Grizzlymanjay
1 mW
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2022
- Messages
- 11
Hi all,
So, I’ve been doing as much commuting as possible since I finished the conversion, and have just passed the first 100 miles on the odometer. I’ve actually done more as was riding the bike for a little while before I got the odometer.
Anyway, here’s my summary…
Firstly the main take away so far is that every commute feels like an adventure, like I’m actually excited to go to work. I know this is still early days and the novelty hasn’t yet worn off, but so far the feeling is priceless!
Motor and power:
Really happy with the front hub motor kit. Faultless so far. On my commute there are 2 patches each way uphill that I need to pedal to help keep my speed around 15mph, other than that I can throttle all the way. Top speed hit so far was 32.6mph going downhill, motor wasn’t really doing anything, it’s really steep (19 gradient). Generally on a flat or slight incline it seems to top out around 28mph (I’m 185lbs). I average around 15mph on a mixture of Road and cycle path riding. Sweet spot for comfort seems to be around 22-25mph, going over 30mph on this rigid MTB conversion starts to feel pretty scary.
Bike ride and comfort:
No suspension definitely means some discomfort in my hands and wrists. I bought some gloves, helped a tiny bit. I might invest in a handlebar with some flex in it. Really comfy seat was an essential purchase and it’s great. Brakes are V brakes, they squeak like hell but seem to work ok. A couple of times I would have like to have stopped earlier than I did, but it’s a learning process and I’m taking it easy.
I got a puncture on my way home fairly early on, but the tyres were ancient and I’d already ordered some big 2.35 tyres which I’ve now replaced one of. Just the rear sadly so no improvement on comfort from the front end of the bike, I’ll wait till the hub motor has worn down the front tyre before changing it.
Wing mirrors are hit and miss, you can get a bit of a peek behind but they’re too far into the handlebar, might need some end mounted ones.
Crappy Halfords bell is crappy.
Cateye odometer is awesome.
Battery:
I have a 13ah 48v battery. It does a round trip commute of 17 miles on one charge with just the red bar left on the battery, with a tiny bit of pedalling. Perfect really. Charging takes a while, 6.5 hours to fully charge. Just about the length of my work day!
Overall I’m loving it and want to commute on it as much as possible. I don’t think I’ll be using it in the wet weather, maybe light drizzle but not heavy stuff. I’ll see what it’s like as the weather gets colder too, although it doesn’t often dip lower than zero Celsius round here. I got some warm clothes and a motorcycle touring jacket, waxed cotton!
Here’s a few pics for reference! Any thoughts/reactions obviously welcome!
Cheers,
Grizz
So, I’ve been doing as much commuting as possible since I finished the conversion, and have just passed the first 100 miles on the odometer. I’ve actually done more as was riding the bike for a little while before I got the odometer.
Anyway, here’s my summary…
Firstly the main take away so far is that every commute feels like an adventure, like I’m actually excited to go to work. I know this is still early days and the novelty hasn’t yet worn off, but so far the feeling is priceless!
Motor and power:
Really happy with the front hub motor kit. Faultless so far. On my commute there are 2 patches each way uphill that I need to pedal to help keep my speed around 15mph, other than that I can throttle all the way. Top speed hit so far was 32.6mph going downhill, motor wasn’t really doing anything, it’s really steep (19 gradient). Generally on a flat or slight incline it seems to top out around 28mph (I’m 185lbs). I average around 15mph on a mixture of Road and cycle path riding. Sweet spot for comfort seems to be around 22-25mph, going over 30mph on this rigid MTB conversion starts to feel pretty scary.
Bike ride and comfort:
No suspension definitely means some discomfort in my hands and wrists. I bought some gloves, helped a tiny bit. I might invest in a handlebar with some flex in it. Really comfy seat was an essential purchase and it’s great. Brakes are V brakes, they squeak like hell but seem to work ok. A couple of times I would have like to have stopped earlier than I did, but it’s a learning process and I’m taking it easy.
I got a puncture on my way home fairly early on, but the tyres were ancient and I’d already ordered some big 2.35 tyres which I’ve now replaced one of. Just the rear sadly so no improvement on comfort from the front end of the bike, I’ll wait till the hub motor has worn down the front tyre before changing it.
Wing mirrors are hit and miss, you can get a bit of a peek behind but they’re too far into the handlebar, might need some end mounted ones.
Crappy Halfords bell is crappy.
Cateye odometer is awesome.
Battery:
I have a 13ah 48v battery. It does a round trip commute of 17 miles on one charge with just the red bar left on the battery, with a tiny bit of pedalling. Perfect really. Charging takes a while, 6.5 hours to fully charge. Just about the length of my work day!
Overall I’m loving it and want to commute on it as much as possible. I don’t think I’ll be using it in the wet weather, maybe light drizzle but not heavy stuff. I’ll see what it’s like as the weather gets colder too, although it doesn’t often dip lower than zero Celsius round here. I got some warm clothes and a motorcycle touring jacket, waxed cotton!
Here’s a few pics for reference! Any thoughts/reactions obviously welcome!
Cheers,
Grizz