the_dude
1 mW
Warning: this is kind of long, sorry.
I've been lurking on this board now for a few weeks trying to soak in all the great knowledge available here. I've learned a ton and wanted to get some feedback or suggestions on building an ebike to commute to work with.
About me (the current bike motor):
I'm not an avid cyclist. I bought a trek 7100 in 2012 to try and replace the car for short trips to nearby stores as well as to see how realistically I could commute to work on it which is 17 miles each way (34 miles round trip). The short trips to the store have almost all been replaced by biking or walking but I've never been able to get the commuting off the ground. I've done the full ride a few times and a park and ride version that is 9.5 miles each way a number of times (started again with 3 times last week and 1 time this week so far). I'm 6'4" and weigh about 210 lb (want to get down to 195-200).
The ride:
The ride itself is fairly flat, with 2 small hills and 1 long but very mild grade towards the end when heading to work. It is ~7 miles of road (5 with a bike lane) and 10 miles of bike path. About half of the bike path has a no motorized vehicle rule. When doing my 9.5 mile partial commute (skips most of the road sections and the two small hills) I have averaged between 12.5-13.8mph moving time (bike computer so excludes time not moving/waiting at lights) going to work and 13.5-15.8mph coming from work. Full ride in has historically taken about 1.5 hours and the partial ride has taken 35-45mins but the total commuting time with changing clothes and getting the bike ready is still 1.5 hours each way.
Goals:
My normal commuter is a motorcycle that gets 43 mpg and takes 25 minutes. To make the cycling worth while I want to get some light aerobic exercise and get to work in about one hour (or less) doing the full 17 miles by bike. There are no showers at work so in the past I've only done cycling to work during the winter (live in Socal) and not the summer. I want to be able to ride in year round and keep exertion low enough to not get more than mildly damp with sweat.
- With mild pedal assist obtain an overall average speed of 17 mph including stops. My ride in has 19 stop lights and 4 stop signs.
- Be quite enough/stealth to provide assist on a bike path with no motorized bicycle rule (will be keeping speeds on 6 miles of this path to 20mph or below)
- Take advantage of 3-5 miles of straight line high visibility bike path or street riding where I could go 20+mph. Given that the bike path is no motor vehicles allowed (including motorized bicycles) I want to the motor to be quite enough to still give some assist to keep me going between 15-20 mph.
- Capable of either doing 34 mile round trip on single charge or ability to remove battery pack and charge in cube at work. If charging in cube needs to be minimal risk of danger.
- Fun and comfortable enough commute to do it a minimum of 3 days per week on average.
Build:
- Bike: start with Trek 7100 bike (700c tires). Aluminum frame so rear motor with torque arms. Bike is the 22.5" model.
- Motor & controller: Really like the looks of the Falco emotors and the legacy from TF and eplus brands. Attracted to the supposedly silent operation, cog free pedaling, efficiency. Considering the 500w model. Would get the off road console
- Battery: This is the area I'm struggling with the most. I want a frame mounted battery in the triangle of the bike. The Falco setup is 36v 11.6 ah 417 wh and so it maybe could barely cover one way of the commute. So its expensive, would use more than 80% of capacity, and would require charging at work. Compared to the $700 Falco bottle battery I could get the EM3ev bottle mount pack is 36v 16.5 ah for $500. So saves money and gives me ~42% more range. EM3ev also has the soft shell triangle pack which is 50v 18.5ah with 925wh which would be slightly more $$ than the Falco pack.
Questions:
- Overall what do you guys think?
- Stupid to put $1500+ conversion kit into a trek 7100?
- Can a 36v battery pack give me 25 mph sustained top end with mild pedaling for part of my commute?
- Is the 50v EM3ev pack even compatible with the 55v maximum Falco motor?
- Am I likely to get more range out of the 50v 18.5 ah pack or 36v 16.5ah pack? My reading suggests with the higher voltage everyone just goes faster so you need a lot more ah to get equal range?
- Can either EM3ev kit get me to work and back on one charge? Or is anyone aware of a triangle/bottle pack that can? If not what is the best one way pack for the $$? I'm concerned with the longevity of the 417 wh Falco battery since I would probably be using near 100% of it twice a day each time I rode.
- Should I be considering a different motor or kit?
Thanks
I've been lurking on this board now for a few weeks trying to soak in all the great knowledge available here. I've learned a ton and wanted to get some feedback or suggestions on building an ebike to commute to work with.
About me (the current bike motor):
I'm not an avid cyclist. I bought a trek 7100 in 2012 to try and replace the car for short trips to nearby stores as well as to see how realistically I could commute to work on it which is 17 miles each way (34 miles round trip). The short trips to the store have almost all been replaced by biking or walking but I've never been able to get the commuting off the ground. I've done the full ride a few times and a park and ride version that is 9.5 miles each way a number of times (started again with 3 times last week and 1 time this week so far). I'm 6'4" and weigh about 210 lb (want to get down to 195-200).
The ride:
The ride itself is fairly flat, with 2 small hills and 1 long but very mild grade towards the end when heading to work. It is ~7 miles of road (5 with a bike lane) and 10 miles of bike path. About half of the bike path has a no motorized vehicle rule. When doing my 9.5 mile partial commute (skips most of the road sections and the two small hills) I have averaged between 12.5-13.8mph moving time (bike computer so excludes time not moving/waiting at lights) going to work and 13.5-15.8mph coming from work. Full ride in has historically taken about 1.5 hours and the partial ride has taken 35-45mins but the total commuting time with changing clothes and getting the bike ready is still 1.5 hours each way.
Goals:
My normal commuter is a motorcycle that gets 43 mpg and takes 25 minutes. To make the cycling worth while I want to get some light aerobic exercise and get to work in about one hour (or less) doing the full 17 miles by bike. There are no showers at work so in the past I've only done cycling to work during the winter (live in Socal) and not the summer. I want to be able to ride in year round and keep exertion low enough to not get more than mildly damp with sweat.
- With mild pedal assist obtain an overall average speed of 17 mph including stops. My ride in has 19 stop lights and 4 stop signs.
- Be quite enough/stealth to provide assist on a bike path with no motorized bicycle rule (will be keeping speeds on 6 miles of this path to 20mph or below)
- Take advantage of 3-5 miles of straight line high visibility bike path or street riding where I could go 20+mph. Given that the bike path is no motor vehicles allowed (including motorized bicycles) I want to the motor to be quite enough to still give some assist to keep me going between 15-20 mph.
- Capable of either doing 34 mile round trip on single charge or ability to remove battery pack and charge in cube at work. If charging in cube needs to be minimal risk of danger.
- Fun and comfortable enough commute to do it a minimum of 3 days per week on average.
Build:
- Bike: start with Trek 7100 bike (700c tires). Aluminum frame so rear motor with torque arms. Bike is the 22.5" model.
- Motor & controller: Really like the looks of the Falco emotors and the legacy from TF and eplus brands. Attracted to the supposedly silent operation, cog free pedaling, efficiency. Considering the 500w model. Would get the off road console
- Battery: This is the area I'm struggling with the most. I want a frame mounted battery in the triangle of the bike. The Falco setup is 36v 11.6 ah 417 wh and so it maybe could barely cover one way of the commute. So its expensive, would use more than 80% of capacity, and would require charging at work. Compared to the $700 Falco bottle battery I could get the EM3ev bottle mount pack is 36v 16.5 ah for $500. So saves money and gives me ~42% more range. EM3ev also has the soft shell triangle pack which is 50v 18.5ah with 925wh which would be slightly more $$ than the Falco pack.
Questions:
- Overall what do you guys think?
- Stupid to put $1500+ conversion kit into a trek 7100?
- Can a 36v battery pack give me 25 mph sustained top end with mild pedaling for part of my commute?
- Is the 50v EM3ev pack even compatible with the 55v maximum Falco motor?
- Am I likely to get more range out of the 50v 18.5 ah pack or 36v 16.5ah pack? My reading suggests with the higher voltage everyone just goes faster so you need a lot more ah to get equal range?
- Can either EM3ev kit get me to work and back on one charge? Or is anyone aware of a triangle/bottle pack that can? If not what is the best one way pack for the $$? I'm concerned with the longevity of the 417 wh Falco battery since I would probably be using near 100% of it twice a day each time I rode.
- Should I be considering a different motor or kit?
Thanks