scottorious
1 mW
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2013
- Messages
- 13
So I've been wanting to build an E-Assist bike for some time now. I commute nearly 40 miles a day and the bike route is rather enjoyable if the conditions are pleasant, which in the midwest can be iffy. Sometimes I get lucky and can ride a south wind to work and north wind home but that doesn't happen often enough. I saw the Specialized Turbo Vado a couple years back and thought it might be the bike I wanted but it just didn't feel inspiring to ride like my roadbikes. I race bikes and use the commute as a workout and generally just like riding fast and hard. While doing workouts I like to do intervals which mean I have a period of rest where I'm noodling along which doesn't make getting to work or home from work happen any faster. So in comes the Specialized Turbo Creo and I can't afford that so nevermind. I saw the Kepler friction drive and thought it might be the just the right drive for my purpose. 100-150 watt assist to smash through the wind and keep me moving quickly during my rest intervals. I got it all installed on an old Diverge to use as a test mule with a 10s2p battery and I enjoy the minimal additions to the bike. It is obviously a bit heavier but not wildly so. I used it enough to prove to myself that it was a useable drive so I got a 3D printer and went to work designing/printing/building the battery tray you see in the picture to fit my Specialized Allez Sprint. It's a light and fast bike that I do most of my training on and I think having that boost button will make training just a bit more enjoyable. This bike is a pressfit BB so the Kepler bracket won't work but the mechanics of his drive should work on a seat tube mounted bracket. The airfoil shape seems to be a good place for such a mount since it's got a lot of surface area to clamp onto. I'll be using a 12s pack of 21700 cells since I'll only pull 5ish amps it seemed like the best option. I'll update here as things progress. Let me know if you see any fatal miscalculations in my planning.
