Help with E- recumbent.

paulstung

100 W
Joined
Jul 18, 2016
Messages
124
Hi there all, I'm currently using a BBSHD on an On One Fatty Trail, with a 48v battery, but, as with all regular bikes you're limited to the size of battery you can either fit into the triangle, on a rear rack ( awful experience with uneven weight, or in a backpack on your back, and with it being my only form of transport, I'd like to be able to do more than roughly 20 miles, keeping the speed at a maximum 0f 20Mph, so that's where I think a recumbent will shine, being able to add a nice big battery box, either under, or behind the seat.

But before I fully commit to a couple of months of research, I would like a couple of things answered so i don't waste to much time on the wrong things. Firstly I should mention the make and model bike I'm probably going to opt for, unless anyone can recommend a better option within the price range of about £1000 or less, I'm looking at the KMC Karts Tornado F8 Adults Sports Trike for £900 Tornado F8 Adults Sports Trike https://www.kmxkarts.co.uk/Recumbent-Trikes.aspx, wich after a short search seams to be pretty spot on for the money especially compared to some makes that are out there.

Firstly what type of motor is the best option hub or mid drive, and if it turns out to be a hub motor, should I go for 1 higher powered rear, or 2 smaller powered for dual front wheel drive? If it turns out to be that mid drive is the better option, for the speed I would like that only leaves Cyclone on the table, is it possible to fit them to a recumbent, as the one article I have found the Cyclone is mounted under the seat on what looks to be a second BB housing leaving the front regular drive train untouched.

Secondly, am I better of buying it as a complete kit with the motor, controller etc, or should I build a kit myself, thank you guys I look forward to your feedback, and here are the 2 kits I'm currently looking at feedback on both would also be greatly appreciated or if they suck a point towards better would be awesome, I'm looking at spending about £2500 all in, maybe a tad more for something special.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/48v-72v-3kw-ebike-conversion-kit-3000w-with-sabovoton-sinewave-programmable-controller/32234836289.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.27.hosaAY&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_4_10065_10068_10501_10503_10000032_119_10000025_10000029_430_10000028_10060_10062_10056_10055_10054_10059_10099_10000022_10000012_10103_10000015_10102_10096_10000018_10000019_10052_10053_10107_10050_10106_10051_10000007_10084_10118_10083_10119_10080_10082_10081_10110_10111_10112_10113_10114_10115_10116_10000041_10000044_10078_10079_10000038_429_10073_10000035_10120_10121-10051_10503_10501_10119_10116,searchweb201603_2,afswitch_1_afChannel,single_sort_2_default&btsid=30187390-40ba-4116-80e6-e62ea621ded6

https://lunacycle.com/cyclone-mid-drive-3000-watt-planetary-kit/
or the higher powered
https://lunacycle.com/cyclone-XL-7500w-ebike-middrive/
 
paulstung,

Are you riding your fatbike on trails, or the road? Are you pedaling? How much do you weigh? If you are riding on the street, I would first consider putting your current setup on bike with normal wheels. You should be able to average 20 mph for 20 miles, with most bikes with a BBSHD, and a 500 Wh pack.
 
Hi there mate, I'm riding mainly on the road, I weigh, 14 stone, and I'm 5 foot 8, I only ever use the pedal assist with the throttle only ever used for junctions roundabouts, anywhere where an extra kick of speed is needed. With my current 48v battery pack, I'm getting the 20 mile range as long as I stay around 20Mph, any faster and the battery goes down pretty quick. The problem I'm having is the reason why I went the e bike route in the first place, I've got osteoarthritis in both knees, and an on going old lower back problem, and since getting the fatty they've got considerably worse, not in the act of pedaling so much as getting on and of the bike, and with my back sitting upright, so a recumbent seems an obvious choice, I should have been a bit clearer in the OP about that sorry, my bad. Once the recumbent is here and usable I with either sell it as is or split into the bike and motor kit, so I can at least recoup some of the new cost.

I would ideally like to at least double the range, and be able to go above the 20Mph for a longer period, but that's easily done by just adding more battery packs, so in the summer, i can load it up and head out for longer trips, maybe take the hammock for a night out, that's where i see the recumbent being at it's best, being capable of adding a larger compartment under the seat for a battery box.
 
I'm just curious why you don't want to try your BBSHD on the trike. My current favorite ride is my Performer tadpole with rear suspension, a 48V BBS02, and a 10AH Ping on the rear rack. It easily does 20MPH, actually tops out at about 25MPH. Even though I lost the front triple, because of the long chain line the 9 speed derailleur works clean in all 9 gears, which is often a problem with a BBSxx on a regular bike.

Then if you weren't happy with the setup, you could always upgrade later.

One issue when hanging a BBSxx on a tadpole is boom flex. Not a problem on my Performer trike.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing. :D
 
That would ideally be the plan, but, my fat bike has a 110mm BB so I had to go for the largest BBSHD for up to 120mm, and with a regular BB housing being 68/73mm my current motor wouldn't fit. On my fatty with max assist I've hit 52.4Mph, but sadly the battery would only last about about 3-6 miles, going full bore
 
Hi Paul,
I have an opinion that some may not agree with: I like direct drive hub motors for recumbents.
- They have fewer moving parts, and require less thought on the part of the operator to use.
- they don't add complexity to an already painful chain-line.
- A direct drive hub motor will spare a lot of wear on your drive-train. It's also much quieter.
- direct drive hub motors support regenerative breaking which is a nice way to slow down. Direct drive will not freewheel if your battery is dead but I think it's worth it for the re-gen breaking, especially on a trike.
- A hub motor will also allow you to avoid putting a giant ball of motor on the boom of of your trike (if you went with a mid-dirve)
-The trike you are looking at uses a 20" rear wheel. the smaller the wheel you lace a hub motor into the more torque you get, but with a corresponding drop in top speed. you can compensate for the speed drop by running a higher voltage system like 52, 60 or 72 volts.

You should probably go with rear wheel drive, as I suspect that a pair of front motors would put too much strain on the front steering mechanism.

I would go with a complete kit from a reputable dealer as it will likely be cheaper in the long run. I'm in Canada and I like ebikes.ca (but then who on this forum doesn't)

I hope my two cents helps, goodluck
 
Paul, we all have our opinions and preferences, but I want to point out a couple of reasons I disagree with the previous post. When I first started putting together electric assist bikes I experimented with plug braking because of the steep hill I lived on and the low quality brakes I had. Now on my trikes with disc brakes on the front wheels there is no need for the extra braking, and regen doesn't give enough back to have any real value. What I do like is being able to pedal without using the assist and a system like a Bafang crank drive or a geared hub motor gives virtually no resistance.

As far as chain wear and tear, it's not been an issue for my style of riding. I expect if you put many miles on a rig at high speeds it could be a problem, but a recumbent has 3 times as long of a chain, so it would still take 3 times as long to wear out as on a regular bike. An advantage of the long chain line with a mid-drive is the absence of chain alignment issues that some diamond frame bikes experience. My current favorite trike has a Bafang mid-drive and a 9 speed derailleur system and it shifts into all gears with no chain problems and no special alignment gizmos.

Bafang noise level is pretty low if it is properly greased.

I can't respond to the "less thought on the part of the operator to use". PAS just works, pushing the throttle just works, etc.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck with it.
 
but a recumbent has 3 times as long of a chain, so it would still take 3 times as long to wear out as on a regular bike.

I agree, with Rassy, preference is in the eye of the beholder, and if it work's for you that is what counts.

However I do have one correction, chain wear is not a a simple function of surface area over time. What happens is the chain stretches, and then to cogs wear to mate with the stretched chain. The mid drive systems will inevitably stretch chain faster, and as a result, wear the cogs faster. I've not spent any time on a mid-dive though so I can't confirm this opinion.
 
tigcross,

Recumbents don't slow sprocket wear directly. But they do slow chain wear, as each link only gets used X number of times for the same number of miles, which in turn slows sprocket wear. But you are right that mid-drives are harder on chains than hub-drive bikes.
 
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