Best long range e bike. and moter? Upright , bent , trike,

Arbiker501

10 W
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
88
Hello All,

What is the best long range and effcient set up. I have a upright touring bike . It is great for running around town. However, I like to be able to make a longer trip. The area i live in is pretty much flat.

So would a very low trike pull less juice than a upright . Would enclosing or using a fairing make much differance. Since a fairing really helps as speed increases i would think it would be a big help.
I would like to ride at about 30 mph. And cover 60 miles or more on a charge.

Which moters are the best for such a task. The 400 series or 5 ? It seems like to me the lower windings would be the way to go ?

Newbie,
Arbiker
 
in theory, the most efficent design is 2 wheels, and a fully enclosed bike with the rider as close to the ground as possable.
But a bike like that is hard to hold upright at a stop, so a velomobile trike is probably the most efficent practical design.

As for motors, a hub motor is the most efficent design at its cruising speed, but a chain driven, shiftable motor can be more efficent over a wider range, just not as efficent at cruising speed.

40X vs 530x is like asking v6 or v8 in an a car. the smaller motor will be a little more efficent, but the real problem comes with the bigger motor. its more powerfull, and you'll want to use the power, which will realy kill your efficancy.

The fewer the windings, the faster the motor. more windings just slows the motor down, but doesn't realy effect the efficancy much. If you want to go 30mph, the using a higher wound motor that makes peak speed at 30 is more efficent than using a lower wound 35mph motor, running part throttle.
 
A 2 wheel recumbent with a good front fairing would give you one of the most efficient frames for the money, IMHO. 3 wheels adds weight, complexity and different riding technique, but if you have balance problems or are in bad weather, there is no subsitute.

Adding a full fairing adds even more weight.

For a motor, due to the adeed weight of the bike, a chain drive is helpful. they are really easy to install on a 'bent.

A faired 'bent is so easy to pedal on the flat, the motor is not needed much, except for hill climbing.

use http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm to see differences.

I see people with chain drived ez faired reccumbents that often claim 100 mile range. dont know there speed thoug.

god luck

dick
 
Hi guys,

Hey thanks.. Yeah i cant decide on a trike or bent. I think the trike is a better idea. However the local bike shop has a really nice disk brake bent .. For a good price..
 
Arbiker501 said:
Hi guys,

Hey thanks.. Yeah i cant decide on a trike or bent. I think the trike is a better idea. However the local bike shop has a really nice disk brake bent .. For a good price..

what model? local purchase, local service, good price, support the local guy.



Trikes are nice but all speed records are held by two wheelers. With a trike -- toe-in, camber, extra cost weight and rolling resistance, wider.

dick
 
I would also encourage you to go with the bent. I got my delta recumbent trike first, and love riding it locally, but after a road trip I decided to try a two-wheel bent. The trike is hard to keep within a narrow road edge bike lane, and with multiple wheel tracks its harder to miss chuck holes and other obstacles.

I am 67 and have never had great balance, so it took a few weeks to feel comfortable on the bent. Starting out on a hill or in too high of a gear can be a PITA, but with the motor (Not pedal first) you can give yourself a little boost when needed.

Now, I also enjoy riding the bent without the power trailer on short and fairly flat rides. Just having mastered the bent makes it all worthwhile. The bent boys claim a grin the same as the e-bike grin, so now I get to have a double grin! :D
 
Yeah the local bike shop knows me by name... I have 2 road bikes and now one happy and well used e bike.

The bent is a burly Hepcat or something like that. I looked it up it said it was not very stiff for preformance but a soft ride. So i am thinking perfect for E BIKE I just want a nice soft ride and a fairing for comfort and speed. Maybe ride it without a motor on a down hill to pick a top safe speed . I am thinking 35 to 40 would be safe with dual disk brakes and smooth roads. Just enough to get me to dear old MOMs hours.. Now to buy the second pack so i can eat and go without having to stay over night for a charge..
 
That Burly may be a good choice. My brother has ridden a road bike for years, lots of long distance stuff, such as Ride Oregon. A few years ago he got a Burly Bent and he loves it, non power. This last september he made a multi-day trip with friends from Astoria to the California border, about 300 miles. They all pulled BOB trailers and he took the Burly instead of his road bike. I know he has had it up to 50 MPH going downhill without the BOB trailer.

With the suspension on the Burly he has a tendancy to Pogo when going uphill. When he becomes aware of it, he can control it. I don't know if his is a Hepcat model, but it does convert from LWB to SWB (same as my Vision). He prefers the SWB.
 

Attachments

  • Dave's Burley.jpg
    Dave's Burley.jpg
    33.5 KB · Views: 2,055
OHHHH yeah that is the bike.

Yeah the bike shop told me it can be less than stiff but i am 150 lb and said it should not be a problem. I wanted the softer ride. Can you tell me more about yours is it electrified if so what wth and how does it do .

Dammm this form!!!!! I will be broke again lol.

THanks for the info .

Arbiker
 
My brother has no plans for any lazy man's e-bikes! On the other hand, he is about 250# of power, so I guess that means his Burly has been well tested with 100# more than your weight aboard, which gives you plenty of capacity for batteries.

On my Vision, I pull (or get pushed by) a one-wheel trailer that has a hub motor and carries the batteries:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2360

One nice thing about the trailer, it unhooks in seconds, and the bent can be ridden the old fashion way with no extra weight or drag.
 
Yeah ,

I wish i had a trailer. I hope to be able to run LIFEPO so not to much weight.
Yeah being a biker is the only time it is good to be a little guy.. But right i could add 50 lb of batteries and still be lighter than most riders ..
I also dont need quite as much ummmp to get up hills from the motor. I could also be called a damm lycra rider .. So i can help the bike up the hill since i really enjoy the fast flats
 
If you want practical,faired and fast a velomobile aka a fully faired trike is the only player.
A faired 2 wheeler would do if you ignore practicalities, it will be quicker than a faired trike, much more difficult at traffic lights a real hand full in strong winds and is harder to park.
A trike will barely notice the extra battery weight and it can be mounted low enough to improve handling not comprimise it, a full fairing can be done for around 3 kg's and if you play with this calculator it will give you a good idea of how much energy use will be reduced, answer alot! http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm
Also it is easy to build storage into a trike fairing if needed and stopping at lights is relaxing as there is no need to unclip.
I own 2 wheeled bents, 3 wheeled bents, and a large number of assorted uprights. I only rode the trikes consistently and mainly the velomobile (avatar).
 
I am glad you mentioned the wind.

That is my other problem.. I could run a fairing on a bent .. However if it is not super low i dont think i would use a body sock . I get blown around now on my upright bike at 150 so i think if i had a body sock it would be dangerous ..

I am still afraid to make the leap to a trike. But dang there is so much speed and so little energy on a low trike like a kmx . Now i worry about getting crushed. But i have rode a upright bike for years and never been touched. I have had lots of crashes from other things that would not hurt a trike at all. Small trash one time. Lost balance a few times. A dog flipped me head over the bars straight on my head . I was wearing a helment so that was good but it also broke my helment so it was a lick.
 
What do you guys know about any bents with suspension... THat sounds like a way to really get the speed up safely?
 
This works the best for me so far. Add a 406 to the front wheel, or 408 to the rear,... 48-60 volts of "lifepo4" batteries, preferably 20AH range, and your set. 8)
 
7 feet long incl the wheels,
smooth comfortable ride with the CR-MO frame which acts like a leaf spring, the seat absorbes the rest. Just hope it can carry my 32 "Lifebatt" cells to run the 25LB system,
 
Back
Top