Recumbent Advise

Fjp

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Apr 24, 2017
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Hello,
I have 400 miles on my Paratrooper and love it but have decided that I need more comfort. I have an opportunity to purchase a used Sun Sport recumbent in good shape. I want to move my HS 3540 (2000 watt) Crystalyte REAR hub motor, my 13 lb Allcell 23 AH battery, and retain pedal assist, to the recumbent! I believe I can locate the battery in front of the handlebars on the headset (unorthodox, I know, but I'm attempting to balance the weight). Does anyone see any issues with this configuration? Also, any comments on high speeds with a 20" x 2" front wheel. Rear wheeel is 26"!

Thanking you in advance for your comments,
Frank
 
A picture might help, but is this recumbent set up as a SWB or a LWB?

About 8 years ago I had a LWB recumbent with a 20" front wheel and a 26" rear wheel. I installed a heavy brushed hub motor, about 15 pounds, in the front wheel with a 15 pound battery on the rear rack. It rode good over 5 MPH, but was hard to balance at low speed. Anyway, I think that weight on the boom might affect you even more on a SWB, but you won't know until you try it. I would say go for it, but have a plan B to place the battery somewhere else. Lots of e recumbents, but don't recall ever seeing one with the battery up front.

Edit: Just looked up that bike, and they are LWB. With your battery just ahead of the seat that might work pretty good. Oops, read your post again, and I see you want to go way out front. Don't know.
 
Which one of these is it?

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1529&bih=925&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Sun+Sport+recumbent&oq=Sun+Sport+recumbent
 
EZ sport.

http://sunseeker.bike/index.php/products/ez-sport-cx/

Carry the battery on the handlebar makes sense on this bike, but on the other hand, if its under 10 pounds, it will carry fine nearly anywhere on the bike.

Though the next one won't read this,, it REALLY helps if you put a link to your bike, motor, etc when asking questions about it.
 
sun_ez_sport_lg-450x294.jpg

http://www.bicycleman.com/sun-ez-sport-recumbent-bike/
 
I've tried a few different configurations on my SWB. My current setup handles the best, with front hub motor and battery in a pannier on the rear. For a while I had a rear hub motor, and having all the weight in the rear was the worst for handling. Before that I had a "mid"-drive high and forward on the cranks, and while the balance was fine, the high CG made it a little wobbly.

I'm not sure what you mean by "on the headset", but if that means high, you might want to look for a way to mount it lower.
 
I ride two clwb, sun ez1 with 5 kg DD drive front and a Bachetta Cafe with q11 6kg+, I wouldn't want to change that, purchase q11 for 99dollars + shipping and you get balance, handling and two wheel drive!
 
Why not on the bottom frame tube. Nice and low , tons of room there.
 
Tons of room there, if the battery has a hole to run the chain through it. Same problem my RE bike recumbent has. Would love to put it there, but not really happening unless the battery is very very skinny.

I'd hang the platform to carry the battery bag right on the bottom of those handlebars. Or the headset itself, for a front carry. On my re bike, it works just fine to do a rear rack carry, because that bike has a small rear wheel. So its a low carry no matter where.

Though kind of high, right behind the seat is where the bike is designed to have weight, right at your ass.
 
Thanks to all who commented. Some very helpful advice! going back to take some additional measurements and then make a final decision.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Plenty room for the chain to pass .. This is with 3 - 7-1/2ah lead batts
 

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That looks ideal, it does get past the chain. And a block of lead does need to be mounted there.


But I have found when you add the additional protective padding an 18650 pack should have, in my opinion, it gets a bit wider than a lead cell. Then it might not even pass the crank, let alone the chain.

I just hesitate to encourage what some will do,, tape that thing next to the chain, ride till the chain cuts into it, and so on.

Some bents have a chain guide made of some kind of tube, which would allow mounting the battery there, in the ideal place with no danger of damaging the battery.

But again,, I maintain that once the battery is less than 10 pounds, you can adjust to how it feels to carry it just about anywhere. So if you are packing 36v 10 ah,, its just not a problem to put it behind the seat, on the bars, or even high up on a rear rack.
 
Looking at your bike again. Putting it on the front might work. Maybe solidly mount it in the headset below the handlebars. I just see all that room on the bottom tube but you might have to move it back out of the strike range of the pedals and add an idler on the vert "seat" tube to raise the chain a little. Don't put it out back you have the right idea balancing the weight.

On the speed , I never had mine much over 25 mph -I've had 3 bents -2 homemade and one Sun EzRider. They all seemed rock solid at speed. Better the faster really 8)
 
Reading back,, I now see you have a big 13 pound battery. Do what you must, to put a barrier between it and the chain, and mid mount it.

if its slightly off to the left, that will be fine, just so it clears the pedals.
 
Sun EZ Sport has a dedicated mid-rack available that simply attaches to the underseat adjustment bolts. It is excellent for mounting panniers directly under the seat, which is definitely the place for best handling with two battery packs. I have an EZSport set up this way for long distance touring, and I like to have removable packs hidden in the panniers for stealth. Great bikes btw...

https://www.niagaracycle.com/categories/sun-ez-1sc-bike-rack-mid-pannier-alloy-black
 
That's a cool attachment. Perfect for carrying two batteries. Balancing it on both sides is not as important as you might think, but you can easily balance it some by carrying a tool kit, some water, etc in the other pannier.
 
Thanks to everyone for the great advise, it really helps in making the right decision.
F
 
Look at bicycle and motorcycle dynamics, adding weight in different places on a bike has some surprising results. One might think low is always best, but that turns out not to be the case in every situation (eg scooters have weight very low and still have poor stability). Also, low speed and high speed behave differently, and frame stiffness and torsional flex enters into it in a major way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_dynamics
 
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