Albie's ebike - my 'daily driver' project

[BiGH]

this sounds like the day i'm having!

grrr...

to top it off I didn't get paid!

mmmm GRRRRRR

[albie]

sucks huh...

Ok well i got the replacement charger after driving out all the way to knoxfield. The guys at the shop goes there was something lose in the charger and i'm like well i haven't dropped it or anything so i wouldn't know anything about stuff being loose.

Finally got the replacement charger and hooked it up to the battery pack and now charging as we speak... first good thing I've had happen all day!

Will take it for a ride out in a few hours

Didn't realise how hungry I was haha

[albie]

I finally took the bike out on a full charge with the new pack... did around 6 km on the ride. I must say wow!

Hit the 35km/h as top speed but the setup really feels way more responsive. The controller / motor did feel warm when I got back to my garage but it was touchable (not burning hot).

Here are some piccies:

This is the current setup (very stealthy!)


Shots of the basket / battery pack


Battery Pack wiring (Anderson connectors FTW!!!!)


Battery with the charger (Anderson connectors FTW!!!!)


More piccies here

[Ben]

Hey Albie, do you reckon you can fit a 17Ah'er in the frame triangle or not? Just interested as this is a very cheap way of getting into the e-bike scene.

[albie]

possibly... although when i had the triangle bag (you can see it in the last photos i set up)... i kept wacking into it with my leg which was insanely annoying.

Personally, I don't really like mounting anything in the center frame but it is good for weight distribution but its really up to personal taste.

I'll measure it up over the weekend and post it up in the thread here.

[Ben]

OK, that'd be great.

It will be a bit of a hassle if you want to pedal too I suppose.

Thanks.

[tonrob]

Hi Alby
I am looking at getting the same bike as you from kmart as an intro to ebiking ( I have a recumbent trike that would be ideal to electrify...too costly at the moment) I am 5'4'' tall so the idea of one frame fits all worries me.......do you think it would suit someone of my height?
thanks
Tony

[BiGH]

best thing is to rock into a kmart and see if you can get your leg over the top tube. it is pretty generous though for shorter people as well as giants.

no front gears could be an issue though - albie did u find out if it has the space to put them in later?

[Ben]

I think I might fit into the giant category

I might make my way down to kmart some time this weekend to see what it's like.

The fixed gear on the front is a bit of a bummer, but I spose we'll find out soon enough if that can be fixed.

[tonrob]

My kmart is slack, they wont unbox one to try, they reckon too much gets broken on them!!
The top tube in the photos is sloping a lot so should get my leg over ok but may be a long stretch forward to the bars for a short arse like me?

[albie]

My sister is around 5'1... shes to short to use the bike (she tried using it even at the lowest seat height and dropped the bike!).

It looks like there is space on the frame for front gears but the cost isn't really worth it.

The current gear setup is good to up to 35km/h... anything higher you won't be able to pedal along (have done 40 km/h even up to 50km/h going downhill... struggled to keep up).

EDIT: just wanted to add that i've done 326km on the 36v setup... no cooling mods etc just an extra SLA battery!

[tonrob]

Hi
Got one the same yesterday at20% off........initial thoughts
heavy
steel....200m from beach........rust!!
will be fun
I have lots questions about solar charging, upgrades etc but will start a new post when can work out how

[albie]

it's a great frame since it steel = great candidate for a hub motor which i'm undecided which one but I think i know what i'm definitely going for now! More on that when it ships here.

Looking to finish this off with a hubsetup and also either on a 72v or 96v lipos...

At the moment these are the stats for the bike.

Top speed - 36km/h (has been checked by BiGH)
Must pedal in order to reach the range of 30km or no pedalling is 15km at most (damn crappy SLAs!)

Have now completed 534km with 913mins riding time without any weird faults from the stock setup 'overclocked'!

[BiGH]

well done dude - how'd u go with the rain - did you still ride? or did you take the train?

either way its had its "trial by rain"

[albie]

I posted a reply up but the new board didn't save it...

anyways... yeah did ride it home last night. Definitely yesterday was torrential rain (found out that the cafe downstairs got flooded). I must say that the ezips are pretty weather proof, although the brakes were a bit of a worry as they had problems stopping in the wet, but that can also be attributed to the extra weight I'm carrying around etc.

Have been speaking to the merchant where i'm getting the hub setup early next year so i can't wait for that. More news on that upgrade when it comes.

I also ordered a Doc Wattson power meter to see how much power i'm using etc also.

[vanilla ice]

Have not tried riding in rain yet, but I've done 100 miles on my overclocked currie. Getting bored of 36v so have a 48v controller in the mail to me. Going to see how much rpm the 1018 can take.

BTW what kind of lighting do you have in your shed? Your photos look nice, like a big diffused lighting source is there.. mines like a dungeon. Or is it a pro cam/flash setup?

[albie]

It's a canon 400d (Digital Rebel XTi for the guys in the US)...with a sigma 24-70 2.8f lens and a canon speedlight 430ex with ebay flash diffuser.

I know it sounds full on for something to take photos of a ebike but its the standard photography rig i use when i go out and take photos at parties and events, and also car shows / car photoshoots / motorsport photography.

As for getting bored on 36v... i feel your pain cause at the moment I can keep up with the lycra brigade but cannot really overtake them, hence the reason why i want to go a full hub setup at 48v.

i like the currietech motor but its a bit too noisy for my liking.

[vanilla ice]

I agree its too noisey. 24v is the noise is tolerable, but 36... I'm going to try ATF and a blower at 48v. Hopefully it wont get much louder than 36. If I get sick of it I may sw0p out motors.

Nice, it looks like the diffuser actually helps. Well makes the shadow edges softer anyway... I have a digi Rebel also but no flash. I think I'm going to try one of my old 35mm flashes on there in M mode. I have to DMM the voltage of my old flashes to make sure they're ok with the new body though. Not being able to bounce off the ceiling at xmas parties would suck.

[albie]

Just a quick update... got my Doc Wattson Power meter in the mail today... was wrapped cause now BiGH can't complain to me about having no power meter (ala CA!).

I'm now really looking forward to the major upgrade that i'm planning!!!

Where I mounted it finally!

Stuff I used when I tried to install it in

Trial mounting (no wires connected)

Complete install

How it looks like with wiring

At the moment its only connected via zip ties... I know its going to move around when it start with full bumps so I'm looking at mounting it more permanently. I've also wired it up via the 3 wire method. I'll also need a new speedo cause the speedo gets a crapload of EM interference which gives off random readings (see first photo ... 68km/h and I had the bike sitting normally on the spot?!)

[BiGH]

yay nice work!



now get the next part done

[Mark_A_W]

Does it use a shunt?

Or does all the power run through it? Therefore does it need to be wired between the battery and the controller directly?

I'm looking for a meter myself, but my battery and controller are at the back of the bike. I don't want to run heavy leads all the way to the handlebars and back again...

Mark

[albie]

I used the connection setup that they prescribe here (see 3 wire)
http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/motor ... ction.html

See top diagram...

Technically you only need to run 2 heavy guage wires (for the negative connection) and a lighter guage wire for the positive.

The 3 wire setup is similar to how the Cycle Analyst is wired up.

However for my setup (and to keep it slightly stealthy), i'm running 3 black heavy guage wires which I've routed along with the other wiring from the throttle and brake cutouts. I did it like this so that it keeps it all modular for future upgrades (power meter / battery setup / controller / Hub).

[Mark_A_W]

Thanks Albie - I guess two heavy wires + one thin one is bearable.


I thought the CA had a shunt that you put between the battery and controller and just ran a thin cable to the CA?

[BiGH]

Thanks Albie - I guess two heavy wires + one thin one is bearable.


I thought the CA had a shunt that you put between the battery and controller and just ran a thin cable to the CA?

You're right mark - it does.

[albie]

lol i thought it does.... don't mind me... nothing to see here!!!!

I have one problem with the bike at the moment... one of the large anderson connectors keeps getting disconnected.... will have to properly solder / crimp the stupid thing tommorow... came disconnected tonight when i was riding my bike home!