Endless Sphere

It probably is close to a wash. Ultra high efficiency is great and all, but most basic controller and motors are pretty efficient to start with these days. It also seems like with how much power is packed into a modern battery, efficiency for range extension isn't as big a factor any more. 52v has b...

Would a Mod please LOCK this thread. Another thing I've noticed about trikes is there's something about the seat... It tends to get some people's heiney hairs wound up real tight... Def something to look out for. Re delta trike, yes there are some specialty, inch off the ground, more stable at spee...

Going up into the hundreds of volts, there start to be some downsides, like dying etc. The risk of an ebike killing you starts much lower than that - at about 60 volts. I was somewhat kidding with the hundreds number, and if it happened just right, yes, you're correct that 60v could get you, but it...

I would say the voltage is more about maximizing the efficiency of the components in the controller. I'm no expert, but have read there's efficiency plateaus with the fets and capacitors, but there's so many considerations, including things like trading off a little efficiency during use to get redu...

As a very general thing, the 52v will make less waste heat. I didn't look up your motor, but assuming it's brushless, with brushed you get a lot more sparking and heat at the brushes, so that could change the equation. I'm running what was originally a 36v on 72v (20s) fyi. Going up into the hundred...

Either could be ok, mostly depending on his target speed range.. If he's ok always being under 12mph or so, delta would work. Regular periods of higher speeds tadpole would be better probably. Also, if he's actually planning on pedaling most deltas have weird turning characteristics as only one back...

It's a requirement in some places... Other places are lower like Europe, or require special equipment for legal higher speed like left side mirror and rear plate holder, others are a patchwork like the USA, in my state (CA) it's 28mph, and in big chunks of the world there's no limit, because they ha...

What makes you think he's trying to pass anything off as anything else? And I also have a heavy, single speed with direct drive motor, and I can still pedal it as fast as most friends on bikes I run into are pedaling... I've even had them remark on how good it seems to pull away from red lights comp...

I'll never get why people need it to be one or the other.... Instead of a beautiful blend of human power when desired but also higher speed than a human could ever achieve unaided, all in a quiet, neighbor friendly, zero emission package.

That's the best looking Schwinn cruiser I've ever seen btw

Just for some perspective on basic 30/low 40s (mph) feels on what normally seems like not too bumpy city streets...the vid doesn't really capture how blinding squinting thru ones suddenly watering eyes can be. One thing about the Townie, it has the foot forward setup, which makes it really hard to l...

Basic Townie dropouts so we're all on the same page... Electra Townie 7 rear dropout.jpg Electra Townie 7 rear cassette.jpg Should be easy to mount torque arms, as the dropout isn't too sculpted out. Just fyi, usually you have to file out the dropouts to get a hub motor axle in far enough being a di...

That might not true anymore, at least in the EU. I think they have a standardized test that involves how long it takes the motor to heat up under a load on a dyno.

Just remember it's not a brushed motor (I think). So it could still have shorted windings even with resistance, as the meter isn't measuring the windings directly. There could be a lot of stuff keeping it from running going on in there. With brushed you could put power straight to the leads without ...

That will probably depend on your driving style then. Doing isolated bursts of high acceleration followed by long steady medium high speed flat road sessions where the back emf and air cooling are both high the 30mm would probably be fine. Repeated high acceleration combined with hills, like drag ra...

They make high performance heat shrink also, I use it on boat wiring. High temp glue lined, 3 to 1 shrink ratio. 51Ou2mga04L.jpg Thanks for pointing that stuff out, since I didn't know it existed. That's a must buy for me, and will actually save me time and money with less double shrinking and no n...

It's pretty satisfying watching the glue getting squeezed out the ends during heating. Works good for two smaller wires joining a single bigger wire, you can make a little space between the small ones and squish the heatshink while it's cooling and it gets a pretty good seal. Helps to start the heat...

They make high performance heat shrink also, I use it on boat wiring. High temp glue lined, 3 to 1 shrink ratio.

Also, the controller is in the hub, the smaller plug runs the throttle and display, and the decaying voltage is the capacitors in the controller discharging. So to fix it, you'll prob need either a replacement controller, or hack it to run an external aftermarket controller.

You have to unlace it from the spokes, then separate the two halves of the case. Its press fit together, and its easy to snap a piece of the spoke flange off during trying to yank it apart with a large gear puller or whatever you end up trying.

There's a possibility that they will run at different rpms. The 35mmv says 60v, which is nowhere close to the actual voltage limit. But when they list a voltage, sometimes it means the voltage that the motor will turn the right rpms for street legal speed at the rated voltage. Othertimes, it's a com...

You'll rarely regret going with the 35mm, unless minimal weight is one of the design goals.

Also, I'm usually going so fast and looking out for traffic for displays to matter much either... Seat of the pants feel during punching it becomes pretty accurate once you're calibrated 😉 And if you ride at full power all the time, pas settings and words in a display for different power settings is...

My Anderson's started slowly warping the plastic housings and getting worse contact, and started going into an overheating spiral that eventually left me stranded, luckily uphill of where I started. After that I got more into separating the phase wires, and way less wrapping to encourage air cooling...

I think these were the first two images I saw at random without hearing about it before... Stunners, esp that silver one. The black and teal with the red shock is pretty groovy too.

What a great update, and great advice for people about necessary upgrades and safety gear when ramping up the power.