FFR Trikes wins Pike's Peak 1st and 2nd places!!!

[wolfcry0]

Congrats FFR! good race

If you guys are curious, the fastest opti used 500WH and made it up in 30 minutes

[The fingers]

Congratulations! And the rest trail!

[Alan B]

Congrats FFR and itchynackers!

Love to see more about the cooled 9C and the trikes!

[kevo]

This is very exciting, nice to see theory and preserverance meet a challenging reality and prevail!

[GITech]

Very cool! I'd LOVE to do that some day!

[itchynackers]

Thanks guys.
It certainly was a blast. Up and down the mountain. I plan to do a proper write up in a day or two complete with pics. I'm heading back to Wisconsin now. Stay tuned!

[FFR Trikes]

Thanks for all the awesome support guys! It certainly wouldn't have been possible without all we've learned from the ES forum.

Since there was no official timing, we're doing our best to round up timing of the finishers. Here's what we have so far:

Place|Rider|Team|Time|Average Speed|Vehicle

1. Tommy Ausherman | FFR | 23:32 | 31.6 mph | FFR Transition 422R
2. Jesse Lee | FFR | 24:31 | 30.2 mph | FFR Transition 411R
3. Adam (Itchynackers) | Homebuilt | 26:18 | 28.3 mph | Homebuilt Liquid-Cooled 9C Trek
4. John S. | Optibike | 32:18 (from Opti) | 22.3 mph | Optibike 1100R
5. ? | Optibike | ? | ? | ?

The race course (same as the PPIHC course):


Our view from the top (incredible!) Tommy on the left, Jesse on the right:


It was pretty surreal racing to the top. Our early 6AM start made for a stunning view as the sun rose on the mountain. Temps were chilly in the mid forties, wind was calm, and the skies were clear. The race was tight on the flatter lower section of the mountain, as our trikes, Adam's bike, and Opti's 1100R's were all very similar in top speeds. Once it started getting steep and twisty, we began to open a bit of a lead with later braking in the corners, more speed through the corners, and more power out of the turns. Air gets thinner, colder, and drier as the climb continues. I gave my maximum pedaling effort throughout the whole climb, except for during the corners. Winding temps climbed to a maximum of 180F on the 422R, as I crested the peak, to find that the finish line hadn't yet been setup! It was 38F on the summit, and my mouth dry as a bone, and my lungs exhausted. I was thrilled to see Jesse blast through the finish less than a minute later on the 411R. We of course high fived and were pumped to see Adam come through shortly after! We talked with Adam, and the Optibike guys up top, all great fellas! Great work to all. Electric bike racing has a great future.

We're in the midst of the nonstop drive back to NC right now, and we're pretty whipped. We'll have a race video uploaded shortly from our perspectives, and more details soon!

Thanks again for all the great support,
Tommy, Dan & Jesse @ FFR

[EVPowers]

Thanks guys.
It certainly was a blast. Up and down the mountain. I plan to do a proper write up in a day or two complete with pics. I'm heading back to Wisconsin now. Stay tuned!

Adam,
Want to show off your bike this Sunday up in Madison at my alt-fuel transportation expo?
Green Drive Expo
Noon-5pm
Indoors at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibit Hall B
Part of the Dane County Fair

You could have your own booth, or I could link you up with the other EV guys. Electric cars, motorcycles, etc. You could even do a speaker session about it if you wanted, I'd make room!

I know you are travelling right now, but it would be very cool to have you there.

I have my own e-bike (and scooters, and mopeds, and...) but nothing quite as powerful as yours!

Call me or email me and we can talk
Eric Powers 608-729-4082. eric@greendriveexpo.com

[FFR Trikes]

Here's a highlight reel from the hill climb with our trikes. A full uncut video will follow.

[www.recumbents.com]

Congrats to the FFR team!

You must have really geared those 3220 motors low to have a max speed of 32 MPH. In this case that is a very good thing. I'm impressed!

-Warren.

[Green Machine]

Congrats to the FFR team!

You must have really geared those 3220 motors low to have a max speed of 32 MPH. In this case that is a very good thing. I'm impressed!

-Warren.

The lead trike averaged 32 mph so must have been geared for higher. Maybe 40+?

[Ypedal]

Great job guys !!!!.. congrats !.. awsome awsome awsome !!!!!!

( small chainring, are those jack shafted? .. or using geared BB ( i forget the name ) ) .. ? to pedal a those speeds?

Heavy cornering with the trikes is so much fun.. went playing at night this past weekend in the trails, the upright bikes could not keep up off-road even tho they had double the power on tap )

[grindz145]

Awesome Job guys. I was always a bit averse to recumbents and things with more than 2 wheels, but you know what... I'm coming around...

[liveforphysics]

Great job guys!!

[wildharemtbkr]

That's awesome!! Great race. You just killed Optibike's marketing strategy.
Whats the difference between the two different models?

[spinningmagnets]

The Astros are inrunners, so they would really benefit from a liquid-cooled shell. Good to see that one of the placing bikes used Matts air-fan...perhaps someday an Astro with both?

Last year the Optibike finally began selling their system with 48V instead of 36V. I suppose they wanted to advertise that the bike they were selling was winning races. Of course thats only because Pikes Peak wasn't yet on the ES radar screen. Optibike, if you'e listening, you need to produce an off-road only edition with 20S LiPo (72V-82V), 100V capacitors, 12-FETs, a motor with 50% more copper mass and a centrifugal air-fan, and ridden by an anorexic monkey with a bad attitude thats drinking Redbull.

I predict several more non-hubs will show up next year, and they will be geared for climbing...you have been warned.

[rscamp]

Congrats to the FFR team!

You must have really geared those 3220 motors low to have a max speed of 32 MPH. In this case that is a very good thing. I'm impressed!

-Warren.

Maybe geared so the power level required is a close match to the power level at maximum efficiency?

[recumpence]

Congrats to the FFR team!

You must have really geared those 3220 motors low to have a max speed of 32 MPH. In this case that is a very good thing. I'm impressed!

-Warren.

Maybe geared so the power level required is a close match to the power level at maximum efficiency?

Oh, score! It took an RC guy to figure that one out!

Good call......

Matt

[Josh K.]

Hey Guys, Way to go! Soo Glad to see some other folks hitting the hill, and giving these guys a run for the money!

Nice to see some Astro Motors drawing a new line in the sand.

Josh K.

[wolfcry0]

The Astros are inrunners, so they would really benefit from a liquid-cooled shell. Good to see that one of the placing bikes used Matts air-fan...perhaps someday an Astro with both?

Last year the Optibike finally began selling their system with 48V instead of 36V. I suppose they wanted to advertise that the bike they were selling was winning races. Of course thats only because Pikes Peak wasn't yet on the ES radar screen. Optibike, if you'e listening, you need to produce an off-road only edition with 20S LiPo (72V-82V), 100V capacitors, 12-FETs, a motor with 50% more copper mass and a centrifugal air-fan, and ridden by an anorexic monkey with a bad attitude thats drinking Redbull.

I predict several more non-hubs will show up next year, and they will be geared for climbing...you have been warned.

Yes we agree



This is a new motor we are testing:

120 volts
1000 amps
9.8 lbs
5" long x 5" dia

[voicecoils]

Here's a highlight reel from the hill climb with our trikes. A full uncut video will follow.

Congrats FFR!

Excellent video too, it captured an exciting race atmosphere.

[rscamp]

Maybe geared so the power level required is a close match to the power level at maximum efficiency?

Oh, score! It took an RC guy to figure that one out!

Good call......

Matt

Certainly applies to helis where you are trying to keep motor temperature down and head RPM constant. We never want to run for extended periods on the wrong (right) side of the efficiency curve.

This application requires fewer motor turns to get more power as the controller is limited - the efficiency curve can't be moved to the right with higher voltage.

Looking forward to trying my new drive on the Sydenham hill here in Dundas.

[itchynackers]

Here's a highlight reel from the hill climb with our trikes. A full uncut video will follow.

Congrats FFR!

Excellent video too, it captured an exciting race atmosphere.

Hey! There I am. Number 725 Wooot!!!

[docnjoj]

Absolutely superb racing, FFR. It also puts trikes on the racing map, just like in Europe where they regularly hold trike races. Bad to the bone! Oh yeah. Congrats also to Astroflight, an American company!
otherDoc

[Doctorbass]

Congrat to FFR !..

Thanks for the video!..


Doc