EbikeE and BMC for Comfort and Range

[kevo]

Alan, nice photo of the EbikeE and great weather for the crystal blue sky and Reservoir

[Alan B]

Alan, nice photo of the EbikeE and great weather for the crystal blue sky and Reservoir

Thanks for the nice comments. Photo with Droid, I need a good way to carry the DSLR safely.

The efficiency of this machine is amazing. At 48 volts (12S Lipo) it went 16 miles on less than 8 amp hours at full throttle 20-24 mph with little pedaling and a lot of wind. At one point I was using 800 watts going slightly downhill!

Max power was just over 1kw. This 12 Fet Lyen controller is dialed down to about 23A. I should tweak it up slightly to 1500W or so, but haven't dug into it.

[kevo]

I read that a good rider on a recumbent beat four probably better riders in a peleton. So perhaps a recumbent is comparable to the efficiency of a peleton.

How about recumbent record for LA to NY in 5 days ? Put a fairing on that and break that record

Linky: http://www.lightningbikes.com/f-40_racing.htm

[Alan B]

Went on a nice ride yesterday with Steil and his friend Josh from Sebastopol to Forestville. They have some nice bike paths. Efficiency was 14.5 watt hours per mile! This is partly due to the slower pace of these paths and fairly level terrain. We compared the glide of the BikeE/BMC to a Terratrike/Magic Pie. At low speed (12 mph) the BikeE would gain on the TerraTrike on mild downhill grades. Power consumption on this ride was similar with the BikeE/BMC at 14.5 watt hours per mile and the TerraTrike/MP at 15.5 or thereabouts.

Saw a few other BikeE's. Pretty popular bike!

I tried putting the bikeE on my trailer hitch type rack, and IT FIT! I had to configure the wheel hoops on the outside, rather than staggered, but I could still probably get a Mountain bike in the other slot. This is very helpful. It would not have fit if it had been the longer wheelbase. So this worked out for me.

This rack is the Swagman XC 2 bike trailer hitch type rack.

[Alan B]

Battery Reconfiguration

Today I reconfigured the battery pack on the EbikeE. The pack was a bit long, preventing seat adjustments. The capacity was 12S 24AH which on this efficient machine was more than I generally need, and still not enough for a long ride. So I decided to reduce it to 16AH. I made some new PVC downspout covers and painted them a couple weeks ago. Today I installed them. It was getting dark so I'll take photos tomorrow, but it is lighter, cleaner and with the new colors of vet-wrap it looks better.

Later I will make some type of extended pack for those long rides.

[Alan B]

On Sunday we went on a nice midday ride with Stevil, acuteaero, and Josh (not sure he's on ES). We travelled a little more than 20 miles on bike trails and roads in the vicinity of Forestville and Sebastopol. Speeds were leisurely at 15 with the occasional burst up to about 25. This was not an efficiency contest, still it is interesting to see the trends. All I had along camera-wise was my cellphone, but here are the vehicles:




Alan's BMC'd EbikeE




Stevil's Ventilated Xlyted Greyborg




acuteaero's Xlyted BMX




Josh's Magic Pied Tadpole TerraTrike


Over this trip the BMX and Borg travelled a bit faster and more spirited, and the Tadpole and EbikeE a bit more lazy and smooth. On the downhills at low speed the EbikeE would go faster than the Tapole. At higher speeds the Tadpole would glide away from the EbikeE, so we could see rolling resistance (and cogging) vs air resistance in action.

At the end of the trip the watt hours per mile were about 15 for the EbikeE and Tadpole, and 25-30 for the BMX and Borg. Not a precise A-B comparison, but interesting nonetheless.

We also traded bikes a bit and Stevil, acuteaero and I got to experience the three uprights. Quite a difference and range of riding comfort and position. The BMX is small and harsh, even with the Thudbuster it is noticeable. A softer seat may help. The small wheels and short wheelbase is likely part of the cause.

[Alan B]

Android GPS Software

Tested out the Droid with Google's "My Tracks" software on my commute run. It collects GPS data and will export to Google Maps, Fusion, etc. It also analyzes the data. The data that was most interesting is the elevation gain. The gradients are not too accurate, it reported 15% one way and 20% the other. This was while driving a vehicle, perhaps it will be more accurate at the lower rate of a bike with the better view of the sky.

At any rate this 13 mile commute has over 1200 feet of elevation gain in one direction, and 600 feet in the other.

[deVries]

Over this trip the BMX and Borg travelled a bit faster and more spirited, and the Tadpole and EbikeE a bit more lazy and smooth. On the downhills at low speed the EbikeE would go faster than the Tapole. At higher speeds the Tadpole would glide away from the EbikeE, so we could see rolling resistance (and cogging) vs air resistance in action.

At the end of the trip the watt hours per mile were about 15 for the EbikeE and Tadpole, and 25-30 for the BMX and Borg. Not a precise A-B comparison, but interesting nonetheless.

We also traded bikes a bit and Stevil, acuteaero and I got to experience the three uprights. Quite a difference and range of riding comfort and position. The BMX is small and harsh, even with the Thudbuster it is noticeable. A softer seat may help. The small wheels and short wheelbase is likely part of the cause.

Alan, thanks for the report & pic of your new Arrow Borg. I really enjoy all your posts that are so very detailed & analytical too. Heck, your posts are way longer than mine too! I love it!

[Alan B]

I've been focussing on the Borg lately, but the BikeE is still ready to go. Recently I took it on a camping trip and it raised a lot of some eyebrows and generated a few questions from fellow members in the RV club. A nice folding ebike would go over well there.

Lately I noticed a new pannier rack made for the BikeE. It looks a lot better than my clumsy homemade one. I need to carry 12 of the 6S 8AH Zippy batteries for the Enduro 100 mile ride, and I have 4 on the bike now, so I need four more on each pannier. This seems quite reasonable.

Here's the rack: