Sell Insight to buy E-Bike? - Page 6 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

sendler · 05-22-2014, 12:23 PM

I'm sure someone on endlesssphere knows all about what cells are in your battery and probably already has photos.

vskid3 · 05-25-2014, 02:10 AM

I sent Ping an email concerning splitting the pack. He said that the cells used are the pouch type. He told me to remove the shrink wrap and send him a picture of the cells so he could provide more help with splitting it.

Not really sure how I would like to split it. The current dimensions are about 12x4x6". I'm guessing the cells are 4x3", so I could have two 12x4x3" packs. I think I could fit one in the triangle and the other mounted on the bottom of the bottom tube and have no problem pedaling or with suspension travel. That would lower the center of gravity quite a bit and give the front tire some of the added weight from the conversion.

deardancer · 05-27-2014, 11:31 AM

consider a stronger 3 arm rear rack for stability, and a high tech rear fat tire for some shock absorbancy.

Here are some ideas;
topeak.com/products/Racks/SuperTouristDXTubularRack_disc

schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/big_apple_plus]Big Apple Plus |

Old man mountain makes superb heavy duty racks.

There are other great racks and great tires, you can find feedback and such also over at endless sphere. (the above are what I run with 25lb battery pack Lith iron phosphate)

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Grant-53 · 05-30-2014, 01:20 PM

Check into low rider style front racks also.

vskid3 · 05-31-2014, 10:57 AM

This is the rack I currently have. It looks like it should be able to more than handle the weight, so I don't think its the problem. It'll need replaced if I put disc brakes on the rear, anyway.

I'm planning on wearing out the DoubleFighter tires before getting new ones. However, at 350 miles, the rear tire seems to be showing more wear than the front. I have my eyes on the Schwalbe Marathon Plus. They look like the best choice for rolling resistance, squishiness, and longevity. If the rear tire gets much worse, I might replace it with a Schwalbe and save it for the front.

I got a better headlight to replace my AA powered one that it more for being seen than seeing. Its much brighter and makes me feel confident going 25mph in the dark. It has a spotlight pattern, I've ordered a wide angle lens that will spread the light more.

I also have a watt meter in route. I would prefer a Cycle Analyst, but I already have the speedometer that lets me limit my speed. The only features I won't have between the two will be current limiting and seeing wh/mile (which I'll be able to calculate anyway). It'll be nice to see how hard I'm working the battery and how much power I have left.

No progress on splitting or remounting the battery, yet. I feel like it will be one of those projects that should only take a weekend, but will end up taking longer. I want whatever I end up doing to be easily removable. I don't think the battery will like sitting in the sun when its 100F outside.

Grant-53 · 05-31-2014, 01:06 PM

Like a cycle tourist you will be looking to find the best weight distribution. I have upgraded to lights with rechargeable 'C' cells. My front fairing has survived a NY winter and it kept me quite warm and dry. I am looking to add a tail section along the lines of the Vetter style streamliners only lighter.

vskid3 · 06-17-2014, 07:34 PM

Little update, I've put just over 350 miles on the bike since converting it, riding it to work about 2/3rds of the time (it sucks to have to lock up a bike, so much easier to hop out of a car and hit the lock button

). The rear tire got a flat while riding a couple weeks ago. Seems that the "high quality" rim had a rough spoke hole that caused a hole in the tube and blew part of the tire off the rim. Fortunately, someone in a truck gave me a ride home. I took the rim to the bike shop and had them smooth out the hole edges and retape it. The rear tire seemed to be wearing quick, so I put one of the old knobbies on the back to see how it would do. Its a little wider (2.1 vs 1.9) and I reduced the pressure in both tires to about 45PSI from ~60, my butt is much happier with this setup.

Got the wide angle lens for the light, it makes the light much more usable for riding fast at night.

The battery is still living in the backpack. I have a pretty good idea of where and how to mount it, but I still need to work out how I'll do the metal bending it'll require. My idea would place half of the battery on top of the lower tube and half on the bottom and be easy to remove.

vskid3 · 07-19-2014, 11:29 AM

Hit 500 miles a couple days ago. Only change was moving the controller from the bottom of the rack to the top inside the "bag". It gets warmer there, but the bigger rear tire would barely rub it when it was underneath.

My charger fan started making bad noises the other day. I opened it up and confirmed that it was just the sound of a bad bearing, not the charger dying. Smacking it a bit gets the noise to stop, I'll replace the fan when it dies or gets too noisy.

My wife rode it to work yesterday because I needed the car. She really likes it and wants me to build her one. She doesn't need as much range as me, 10 miles would be plenty for her commute. I'll have to look at different batteries if I give her's as much power as mine, a smaller Ping wouldn't last long. I would rather use LiFePO4 cells with a better C-rate than going with Li-poly/ion.