Introducing the Electrom

I made the trip over to Vancouver in the rain yesterday afternoon. It was raining pretty hard when I left Victoria, but the Electrom handled it beautifully.

one of the things I've observed while riding the Electrom on the side of highways is the general courtesy of the professional truck drivers. The majority of the drivers that operate big rigs seem to be very aware of the backwash that their trailers make and most of them will take the outside lane when passing me. It doesn't actually make much of a difference to the Electom as it is heavy enough to not be knocked around much by wind.

I did have a bit of a stand-off with the BC ferries ticket agent who wanted to charge me as a motorbike (flattering but 20 bucks more). I had to send her to the ICBC website to look up the definition of an e-bike. In the end it worked out and I paid $2.50 for my bike. I try not to get too huffy in these situations as I am the one who chose to build the weird looking bike.

Once across the ferry the rip into Vancouver was uneventful. I did ride through the Massey Tunnel, which is always a bit nerve-wracking, but as the traffic was heavy and going pretty slow i was able to blend in.going to Vancouver in the rain.jpgSkytrain Bridge.jpgAlien Bike in the Big City.jpg
 
I did some late-night experimenting with the Electrom on the seawall while I was in Vancouver. What a fun place to ride when there's less pedestrian traffic. I was riding at about 11:00 pm on a Friday night so the few pedestrians I did encounter were pretty happy and very into the Electrom.
[youtube]llB38t_ECg8[/youtube]
 
Hi everybody, I've had a few request for a better explanation of how the Electrom's Hybrid Human/Battery drive system works.
In brief:
- When the rider turns the pedal their energy is sent via chain down to a modified MTB hub that acts as a power splitter.
- On the drive side of the hub there is a cog that sends the power back to the back wheel, and on the other side, bolted to the disk break mount, is a 56 tooth #25 rollerchain cog that sends power to a small direct drive hub motor. The motor acts as a generator, I can produce about 150 watts continuously.
-The back wheel has a freewheel so when the motor takes the vehicle over about 10 KPH, the freewheel comes into play and all of the riders energy goes into the generator.
- On steep hills, when the motor alone cannot get the vehicle up the hill, the vehicle eventually slows down to 10 kph, the freewheel stops free-spinning and the rider's energy goes into helping the Electrom up the hill. The system is seamless, no switches need to be thrown or gears shifted.

Here's a video
[youtube]-k3n2X2Xdsc[/youtube]
 
This is definitely the goldwing of ebikes. It's a very nice, very professional build.

The only downsides I could see to this is getting constantly pulled over by cops thinking this was an unlicensed scooter and not being able to take this on bike paths or through parks without getting screamed at by every other person on the path.

Tigcross do you ever get hassled for the bike because of how it looks?
 
The only downsides I could see to this is getting constantly pulled over by cops thinking this was an unlicensed scooter and not being able to take this on bike paths or through parks without getting screamed at by every other person on the path.

Tigcross do you ever get hassled for the bike because of how it looks?

It's funny, but I never have. It's been on the road for a year and a half, and not once have I been pulled over by the cops or hassled on a bike path. I think that the generator drive really helps with that. On many ebikes, pedaling becomes irrelevant at higher speeds so the rider stops pedaling, and then is seen by a cop going too fast. With the Electrom, I am always pedaling because my effort is always contributing relevant energy to the system, and as a result, anytime a cop sees me, I'm pedaling and that seems to make things ok (I don't really know as I've never asked a cop what was going through their head).
I don't use a lot of dedicated bike paths as my speed is a little too high for safety, but when I do, the narrow profile of the Electrom (it's widest part is the handlebars at 22 inches) allows me to blend easily with other users.
In general, people do notice the Electrom, but for all the right reasons. They thing it's fantastic and want one.
 
Cool. I'm glad you haven't gotten hassled.

Has anyone told you that your bike looks like the bike from Akira?

Akira.jpg
 
"video of the ferry crossing, and the tunnel"... HUH?

Hi Victoria. One "lost" Victorian here (not really, but Vic is were I started traveling...). PEI (opposite to Canadian Wet Coast) used to have boats ("ferries") watt I got to take once... and now they have built a bridge, apparently... PLEASE tell me Vancouver Island doesn't now have a tunnel?

- Signed CONFUSED

ps. Wanna retire? See yer bank loans officer about getting a loan for a China bike manufacturer to make you a bunch of Electroms... alternatively, see also "crowd funding"... "IndieGoGo", etc. :wink:
 
PLEASE tell me Vancouver Island doesn't now have a tunnel
Nope, no tunnel yet, don't worry Lock, the tunnel I was going through was the Massey Tunnel under the Frazer River on the Mainland.

I thought if we said "crowd funding" on this forum a legion of angry bugs would come and devour one's computer. :D
 
"I thought if we said "crowd funding" on this forum a legion of angry bugs would come and devour one's computer."

Huh? I wasn't "aware"? Having wasted my life as an accountant (hehe... they hate it when I say that...) afaik the "Number One" Objective in Life/business is to make money/a "profit"? From a marketing standpoint (part of my past academics...), it may seem a 21st-Century "thing to do" to "lay all your cards on the table"? aka "raise a flag. See who salutes"? See also "crowd funding"...

All *I* hope to do is to change the future. ... and in terms of "urban transportation" the "personal electric vehicle" - PEV is "where it's at".

:)
 
I took the Electrom into Vancouver a few weeks ago and one of my main goals was to get a few people whose opinion I really value to ride it for an extended period of time. My Friend Robin and I took it out for a pretty decent ride (decent for him he was on the Electrom, I was busting my ass on an un-electrified bike). We adjusted the seat to accomodate his greater height and took off on the streets and bike paths of Vancouver. He had some several observations that I'm taking into consideration, but one of the big ones turned out to be easily solved. He found the throttle to be a little jerky.

Later in the trip I took the Electrom down to Grin where Robbie showed me the benefits of switching the throttle control mode on the CA V3 to Power instead of Speed. It completely smoothed out the throttle response and opened my eyes to a whole new world of possible adjustments in the CycleAnnalist. I feel so lucky to be close to the incredible resource that is Grin. I do miss being able to set the Cruise-Hold based on desired speed instead of desired power, but that only comes up on long trips and I can always switch back to speed mode for those.
[youtube]bRH-lE32gIA[/youtube]
 
One of my criteria when I built the Electrom was that I wanted to be able to use it to get my mountain bike to our local off-road riding areas. I live in Victoria BC, and sadly, while we have some of the best off-road cyclists in Canada living and training here, our city has not seen fit to allow riding in any of the local parks. As a result we have to put our bikes in vehicles and drive half an hour to ride. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but I just can't get used to the idea of driving a car to ride my bike. I could get an electric MTB going I guess, but for some reason I still prefer legs-only power for off road.

So, enter the bike-tow system for my electric machine. I've fashioned a quick install mount that receives the front axle of my Norco Sight mtb. To install it I simply take out one of my tail-box mounting bolts and fasten the bike-tow with a slightly longer bolt. It takes only a minute to install. Then I can attach the front fork of the mtb, strap the front tire on, and go. It works really well.

you could make a similar system that could fasten to a rear-rack on an upright bike.

BikeTow1.jpg
View attachment 4
BikeTow3.jpg
BikeTow4.jpg
BikeTow5.jpg
BikeTow6.jpg
 
Hey Tig, nice progression with the video work. Watching this last one makes me so wish I was in an alternate future reality where sensible vehicles like this were the norm. I'm also a big fan of bikes where the fairing covers the legs and torso but your head is still above. It's so much more bike-like in the ride experience and your connection to the surroundings.

There's something off-putting to me about the fully enclosed ebikes, like the Organic Transit Elf or the recently launched Veemo units at UBC. Give me 2 wheels and a chassis that keeps my pants and feet dry over a boxed in trike with windshield wipers etc. any (rainy) day!

Anyways, the main reason I'm writing is to emphasize this detail here:
tigcross said:
-The back wheel has a freewheel so when the motor takes the vehicle over about 10 KPH, the freewheel comes into play and all of the riders energy goes into the generator.
- On steep hills, when the motor alone cannot get the vehicle up the hill, the vehicle eventually slows down to 10 kph, the freewheel stops free-spinning and the rider's energy goes into helping the Electrom up the hill. The system is seamless, no switches need to be thrown or gears shifted.

Is just brilliant. So simple, and works so well, providing the direct pedal to wheel efficiency that you need on a steep hill climb or as backup if the electronics are down. Then lets you have all the benefits of a generator pedal mode when you are at speeds where you can't normally get a decent mechanical gear ratio from the cranks to the wheel.
 
^^ Hehe... Me thinks Lord Justin has not tried a velomobile (ESB "Search found 2454 matches: velomobile") on Canadas Wet Coast... (sorry, spell checker acting up...) With the closest I've been is riding around in the back seat of my fathers Messerschmitt "microcar" (ESB "Search found 75 matches: messerschmitt") Pretty sure Velos are pricey to buy, but also highly addictive (like electric assist). :mrgreen:
 
Hey Electrom Guy... had a thought (This is where folks say "Oh Oh...") :lol:

When yer in production, perhaps offer extras including a canopy to mount a thin film solar thingee:
1_13567.jpg


... and a pole-mounted wind generator to put up when parked or ya got a strong cross wind...
darrieus-vertical-wind-turbine.jpg


:mrgreen:
 
... and HEY... Where's yer sail??? One day got to sail on land back and forth across a huge empty parking lot with a sail mounted on a recumbent trike? "Solar power" as winds far more "portable" than hydro aka the water cycle... with another option being a hydro generator? Hehe... Guess yah go nuts mining stuff for sailors and campers. :mrgreen:
[youtube]nDemcc9A0MA[/youtube]

... and where's yer Spanker sail???
sail-boat-didnt-clipart-16.jpg
 
[youtube]iNuZaaJZd3w[/youtube]
 
Wow, thanks for the kudos Justin. I agree with your assessment of fully enclosed LEV's. They end up being too clunk and ride as though you were inside of a drum. Also, too complicate to be reproduced at a reasonable price. I also feel that in order for an ebike to enjoy the full benefits and privileges of a bicycle they need to be narrow. Not 40+ inches wide.
 
Back
Top