Commuter UK styleeee...yes its a cyclone

[Dingo2024]

this is the one thing I really like about ES; lots of different ideas and solutions to problems, levels of knowledge/expertise coming from all around the world....oh and of course different budgets and perceptions of value

as for me I have quite a few for this project.....some from the members here and some of my own...time will tell

as for now this is where we are.........waiting for motor and battery

Ian

[Dingo2024]

It's Christmas at my place

my battery is here; thanks go to cell_man (here on ES) for this......I was looking for a fully constructed pack..and that is what I got........ awesome

I cant recommend this guy enough...answered my noob questions quickly and delivered what I was looking for

dimensions with 80amp bms fitted and 75amp power poles are: 275mm x 110mm x 160mm and weight is 7.7kgs

btw this is a 48v 15a/h 16s pack

voltage on arrival was 52v

I am getting excited

only the motor kit to arrive now......should be next week

Ian

[Dingo2024]

another thing that I should mention is that I have a 13t freewheel to replace the stock 14t on the cyclone motor (when the motor actually turns up that is) this again is to further reduce the gear ratio of the motor/gearbox to allow for a better pedal cadence..at least for me
the problem is that the 13t is for 1/8" chain where as the cyclone is 3/32" chain...this has meant that one of my Gusset Slink chains in a previous picture had to be returned and swapped for a 1/8" one...lucky for me the retailer had one in stock and was happy to oblige
btw luckily I found this out BEFORE ordering the custom 64t front sprocket and therefore got this made to fit 1/8" chain

so I now have 3/32" chain from cranks to rear hub and 1/8" chain from motor to 64t front sprocket

nothing is ever straight forward..but at least gets the old grey matter working

Ian

[cell_man]

Good stuff Ian,

yeah I think it was discharged to about 50% SOC but the pack is balanced, so you should just have to plug it in for an hour or so and get the full capacity from the start.

The BMS on your pack is quite substantial and the material I used underneath the heat shrink add a little to the total, but it's worth it IMO. You should see the pre charge resistors I threw in with it. The resistance is a bit on the low side but they work fine and your connectors will be much happier.

You were quite lucky to get a built pack from me. I'm now not accepting any more built packs for the time being. The work involved along with the tiny profit I get for it just doesn't make sense for me until I can get someone else to do them.

[Dingo2024]

its been a while BUT.......we now have a working ebike guys ...yes it still needs a lot of tidying of wiring etc. especially to keep up the ES standards

here are a few pics of the build as it is.........................video will follow

changes are Fox 32 Talas forks and Richey adjustable handlebar stem

Ian

[Spacey]

Great bike dude

I bought the 900W Cyclone kit and am running it at 36v on a 15ah Ping battery. Top speed without pedalling on the flat 36mph....which is fast enough.

I have the same problem as you though, to get the gearing on the back cogs right so that the engine is not pulling too many amps (35amp controller, don't think the battery can put out that many amps for very long due to the cut outs I've had when I first road it in 8th gear everywhere)....I have to have it in 5th gear, this gives me around 24mph on average with full throttle no pedalling. It will keep this up for 12 miles without it ever hitting yellow on the battery gauge.

Pedalling though is impossible at this ratio, if I put it in 8th gear on the back cog it's pretty good, I can put in some effort but the motor is labouring somewhat and cuts the BMS.

I was thinking of running two chains from the front drive cogs, but that's not going to work. Do they do a smaller drive cog on the Cyclone, think I'm on 14t but could do with a 10t to 11t to get the ratios better.

Have done over 100 miles so far and is only 6 mins slower than the car on a 12 mile run to work.

[Dingo2024]

Great bike dude

I bought the 900W Cyclone kit and am running it at 36v on a 15ah Ping battery. Top speed without pedaling on the flat 36mph....which is fast enough.

I have the same problem as you though, to get the gearing on the back cogs right so that the engine is not pulling too many amps (35amp controller, don't think the battery can put out that many amps for very long due to the cut outs I've had when I first road it in 8th gear everywhere)....I have to have it in 5th gear, this gives me around 24mph on average with full throttle no pedalling. It will keep this up for 12 miles without it ever hitting yellow on the battery gauge.

Pedalling though is impossible at this ratio, if I put it in 8th gear on the back cog it's pretty good, I can put in some effort but the motor is labouring somewhat and cuts the BMS.

I was thinking of running two chains from the front drive cogs, but that's not going to work. Do they do a smaller drive cog on the Cyclone, think I'm on 14t but could do with a 10t to 11t to get the ratios better.

Have done over 100 miles so far and is only 6 mins slower than the car on a 12 mile run to work.

Hi man thanks for the appreciation

still lots to do but getting there.............slowly. Glad your happy with the kit

I guess you are on the chrome Dicta freewheel which is 14t....you can go down to 13t (bmx freewheel) and also switch the front 44t motor chainwheel for a 48t (its a 104mm BCD 4 bolt mtb fitment) which is the biggest stock size I could find...........this should be much better for the motor and controller draw than your current pedal speed set up. At 36v the motor does not spin as fast as on 48v so should be about right and you wont need a 64t front ring as I am using. Mine is now geared to match an 88rpm pedal cadence with max motor efficiency..........if my calculations are correct
Not had a chance to try fully yet...........a run up to 3rd gear is all its done.......but sh*t did it pull

hope this helps,

thanks,

Ian

[Dingo2024]

well...I have managed to get more stuff done and had my first 'real' ride today to the local bike shop (about a 3 mile round trip and not flat at all)....I guess I can say at this point that I am genuinely impressed with the way the bike rides...the gearing is spot on

so...the wiring is a little tidier - still more to do though
the Fox 32 front forks have been rebuilt with new bushes and wiper seals.....the TALAS (travel adjust) now works as it should so can change the ride height and steering head angle...also played around with the air pressures...super fork
set the angle and height of the stem for a more upright riding position
new brake levers after I was told that the controller was not set up for e brake..so did away with the extra wires
the motor now has cooling fins mounted.....red in colour!
also fitted the grips to the bars....but are typical cheap sh*t and too hard
and lastly put the tyres up to 40psi to see what they ride like....if you are looking for a really fast rolling light weight 26 x 2 tyre you wont find much better in my opinion than theses Schwalbe Kojacks

a few pics from today

Ian

[deVries]

a few pics from today

Can you post these as JPGs? Most won't have rar installed to decompress.

Thanks!

[cell_man]

Hi Ian,

can you please ensure you use a pre charge resistor when powering up the controller. The current inrush might cause a problem with the BMS over time. Low IR cells like these cause a really nasty current spike. Your connectors will appreciate it too.

[Dingo2024]

a few pics from today

Can you post these as JPGs? Most won't have rar installed to decompress.

Thanks!

hi I will reshoot the pics over the next couple of days and repost as jpeg.....as the resolution was set too high on the camera the forum would not accept the attachments so had to compress them sorry

Ian

[Dingo2024]

Hi Ian,

can you please ensure you use a pre charge resistor when powering up the controller. The current inrush might cause a problem with the BMS over time. Low IR cells like these cause a really nasty current spike. Your connectors will appreciate it too.

Hi Paul,

thanks for the headsup; I have gotten into the habit of using the precharge resistor you supplied. There has been no spark on connection of the pack to date so appears to be working as should

Ian

[blkbikes]

nice bike. Always good to see a fello brit ecommuter.

Time to stealth her up a bit otherwise the big P is going to be asking questions; if they can catch you lol

How much does it weigh?

[cell_man]

Hi Ian,

can you please ensure you use a pre charge resistor when powering up the controller. The current inrush might cause a problem with the BMS over time. Low IR cells like these cause a really nasty current spike. Your connectors will appreciate it too.

Hi Paul,

thanks for the headsup; I have gotten into the habit of using the precharge resistor you supplied. There has been no spark on connection of the pack to date so appears to be working as should

Ian

That's great. Better to be safe than sorry. The massive spark you get without the pre charge resistor doesn't do my nerves any good either, so I always a pre charge resistor

[Dingo2024]

hi, just got back from a 10 mile ride into town...its about a 1 mile long steep hill coming back.....the motor did overheat once...although I am convinced it was my incorrect gear selection (as I am still learning the throttle / thumb shifter / pedal sequence)

here are some pics I took outside my house....video camera should be here next week...so will start to upload those as soon as I can

Ian

[Dingo2024]

nice bike. Always good to see a fello brit ecommuter.

Time to stealth her up a bit otherwise the big P is going to be asking questions; if they can catch you lol

How much does it weigh?

thanks for the compliment and welcome to ES..this forum rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have already encountered 'the big P' in a traffic car at the weekend...the driver pointed and smiled and drove on....maybe that was because I was at the road side checking wires etc. and not racing cars

the speed is pretty 'good' and all I will say is that it 'keeps' with the flow of traffic very well

Ian

p.s. not sure on the weight but will check it and post over the next couple of days

[mhz128]

Dingo,

Nice bike! What's your top speed and mileage?

How is your battery holding up?

ciao!

[Dingo2024]

Dingo,

Nice bike! What's your top speed and mileage?

How is your battery holding up?

ciao!

hi "mhz128",

thanks for the nice words.....the battery has only 5 charge cycles on it now and took just over an hour to fully charge (with 5amp charger) today after 10 miles and lots of WOT so I would guess around the 25mile mark. Once I get a Cycle Analyst (next week hopefully) I will report and log everything in more detail atm I dont even have a speedo fitted so not sure of top speed....my only gauge is the cars and it keeps with them no problem.....so its definitely over 30mph...and that includes uphill....and there are lots of those where I live

Ian

[Dingo2024]

got the bike on the scales today and this is what came out

bike 45.5lbs...........weight distribution....front 22lbs rear 23.5lbs
battery...which includes battery box, controller and wiring etc. 22lbs

total working weight is 67.5lbs (or 30.7kg) which I am pretty happy with

the cycle analyst should be here tomorrow, so once fitted I will give other data such as range and speed etc.

Ian

[blkbikes]

cool pretty much the same weight as mine.

Chased down one of those pointy head time trial riders the other night. Poor guy couldnt believe his eyes as a grinning guy sitting upright on a mountain bike with panniers pulled along side

Can i recommend getting a new rim on the rear and a new front wheel for a hydro disk brake on the front(180 rotor max). If you use a wider downhill rim it'll not only cope with the increased weight but allow you to run 50-60 psi(faster grippier and far more efficient) in you 2" tyres without stressing the rims.

Looking forward to your CA stats as im building my 2nd gen ebike at the mo with a cyclone

[Dingo2024]

I have had the CA fitted for about 2 weeks now but not ridden very much ...so today I decided to take the bike to work and this is the data that came from the trip...it was pretty windy and the route is far from flat..also a couple of stops for junctions and lights

journey to work; battery had been fully charged and stood for about 2 days prior to this trip

distance 11.4 miles
used 6.826 ah
326.78 watt/hr
28.8 wh/mile
A max 51.85
V min 45.7

maxS 29.7 mph
avgS 23.9 mph
time 28m 34s

here are some pics taken from the CA readout after the return journey.....much more wind, traffic and hills coming back
the battery had been charged fully (from the trip above) and stood for about 4 hours prior to this journey

Ian

[Dingo2024]

I have done a a few rides since the last post and everything has been good
here is an update regarding today;
set off for work this morning on the bike (nice weather) got about 5 minutes into the ride; came to a roundabout looked across accelerated and then nothing.....................all lights on the throttle and the CA display went dead pedaled the bike home jumped in the car and drove to work. Just got back and started to check everything over....I got the CA to work by disconnecting the controller and the battery voltage shown is 50.4v; it looks like my pre charge resistor has also died (I dont think that this is related to the problem today but will swap it out anyway to save the Power Poles) the controller has no (obvious) burnt components so my thinking is the throttle but will test further once I get a new battery for the multimeter

Ian

[Dingo2024]

Ok after checking a few things it looks more like it could be the controller. So I have been in touch with the UK cyclone distributor today (he lives about an hour from me) and am taking the bike to him on Saturday morning where we will swap out everything until the problem is solved hopefully

just means a few more days without the ebike grin

Ian

[Dingo2024]

quick update...my bike is working again

got to the UK cyclone distributor this morning and swapped and tested everything .....it was the controller

got to give a big heads up to Rob @ eclipsebikes.com

thanks man....without your help it would not be running.

So guys if you are in the market for cyclone stuff please give this guy a try........and its all in stock, I saw it today

Ian

the ebike grin is BACK

[Dingo2024]

ok so went for a ride today to test everything out; it is the same route as I have done before
BUT the results were a little different......it may be down to me getting a little fitter (more pedal assist) and better use of the gears

just realised that this was the first ride with toe clips fitted guess it all helps

16.96 miles
8.368 Ah
400.79 Watt hrs
23.7 Wh/mi
Amax 55.42
Vmin 45.8
MaxS 30.9
AvgS 22.2
45min50sec

Ian