I got some brakes! These are Avid Single Digit 5's. I got them at a local bike shop for $25 bucks. They were the only v-brakes they carried, and I think they are some pretty decent brakes for the price. I found them for $14 on Jensons but shipping would have upped the cost and by buying locally I got them instantly.
I had to do some grinding on the frame and ghetto these brakes on because I was supposed to use some
$14 brake post studs that screw into the mounts on the frame. After looking for an hour or two I found some bolts from another bike that screw into the back. The final result is very solid and I am very happy with it.
After riding around I have to say that these brakes rock! They are probably better then the stock disc brakes on the bike! I did notice the grooves in the rim and that might help these out.. From full speed I was able to stop wayy faster then I used to be able to. Me and the bike weigh a total of 220lbs. I would definately recommend these brakes.
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I was curious about the balance of my batteries,as they haven't been balanced in about 5 runs. Most of the packs had cells off by .1 to .2v. Right now I am balancing each pack induvidually on my hyperion charger. I have been looking for a better charging solution then what I have, and if I do switch to a ps-based system, I am definately going to balance my packs every 5 runs or so. Every week if I ride often enough. I saw KiM's disaster and now I am going to be extra-cautious.
If anyone goes to a ps charger, I would recommend getting a rc charger or balancer. This is a good balancer (that might require a charger too) - http://www.allerc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2916
As I was balancing the packs, I found that in pack six I may have a weak cell.
Cell #4 is reading 4.10v when the rest are reading 4.18v. I will keep a close eye on it. This just backs up my point of why it is important to have proper balancing equipment. One damaged cell could take many with it, and that could domino and ruin all of your packs.
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20 days after I ordered my camera and wire mesh it still hasn't done much. Latest news I have on it is that it shipped out on the 18th.. What can I say the shipping is supposed to take 6-39 days; that's half up. I also learned that it is the chinese new year, and most if not everyone in china has a week off.
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I downloaded some software for my garmin 201. Here's a couple pics of my ride. I can also upload the file to a website and get some different maps and charts. You can make almost anything you want. Once I get my map overlayed with color-coded speed I'll post it up. Here is what the garmin software tells me
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My run today was 20 miles long.
I went fast for awhile then decided to go out of town. I turned around when I felt I needed and made it back just in time. I had used about 9.5/10ah from my pack. My efficiency today was 32.1wh/mi. I think a 25mi range and sub-30wh/mi efficiency is doable if I take it easier on the throttle.
As of now I have 61 miles on my bike and I have "saved" $10.36 in gas. :wink:
Also for the first time I recorded some temps. This was the first time anything was warm. It was 35f out and I had my batteries in the case and wraoped in a towl. The batteries and motor were 80f; the controller was cold. The batteries would probably be cold without the towl, but the motor will probably heat up more in warmer temps.
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And finally I am getting tired of charging FOREVER. It's been 4.5 hours and my pack is only 2/3 the way charged.
After looking into a ps-based charging system I think I am going to get a 400w ps (400w will charge at 250w easily after losses) so I can charge at 10a (insted of 5a).
I hope to make a hard battery case with a switch built in so that I can go from 18s to 6s quickly. Any suggestions for switches let me know. I need to know what kind of switches I'll need for the lowest resistance. If I parallel my batteries I'll have 3 sets of +/- leads so I would need a 3pdt switch? 6pdt? three dpdt?