couldn't pass her-18 mph in spandex

Yup, she was fully decked out with the wrap around sunglasses, the usual road racing colors and I clocked her at 18 mph on the flat!

When I tried to pass her -just barely-I ran into a wind gust and my 36 v, 15 ah ping just couldn't cut it. She laughed and pulled away!

She had muscular legs on her that if she wrapped them around you, you wouldn't forget!

Now I have to admit I have been a bit stand off ish with these jokers with their identical spandex outfits and snobbish "your not a real cyclist" attitude.

But she will be in my dreams tonight. And tormorrow I'll start saving for my 48 volt.

After all, a man has his honor...

Kent said:

But she will be in my dreams tonight.

Click to expand...

Sweet dreams!



:lol:
loCk

Now Lock thanks to you I went from looking forward to a warm moist dream to a dry, bloody nighmare!

That was great, I couldn't stop laughing.

Looking back, I realize that Dogman never warned us newbies about pings being for wimps, and Lipo being for real
men!

ok, I payed my dues. But at least it wasn't the WALK IN SHAME.

Sometime it's more interesting to follow her than to pass her.. particulary when she is sexy 8)

Doc

You are SOOO right about that Dr. Bass! I often find myself not caring to pass women on the bike. It's nice because I don't have to work at all to maintain the pace and it is such a nice view. drool.........

Solder your shunt up a bit on your controller. If the battery starts cutting out, solder the shunt on your BMS as well.

It might burn up. But it will pull harder if you weren't all ready Kv limited.

So why the hell are you selling all your powerful and expensive stuff and using a weak ass motor ??

I got rid of my 250w motor when i was a newb about 1 week after i got passed by a lycra laughing at me.
Now the lowest power level i run is just fast enough to beat those guys.

Its an E-Bike kit 9c with stock 20 controller.

P.S. i mistook you for someone called 'Karl' who's selling all their stuff. My bad.

Liveforphysics' idea is good, and it is what i would do, and have already actually done with a controller similar to that. However, your ping is going to be sagging under load by about 3-5 volts i would estimate. That's affecting your top speed.

So it may help, it may not.

Consider lipo or another battery type of higher voltage if you have the money to do it.
On 44v lipo, that motor will do mid-upper 20mph figures all day.
On 48v you should be hitting upper 20's and low 30's figures on that motor.

i ride a lot on weekends and yes, we do sort of laugh at electric bikes. we recognize that they're faster than we are but we're also sort of like "what's the point?"

but i commute on my electric bike so i always explain that it's more about using a bike as a form of transportation than a form of exercise. rather than ride up and down big hills in a big loop for 3 hours on a road bike for exercise, we use electric bikes to get from point A to point B and back without having to use gas, etc. they sort of understand at that point but even then they're just like "why not just ride a bike for real?" oh well, i guess they're just too brainwashed into thinking that it's ok to drive a car 40 miles with your bike in the back so that you can go on a 30 mile bike ride...and the load up your bike in the car to drive home.

anyway, there is one dude on my commute who is amazing. he likes me because i let him draft behind me. he can keep up as long as i go a max of 30 mph. i have gone 33+ mph before and that drops him. he usually drafts behind me at 30mph for about 8 miles or so. it's actually pretty crazy and he's the fastest guy i've ever run into in my commute by far.

Thanks Neptronix. Your advice is well taken. Like many, this was my first e-bike conversion on an existing no suspension steel bike with rim brakes. After two e-bay disasters, I settled on my e-bike kit which has served me well. Its my daily rider and grocery getter. Not so good for chasing after hot young things tho!

Yep, its time for the next build. Recently purchased a Jamis Hardtail with an amazing frame with hydr discs. Now i have to decide on my battery setup to know which controller to get with my forth coming HS3540. I am not into LIPO so much preferring a more plug and play approach, but also recognize the advantages of a high C rate. So I am considering a 48 volt from cellman or even a couple of 36 volts in series for 72 v from BMS or Codd Power. (yes I know, watch these two)

RVD-how are these speedsters geared? My recollections-mind you a bit dated-are that even in top gear on an average 10 speed no way 20-30 mph?

Kent

My 16s 15ah ping is sagging 3v at 3c discharge until im about 85% SOC (I hardly go over 80%)
But I have completely bypassed the BMS for discharging...(at least until a working BMS replacement arrives)

gensem said:

My 16s 15ah ping is sagging 3v at 3c discharge until im about 85% SOC (I hardly go over 80%)
But I have completely bypassed the BMS for discharging...(at least until a working BMS replacement arrives)

Click to expand...

Ahh, it's time for LiPo my friend. You will never look back. Unless your home burns down with your family inside, then maybe you will look back and shake your fist for a bit, and then order more LiPo.

Well my experience is similar to yours. I started out thinking 250w was enough power. Started out with rim brakes too.

Get the cell_man battery if you have the money to do so. It will output more power than your crystalyte will be able to put out, so it gives you room to grow.

As for BMSBattery, are you referring to the headways? I'll tell you right now that those lifepo4 cells sag just as bad as pings, probably worse even, according to reports i have seen. They can just disperse more heat than the pouch style lifepo4 you have in the ping That's the only reason they are labeled as 5C-10C capable. Seriously....... the only reason.

CODD power.. appears to sell rejected A123 cells or something that isn't A123 at all. You are a guinea pig if you choose that route, becuase no buyers have been able to provide anything like a detailed report. They are also heavy and large - the worst size and weight to watt-hour ratio of any lithium battery. Headways are huge and bulky... those are even worse.

That is not to say that cell_man's a123 packs are the only option. But if you've ruled out lipo, that would be my next choice.

liveforphysics said:

gensem said:

My 16s 15ah ping is sagging 3v at 3c discharge until im about 85% SOC (I hardly go over 80%)
But I have completely bypassed the BMS for discharging...(at least until a working BMS replacement arrives)

Click to expand...

Ahh, it's time for LiPo my friend. You will never look back. Unless your home burns down with your family inside, then maybe you will look back and shake your fist for a bit, and then order more LiPo.

Click to expand...

I have 7 6s zippy 8000 stalled in customs, and that could take 2 months to clear
Someday when they arrive I ll try 18s 16ah for my commuter.

double post...

=x

RVD said:

anyway, there is one dude on my commute who is amazing. he likes me because i let him draft behind me. he can keep up as long as i go a max of 30 mph. i have gone 33+ mph before and that drops him. he usually drafts behind me at 30mph for about 8 miles or so. it's actually pretty crazy and he's the fastest guy i've ever run into in my commute by far.

Click to expand...

That's awesome. I'll have to start offering drafts to people, though the crowd is starting to thin out now that winter is on its way.

My first week of e-bike commuting it felt like I was drafting a bus, which I used to do but I could never hang on above 30mph. What a feeling!

Also, video not related:
[youtube]FCSBoOcGFFE[/youtube]

It's pretty hard to keep up with real lycras with 36v 20 amps. Not the posers or old never was riders, but real racers. Even with 27 mph from a 48v ping, this one may still be able to keep up, or even leave you behind on the flat.

We have a local goddess I sometimes see on Hw 70 frontage road, as she heads out to climb Augustine pass. Invariably going close to 30 mph, if anybody is with her, they are drafting her and struggling to keep up. Never seen her draft except in a real race. She's a 110 pound stick of dynamite. I think of a cheeta when I see her.

But climb a big mountian with em sometime, and you'll find your puny 800w is still pretty significant. It's not so much that you are watt limited at 36v, as that you are speed limited by the volts. I've breezed by real racers on a big hill with 36v on an aotema.

This is the funniest thread I've ever read!!

Kent said:

RVD-how are these speedsters geared? My recollections-mind you a bit dated-are that even in top gear on an average 10 speed no way 20-30 mph?
Kent

Click to expand...

Coincidentally, I was commuting this morning and I ran into the guy again. If it's possible, he actually got faster. There was a detour on the beach trail so we rode up on the regular street and I took the right lane. I was riding at 34-35 mph and he was right there behind me drafting the whole way! We went about 9 miles. That guy is freaking amazing. He usually drops off if I go this fast but he seemed to be keeping up pretty well so I accelerated a little bit...

The ride is mostly flat but there were a couple of small hills early on and he just blew past me on those hills. He's much faster than the Crystalyte HS3540 motor when it comes to a 7% grade hill.

I'm pretty sure he rides a standard gearing system. On my road bike I ride a compact gear but even so, my top speed is about 26-28 mph on flats. On his standard gearing system and a cadence of around 110 or so, I'm pretty sure he can get up to 35 mph. His standard gears would be 53 by 39 chainrings and a 12 by 25-tooth cassette.

dennyt said:

RVD said:

anyway, there is one dude on my commute who is amazing. he likes me because i let him draft behind me. he can keep up as long as i go a max of 30 mph. i have gone 33+ mph before and that drops him. he usually drafts behind me at 30mph for about 8 miles or so. it's actually pretty crazy and he's the fastest guy i've ever run into in my commute by far.

Click to expand...

That's awesome. I'll have to start offering drafts to people, though the crowd is starting to thin out now that winter is on its way.

My first week of e-bike commuting it felt like I was drafting a bus, which I used to do but I could never hang on above 30mph. What a feeling!

Click to expand...

this guy is pretty cool. he usually talks to me about how great of a workout he gets in the morning whenever he drafts behind me.

today...he even had a backpack on!

btw, the guy i ride with is a cat I racer. his name is john wike. dude is fast!

he even talks about drafting a little bit here...

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15407113/highlight/179466

Well thanks to this experience and your info RVD, i have a new respect for the Spandex crowd. I just wish they would lighten up a bit and don't take themselves so seriously.

kent

well, i ride a road bike most weekends in lycra. i use my electric bike as a form of transportation because like most of you (and most road cyclists), i just don't like cars, gas, etc.

road cyclists actually annoy me as much as you guys. i would say that around 50% of them are just miserable people. they are just pissed off all the time at everyone...cars, other cyclists, people walking down the street, potholes, the slow guy in their group ride, the ugly group uniform that they have to wear, etc. i don't know why they are out there because they certainly don't seem happy. riding with these guys is a major pain because all they do is bitch and moan about everything and everyone while you're riding.

i organize small group rides and i'm always stressing the importance of having fun...having a smile on your face because we're out there riding our bikes for leisure. we can afford to buy nice bikes, breathe in the crisp morning air, and focus on achieving that big climb, etc. if we see a cyclist riding on the opposite street in front of us, we just smile and ride on. if we see another cyclist (even those on beach cruisers, etc.), we smile and say "good morning". etc.

that racer guy that i ride with talks about organizing a downhill clinic where they ride 60 mph down hill! that's darn scary for me. and yes, they do fall sometimes (google jens voight falling on his face while going downhill in the tour a few years ago).

anyway, it's those miserable folks on road bikes that annoy me as much as they annoy you guys and yes, it is kind of funny seeing the scowl on their pissed off faces when you pass them on your electric bike. but it's really not that much of a sense of achievement...i mean, i don't think motorcyclists think much of it when they pass lycra either.

Well, It can be a cheap thrill to pass a really fit lycra type on the ebike.. If you are fat and 50.

I think those guys you mention that scowl and bitch are just working too hard. I use to do athletic stuff when younger, real athletic. When I started climbing mountains in the wilderness to ski down I initially made the mistake of focusing too hard on the goal, reaching the top of an 11-1300 ft peak. Soon I was out there on a beatiful day in the wilderness, scowling. I learned to slow it down, screw it whether I ever made the actual summit, and enjoy the day. If it started getting late, just turn and ski down with a watermellon grin. After I started enjoying the climb up a lot more, I had much more fun ski mountaineering.