumulated a number of speeding tickets. Eventually he lost his license and his job. None of his friends saw him for over a year. One of his former colleagues is pulled over and recognizes the officer as the speedy ex sales rep. The officer hands him the ticket with a smile. "I love this job, the customer is always wrong."

[Panther140]

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

4 miles is quite the trek for me. I hardly could do 3 miles on a pedal bike, and I'm 19 years old.

No offense, but that indicates to me that you NEED to get some cardio exercise.

3 miles on a bicycle is extremely easy, even for my girlfriend's 60 year old parents who are not even in athletic shape.

Wanna save $$ on gas while also making it possible for you to live past 50? Ride your bike as it is right now.

[Panther140]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

My wife had about $10k in student loan debt for her bachelor's in biology when we married, which is not bad for a 4 year degree at a private school. She was making between $14 and $10/hr 4 years post graduation. I paid off the loans immediately with the sizable savings I had accumulated from working a $17/hr job for the past decade. A job I got with no formal related education and no degree, but with work experience as an intern.

Her first job as a PA will likely start her around $90k.

As an aside, I could easily provide for both her and myself on a single minimum wage salary.

My grandfather always used to stress the importance of obtaining a degree, any degree, to be "successful". That was more true of his day, but 4-year degrees are worth vastly less than they used to be worth. With how commonplace a degree has become, and with the skyrocketing cost of obtaining a degree (and the ease of self-learning), the old wisdom no longer applies.



Yes, of course. If everyone "did what they love", there would be about 10 plumbers in the entire US.

It's often detrimental for people to constantly hear that they should be working at a job they absolutely love. I say, do what you're good at, decide to love it, and continue to pursue both work and hobbies that you enjoy.

... and didn't Uncle Sam pay for your education?

$17/hr for a decade? That totals about $260k take home pay. I took home that much money in the past 4 years alone.

Lets say you pay for school 100% on loans and graduate with $60k in debt, you still come out ahead in that same 10 year period despite only working for 6 of those years. And thats just the startup decade. Unless you major in a slacker's field.

However, go to a tech school if you're not going to major in engineering, medical, or computer stuff at the 4 year.

Then, when you go to the tech school, major in engineering technology, dental hygene (or nursing), or computer programming.

If you don't want to do that stuff, start a business.

[M_a_t_t]

At that time it wasn't bad, but I was not having fun. I'm not in bad shape I'm perfectly healthy, thanks for the concern though.

I've stopped riding my bicycle after the first about 2 weeks. I've been taking a break and started driving the van for about a week now. I think my problem was that every time I rode my bicycle it reminded me that my motorcycle died on me and wouldn't start. I need to ride a couple days again now that I got it fixed.

Fun fact: The farthest I've ridden in one day was 33 miles (confirmed with a speedo/odo). I have a 3.3 mile loop I would ride when I didn't have anything to do.

[Grant-53]

It is the time of the year to think about winter riding. That's when the fairing is most popular. It minimizes wind exposure. Another month and I switch to knobby tires.

[AviationMetalSmith]

Originally Posted by puddleglum

.... Those direct drive motors don't coast well so you need to be under power all the time ...

I wish I had known this before wasting $1,087.50

I need a motor that lets me coast and allows me to pedal without turning the armature . Otherwise , it's useless, a trade-off that actually reduces my range , instead of increasing it (which was the idea).

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by AviationMetalSmith

I wish I had known this before wasting $1,087.50

I need a motor that lets me coast and allows me to pedal without turning the armature . Otherwise , it's useless, a trade-off that actually reduces my range , instead of increasing it (which was the idea).

eBay and Amazon have plenty of cheap ebike kits. A direct drive motor capable of 2-3000w can be purchased already laced to a rim for ~$120-150. Geared hub motors (which can freewheel) are harder to find for cheap. Every now and then I can snag one capable of 500-1000w for $120-150, but a geared motor appropriate for 2-3000w will be more like $3-450.

This $140 kit contains a everything you need short of a battery, and freewheels as well as a bike without a motor:

https://www.ebikeling.com/shop/elect...6-kit-option-1

I emailed them and they're expecting them back in stock by late January.

For batteries, I generally use 36v 4.4Ah eBay packs made from used Samsung cells. They're about $25-30 each depending on the bulk you buy them in, and worth 8-10 miles of range each on flat ground (much less on hills). I'd say 2 of them are adequate for a 350w or under ebike, but you'd want 3 for a 500-750w kit, to prevent drawing too much current for the cells.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SAMSUNG...8AAOSwSypY9Y7d

EDIT: I recently built a velomobile with a 3000w geared hub motor, and it tops out around 45mph. You could very easily do something similar with a 2-wheeled vehicle.

[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Ecky

For batteries, I generally use 36v 4.4Ah eBay packs made from used Samsung cells. They're about $25-30 each depending on the bulk you buy them in, and worth 8-10 miles of range each on flat ground (much less on hills). I'd say 2 of them are adequate for a 350w or under ebike, but you'd want 3 for a 500-750w kit, to prevent drawing too much current for the cells.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SAMSUNG...8AAOSwSypY9Y7d

Hey, have you done any testing with these packs to see if the BMS will take the 20a max current the cells are rated for?

[Ecky]

I don't think the BMS limits current, or at least I haven't yet been able to trip it. It mostly seems to have a high and low voltage cutoff.

[Grant-53]

A DC motor produces torque as a function current supplied. So a low current can allow the motor to turn just enough to avoid being a drag.