to the beach
10 W
I want to install electric assist on my beach cruiser and want the least drag if possible. I almost pulled the trigger on a couple used kits at auction on ebay. The more research i do, the less I believe there is an affordable compromise. The 48 volt 1000 watt kits basically make the bicycle perform like a moped because the hub motors have drag when not in use....I'm sure they're a thrill though, if you just want to jab the throttle everywhere. I'm looking for 20mph and plenty of juice to get at least 20 miles (that means heavy or expensive batteries). I weigh 245 so I'm actually just below the weight limit for my bike and with an aluminum frame, I've read it's wiser to power the front wheel which is attached to a steel fork. Does such a kit exist? I'm willing to cut the cost and use sealed lead acid batteries to get the kit up and running but don't know what capacity batteries to buy for my needs. It's just near 20 miles to work and my goal is to ride my bike there once a week at most. The ride has a couple sizeable hills in terms of pedaling which would make me too tired to get there without assist and the bike will be heavier with the addition of a 20 pound hub motor on the front and 25 pounds of batteries on the back so my ability to pedal the distance will diminish too. Is the hill topper powerfull enough for this much weight? I like the currie kit too though I'm not sure if it will break my aluminum rear dropouts. I'm confident I can install a kit myself and even do mods to improve and customize the installation of a kit.