Endless Sphere

Popped another 12 gauge spoke on the rear wheel on Tuesday. Rode with it all week and didn't break any others. Like all the previous spokes that broke, this one also broke at the curved elbow. Given the pattern, it seems likely I'll be breaking more. This may be inevitable due to the issue of using ...

Okay, a third or maybe fourth generation airless tire.. My guess is that ride quality is a little better than all the previous attempts, but not perfect.. My other guess is that the foam loses it's shape over time, and then you have a funky wobbly tire. I hope they prove me wrong! And, of course, t...

There are teardowns of the Milwaukee 18V packs on YouTube and they show 5s pack configurations. So the 18v nominal rating is in keeping with standards commonly used for ebike batteries. These batteries will run a circular saw. My Ryobi AC circular saw is rated at 14 amps. So that's 1680 watts. So ma...

Questions: 1) Can I safely do that while the battery is charging? 2) Say my battery is low at 45v and the charger outputs 54.6v, what would my voltmeter display? 45? 54.6? 3) Can I safely keep it plugged in the battery charging port (with the charger disconnected of course) while I ride the bike to...

Well, I did feed 48v controllers with 15s lipo fully charged, and they survived pretty high power too. When I build a 48v system for someone, I feed it 14s to be on the safe side. The Ryobi (and most/all power tool batteries) batteries have a BMS. So you wouldn't have to rely on the motor controlle...

I hate clickbait. I don't want to wear earbuds while cycling. Actually sweating vs. apparently sweating are two different things. While riding the bike you frequently don't have the sensation of sweating because the air movement from riding increases sweat evaporation. It is only when you stop ridin...

I dug up a YouTube video that tears apart a Ryobi battery and confirms it uses a 5s configuration. So it is a "true" 18 volt battery. Some power tool battery systems designate voltages different from the standards used for most ebikes and related systems. That standard is to rate a lithium cell at 3...

You are describing a shitty gas powered bike with unnecessary electrical bits. I've had the same idea, though at the time I was thinking electric motorcycle more than bicycle. The point, as I imagined it, was that an IC motor can run far more efficiently at constant speed (true?) So the gas motor w...

Ebikes are generally only practical for relatively short rides. I'd say that usually means 20 mile trips or less. My 16 mile commute is pushing the limits in my situation since it costs me twice the travel time compared to using a motor vehicle. Of course, you can go much further than 20 miles on an...

Years ago I made a 72 tooth chainring out of 6061 T6 aluminum using a bandsaw, drill press, a wooden jig, and hand tools. You can do a lot with a basic woodworking setup and some aluminum. :^)

So I decided to replace my broken spoke yesterday and had to remove my rear wheel since I had to remove the tire to be able to replace the spoke. I'm glad I did. I found two spots where the tire had worn down to the fiber belts. One had almost worn through the belt as well!! I was wondering where I ...

In the bike shops I found the selection unfortunately very modest so I wanted to ask here for some advice. Which bike helmet would you recommend for kids? The one the kid likes and will therefore wear. There are tons of kids helmets at Walmart, Target, etc. They all meet the same basic safety stand...

Here's another candidate. But still 20 lbs.

https://www.powerhouse-products.com/pow ... uct/500wi/

Geez, 19 pounds and then you've gotta waste some gasoline converting 120v AC to ??? DC.. Sad that that's as small/light as it gets. Kinda makes you wonder if there is a niche market for small DC generator. I guess the big issue is the motor that drives it. Here's that older generator I mentioned. K...

there are 1000 possible codes. 000 thru 999. How much time ya got?

4% isn't much of a grade, and 20 kph isn't very fast. So that all seems about right. So the question comes down to whether you limit yourself to that speed and grade. You might want to get one of those $15 inline watt meters. and wire it in temporarily to verify everything is doing what you think. O...

Depending on the controller and display, you can often limit the maximum power draw and thus save the batteries from abuse. I do that with my DC booster so that the controller doesn't ask the booster to supply more current than it is able to supply. When it does that, I get a system shut down. But w...

This has come up before and this type is the lowest weight currently made generator that anybody has come up with. https://www.amazon.com/d/Outdoor-Generators/Dirty-Hand-Tools-104609-Generator/B01CVOVLGE/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1542439546&sr=8-15&keywords=mini+gas+generator There is a small 300 watt...

cellmate wrote: ↑

Nov 15 2018 11:39pm

Thoughts?

Sure. Do it your way but make sure you monitor with an ammeter (or Cycle Analyst). When you see that you actually end up using more throttle than you planned (just a guess on my part), go buy the third battery before you over-stress the two you have.

APL wrote: ↑

Nov 16 2018 1:44pm

I don't get this old world some times,.. and would it kill us to switch to metric? It's inevitable,.. so why not just do it?

I've been told it is inevitable since grade school ... about half a century. ;^)

Why not just look for a used e-bike wheel hub motor? Adapting some other motor can add complexity and cost just figuring out how to mount the motor and get power to the wheel. I pickup up a 36v hub motor locally for less than $50 mounted inside a 20" wheel. There are also possibilities in bikes like...

With the battery at 57v and instruments calibrated, I did two runs, one in each direction, on the flattest section of trail. Both runs hit the exact same top speed of 23 mph, with me riding in a tucked position. No load speed is exactly 26 mph at the same voltage. Power draw from the battery on bot...

Try testing the theory of too much torque reduction by using lower gear selection on the 8 speed hub and seeing what kind of speed you get. Frankly, I find it odd that a one tooth difference on a 46 tooth chainring would be perceptible or even noticeable on the speedometer. The difference should be ...

Neodymium magnets and chain could be used to make adjustable eyebrow and mouth expressions.

Cool. Thanks for detail all of this out.