Back in the Saddle: Going to California: 2011

• I just found a single-speed 13T BMX Freewheel at Redmond Cyclery for $28. However there are two types evidently and the type they have is too wide for my skinny chain. The alternative is to forgo the whole thing and mount the lame 7-speed on. The issue here is that it does not perfectly fit my frame - but then I haven't tried it with the new hub. Worth a shot.
• The RH has a disc clearance of 15.5mm according to the drawing. I measured my shimmed FH to be 16.5mm; if I purchase 5 shims it will be enough to mount the rear disc brake on the RH.
• I have been attempting to source some Cordura or Vinyl-coated Polyester locally w/o having to dash into Seattle, however this has come to naught. Figuring a mad dash tomorrow.
• Need to make a run to Tap Plastics and fetch more HDPE.
• Fetched 5/16 x 4" bolt & washer from Home Despot.
• Tonight I'll try to mount the rear hub onto the eBike.
• I will check to see if my schedule can be pushed out one more week.

• Disassembled the trailer down to basic assemblies so that I could remove the tire. Note to self: Self, with the next trailer design - make sure the wheel can be easily removed without significant disassembly.
• Affixed a Shimano 34-14T Mega-Range Freewheel to it. I have a 28-13T Shimano FW also and may end up going with that instead; these spin so much quieter than the Sunrace. Also mounted the Avid 203mm Disc.
• Mounted said wheel on eBike. Electrical and torque arms need to get sorted out.
• Getting the disc brake to align was a bugger though not as bad as the front; it could use some shims. Might need longer bolts for brake bracket as I had to use two washers to shove it out far enough to match the disc; weird.

liveforphysics said:

The worst possible thing you can do for a trailer is to make it long and put the weight over the back/rear axle area. This make a device that requires almost no influences to start swinging, and something that will be very difficult to stop swinging.

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llile said:

When I built the first one-wheel trailer, I loaded it up with camping gear for a shakedown cruise, and it scared the bejeebers out of me going down a big hill. Wobbling back and forth out of control. I reinforced some key parts of it with some triangulation and some more rigid steel and the wobbling stopped. Grab the trailer in your hands and try to bend it at various weak points. Can you make it deflect, even a tiny amount? Say by twisting the parts that connect to the bike frame? That deflection can add up and feedback into a major fishtail under heavy loads.

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• Primary goal was to address the rickety linkage. There was more involved than just inserting a washer. It turns out one of the bearings was pressed in too far, so I had to snake out a way to pull it back out without all the fancy shop tools (and I did). Then I filed down flat – and I mean F L A T a single “flat” washer; flat washers are not entirely flat as they are typically stamped, so the way to make them truly flat is to file them or use a granite-top table or grinding stone, or whatever and remove that lip business. Now I had a nice flat bearing surface and I rebuilt that one pesky pivot – new tougher bolt and all. The result is that the ebike frame is “firm”; the frame still flexes though it is tight now. The pivot affected was the one right next to the controllers where I have the top of the rack connected.
• Upgraded bolts at the rear pivot where the lower part of the rack connects; these were replaced with Stainless Steel bolts with a nice bearing shank. It was a bugger to swap out.
• Took the wheel and painted the shiny rim parts flat black to match the front rim (more or less); this meant that I had to mask off the rest of the tire; both sides.
• Weaseled out two torque arms. The left side is completely ghetto; the link should be replaced with tougher steel. The right side uses the EBikeKit torque arm which doesn’t help a whole lot due to the rotation of the rear axle – but a second torque arm is a second torque arm; it’s what we had. Fabricated left side frame clamp from thick Aluminum bar stock. Not optimum, but it works for now.
• Unmounted the Shimano Mega-Range 34-14T and put on the smaller version 28-13T. However, this freewheel synched down tight against the hub and would not spin, so I ended up putting the mega-range back on. It is so quiet compared to my Hope cassette.
• Wired up the hub and integrated the wheel into the eBike. Then I took it for a spin. Note: I had already de-rated both controllers for efficiency, so the front wheel is only pulling 20 Battery Amps & 50 Phase Amps, whilst the rear hub is pulling 15 battery and 40 Phase.

• FH: MaxS = 42.0 mph, Regen = 3.9%, Wh/mi = 22.3
  RH: MaxS = 42.5 mph, Regen = 9.5%, Wh/mi = 15.6

• I had zero-contention between the wheels and controllers; this is been the most trouble-free aspect of the entire project: A Primary Controller with a second one slaved.
• I did not have time to get to Seattle Fabrics today, and they are closed on Sunday. So the battery bags will need to wait.
• In the meantime, I can still load up the panniers with weight until the bike becomes notably unstable (well – at least to the point where we can acknowledge that handling is more trouble than it’s worth).
• A preliminary study suggest that I could put 12 additional batteries over the top of my present 18 batteries collocated in the triangle; the 12 would go all the way forward and next to the steerer and should not hit my knees. That’s a total of 30 batteries forward, leaving 48 split between the rear. The weight comes out to 38 lbs. forward and 61 lbs. aft. I don’t have a scale so I cannot tell how much the cargo will weigh.

Kingfish said:

That’s about it for now; I’m stoked!

Last word: It did cross my mind during this assembly to insert a 3-Way switch on the Throttle back to each controller as: A, B, and A + B. This way I could figure out which motor might be most useful for different types of conditions or for economy. But – I think I like the 2WD as is; what a monster experience! At this point I presume that I no longer have an electric bicycle, and not really a moped either – but a light electric motorcycle! I hope the frame can last.

Purring like a just-fed happy kitten sleepin' in front of the fire, KF <purr purr>

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REdiculous said:

If it was me I'd take the trailer (unpowered) anyway. Even if it'll only hold 50lbs, it's that much less weight and bulk on the bike....easier on the tires at least.

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• I have done another weight calculation. It is remotely possible to put 18 batteries forward. This would reduce the aft section to 21 batteries on each side; totals are 36 fore and 42 aft or 46 lbs. fore and 53 lbs. aft. I like those numbers and shall try to shoot for that.
• Alternatively I do have these Timbuktu bags that I bought last year; they hold 6 batteries each, and can be modified tonight to sling across the front. Also just did an assay on my APP connectors; it will be close but I think I have enough to do the job.
• It’s been raining pretty hard outside and I’m not keen of getting wet, but will do shortly for the weight tests. Just trying to figure out how to hang the weight.
• Also I have a DNP Epoch 8 Speed Freewheel 11T Small Cog 11-32. I was thinking of pulling the 11T ring off and putting that onto the Shimano (being that it’s a better quality freewheel).
• Lastly, I want to check and see if my custom Front Torque Arm can fit on the rear, and if so then have the Machinist crank me out two more.

• Num = Test number. The first test has doesn’t count since the batteries are already in situ.
  Where = Fore or Aft.
  Type = Device used to add weight; batteries, frozen gallons of water, or lifting weights.
  Amount = in pounds.
  Total = Running total with each test.
  F/R Total = Cumulative total for front and rear.
  Goal = 1st figure is the total weight, and the second figure is the remainder.

Num	Where	Type		  Amount	Total	F/R Tot	Comments
0	  Front	Batts, 18	22.86	 16.6	 22.9		Already on the eBike since January 1st, though included in the total weight.	
1	  Rear	 2 gallons	16.6	  33.2	 16.6		Hardly worth noting
2	  Front	Batts, 12	15.24	 48.44	38.1		Know it's there, minor lugging uphill
3	  Rear	 2 gallons	16.6	  65.04	33.2		Just beginning to feel squirrely, though manageable
4	  Front	3 lbs x 3	9.00	  74.04	47.1		Struggles to start on steep incline - but climbs well enough.  Bounce in frame noticeable but does not "wobble".  Definitely harder to manage.  Not sure I would feel comfortable putting any more weight on.
Goal			 99.06		25.02							  Conclusion: Means that 18 to 24 batts must go to trailer.

• Mounting Hookworms... when you wrap the rim a lot of times with tape or liner, it make the tire harder to mount. Prove this by mounting the tire without any liner = easy.
• 2.1 Sapim spokes you use, are thicker at the "j" bend. This is useful for hubs with larger holes (hub motors, but actually bigger would be still better... see next bullit), but on your regular hubs the 2.0 (14g) will be just as strong.
• Breaking spokes; the stress riser of note on e-bike hubs are the j end. The reason spokes break here is because they bend here, like when you bend a paper clip or wire over and over, it finally breaks. The e-bike hub has large holes in the flanges, the bicycle spokes typically used are too small and every revolution of the wheel bends the spoke here at the flange. Push down, pull up. push down pull up round and round it goes. Eliminate the extra space here and only the spoke body flexes not the "j" end. This is why even thin spokes can sometimes produce a stronger longer lasting wheel. There is less stress on the ends. The nipple end is another concern, because the large flange and cross pattern typically used on e-bike hubs produces a tight bend at the nipple, and if the wheel builder doesn't compensate and adjust this area, you have another stress riser that will cause spoke breakage here or the nipple will also fatigue and fail.
• Torsion from the trailer; When you place a load on either side of the wheel back there over your 24" wheel, you are using a large heavy lever that wants to stay static or move where it wants to. The bigger the loaded wheel, the greater the leverage twisting against your bikes frame and wheel/tire via the massive hitch you designed. Reducing leverage would probably include; no weight placed over the wheel at all, all weight forward of the tire. SMALLER lever = smaller wheel. 16" wheel smaller lighter tire. The center of gravity against the load would be shifted aft, and weight the tongue at the same time. This would allow the trailer to track you instead of attack you.
  

• Broken spokes: Makes sense. Last year this occurred on the non-hub wheel; 19-yo original equipment! I had the rim replaced in Auburn.
• Torsion: Yes, I think that sounds reasonable. The Bob trailer design has the small wheel aft of the platform. In my case the rear wall of the battery box is about an inch forward of the axle. On that point…

Num	Where	Type		  Amount	Total	F/R Tot
0	  Front	Batts, 18	22.86	 22.9	 22.9	
1	  Rear	 2 gallons	16.6	  39.5	 16.6
2	  Front	Batts, 12	15.24	 54.7	 38.1
3	  Rear	 2 gallons	16.6	  71.3	 33.2
4	  Front	3 lbs x 3	9.00	  80.3	 47.1
Goal			 99.06		 18.8

• Front = 18 (original) + 12 more (30 total) = 38.1 lbs. fore
  Rear = about 24 batteries, 27 max = 33.2 lbs. aft
  Trailer = about 24 batteries, 28 lbs.
  
• I will need to play around with the qualities between the Rear and Trailer cos I will want easy access to tools, food, and the Charger.
• Trailer batteries, if using 24, can be split as 12 on each side, and I can move those all the way forward within the box where the weight is over the Bottom Bracket. Airy cargo, such as clothes and jackets can go aft to make room for denser items to move forward.
• I will also try to trim the total weight down as well.

dbaker said:

Try to be more positive, SamTexas Most of us are still pulling for KF to get on the road. We want ES positive energy to help get him there

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• Before I headed out, or tried to… I screwed around trying to figure out how I am going to get an 11T on the freewheel. Finally after fussing about I just went ahead and put the DNP Epoch 8 Speed Freewheel 11T Small Cog that I had laying about. The original plan was to rip off the 11T and put it on the Shimano, but they are made by different manufacturers and have zero-interchangeability. For all the times I’ve taken the rear hub off and played with eh disc rotors – I had a good idea how to fix the spacing problem and nailed it on the first try. The DNP Epoch 8 Speed Freewheel is now mounted and spins fine; we are good to go on gearing ~ not optimum, but good enough.
  
  
• Loaded the bike with the Hitch to take back to the Machinist for rework. Also loaded the charger so as to top off before heading out to Seattle Fabrics. Also took with me the Timbuk2 bags cos I think it’s faster to adapt them as 6-gun, er 6-battery holders; just needs a under-over sling and power cabling.
• Reprogrammed the Primary-Front controller to 14A Battery/35 Phase from 20A/50A. I’m ready to go.

• It turns out there is more wrong than just a buggered eBike/Stop-light switch: My running light (aka Taillight) is also out. Now I have to tear into the whole belly of the beast to trace this out. Finally found the break right where the signals fork to go to the Trailer connector; broken solder joint.
• Also all auxiliary voltages were periodically going out during this time. Crapola: Traced that to a cold-solder joint that enabled Aux power on the DC-DC converter.
• Next – tried to superglue the microswitch pairs back onto the brake. Wouldn’t take, so I clamped it. This worked fine but now the switches were dead from compression. Grrrr. :x Pull the switches off. I have replacements as roller-leafs. This is about the 4th time the micro-switches have pulled off the brake lever. Resolved to use the two-hole mount – but I don’t have screws small enough. What to do? OK – mother of invention kicks in: I had some extra spokes and they fit the holes. Took the broken switch and using it as a template, drilled two holes into the brake lever. Next, took two good switches and as guides ran the spokes through them (butted ends up and threads down) and sorted out how they would integrate into the brake lever; it’s almost a tight fit mainly cos the drilling was slightly imprecise and creating tension – which is good. Pull this assembly out, apply superglue to the holes and surfaces, and reinsert the switches/spokes making sure the threads are in the holes; the mounting takes! Superglued the second switch down on top of the first. Took a cable-cutter and trimmed off the protruding spokes; it left a 1/8” high nub and I ground that off and filed it down nice. More superglue into the mounting holes; suck it up bugger! Now we have a firm fix on the little f@#ker. Tested the swithes – they are a little flakey. Grrrr. :x Test test and more test. OK, I think it will work so I solder them up, heat shrink, wrap tape, and test: nuttin. Arrrg! Test test and more test – finally they work.
• Hook up the bike, put everything back together except the front faring and go test. Nuttin works. More hair falls out – and I only have three skinny hairs on this pointy head. Fiddle about fiddle about fiddle about – finally switches work… some of the time. Go for road test, up the hill (economy-level kinda sucks compared to yesterday). Then the controller kinda figures out “Hey, I got an ebrake!” and begins to work consistently. I swear to all the sacrificial barleys that I have consumed in the past week that these controllers have two more brain cells than me and are conspiring to frustrate my process. I think we need to sacrifice more barleys tonight.
• Did the horseshoe loop up the hill and down and back up again (it really is a good torture test); everything seems back to normal… except the Time: It’s now 5:30 PM and I have lost the initiative of the afternoon.

• The tentative plan is to try and leave on Thursday. Wheel wasn’t built today but should be ready after lunch. Regroup for tomorrow: Machinist, Seattle Fabrics, Gregg’s Cycles. Hopefully Machinist will take one day; we only need to replace the ghetto rear torque arms and fix the Hitch so we can mount it to the rear hub.
• Modify the Timbuk2 to accept a sling; maybe two hours.
• Build the rear battery bags; keep it basic. Just reviewed what I did last year; I had a metal framework made up to hold the batteries together inside the Ortlieb bags; these can be reused. I may even try to put them in the new Ortliebs – though if so then then need another strap to keep them from flopping around. I think I can make something work here without a lot of trouble.
• Trailer should go back together quickly now since it’s just pieces that I cut and marked as I went; assembly likely Wednesday. Load up with static weight and test test test.

Location			Batts	 Wyes	Status	 Notes			
Front Triangle-L	9		3		Done				
Front Triangle-R	9		3		Done				
Front Saddle-L	 6		 2		covered	Trailer is strung for 36 batteries/side; 			
Front Saddle-R	 6		 2		covered	That's 3x4 wyes x 2 = 24 wyes.			
Rear-L				12		4		covered	Trunk bag is strung for 2x3 wyes.			
Rear-R				12		4		covered	Conclusion: Prune the branches to make new harnesses.			
Trailer-L			12		4		covered	We have enough APPs to do this, though 2 short on 45A lugs.			
Trailer-R			12		4		covered	Note to Self: Self - stop at Vetco to see if they have 45A lugs.			
								
Total				 78

Lemlux said:

KF:

You've finally persuaded me not to make a trailer out of my 1993 Giant 770 AX 16" Chromoly frame. I wouldn't have the skill, patience, or funding to do all you've done.



I do have an idea, though: I could give you this frame and you could weld it mounted parallel to the ground as a stabilizer platform for the bottom of your trailer. It's yours for free if you pay shipping.

You might even use one or both of the dropouts to reinforce the pivot for your front-leaning trailer arm.

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• Called Gregg’s Cycle and they said that the 24” wheel would be ready near the end of the day.
• Finally got out the door at half-past Noon. Stopped at Radio Shack and bought four Submini Lever Switches as backups for my eBrake and Brake Light.
  
  
• Stopped at Ace Hardware and picked up two bronze bushings, ½ x 1” for $3 each, and a pair of matching washers.
  
  
• Went directly to the Machinist and dropped off my parts. We discussed the torque arms and he told me that the mills were tied up for a few days, so I axed that work as not optimum but also not essential. He did say though that the bushings could be finished by EOD. On the return trip I picked up the finished parts: The bushings were modified to match to a 14mm threaded axle and machined down to slip inside my hitch brackets. It took ¾ of an hour on the lathe. The parts are a tight fit inside the hitch but slip on over the threaded axle nicely. Gone is the Delrin. We’re after a firm tight fit. Here’s a picture of the left and right hitch brackets with the bushings mounted – flange facing out. I like this setup; mucho happy puppy.
  
  
• Topped off the charge at the Machinist and headed out to Seattle Fabrics in the Greenlake district. Got as far as I-405/116th in Kirkland when the chain locked up on the bike. WTF? :x Couldn’t find anything wrong so I kept going – only to be halted again 20 feet later; complete lockup now – can’t spin the crank forward or back. I figured that the freewheel was synched up next to the frame and that I required one more washer to space it out. Bummed, I drove on electricity all the way back to Redmond ruing the moment the entire way; it felt unmanly.
• Began to take the wheel off when I noticed that the reason the chain was locked up was because the rear derailleur Dropout mounting screw and lost the bolt-part and the flush “screw” part was jammed into the freewheel, locking the chain. That was easy to remove. Called Gregg’s and they assured me they had replacements. 2 points for Gregg’s.
• Since I had the left-side ghetto torque arm off, I replaced the soft cold rolled steel (CRS) with a ¾ x ¾ x 1/8 Aluminum 6061-T6 L-Angle which is vastly stronger. I think it makes a nice footrest don’t you? It requires flat black paint to hide the magpie effect, and maybe the clamp too.
  
  
• Topped off the charge and headed back to the Machinist at 5 PM. Picked up my nice parts and headed off to Gregg’s. It’s now 6 PM and John had finished building the wheel but not the tire, so Travis did that part and I guided him on how I wanted it armored: Layer of Stop-Flats 2 on the rim, covered with a layer of Velox tape, then tube, then Stop-Flats 2 on the perimeter, then tire. Done.
  
  
• Next, John had promised to fix my other bike issues but had to clock-out; Jimmy took over. Disc Brake Rotors Front and Back: Both Jimmy and Travis worked these discs over to true them up with me keenly observing their technique, and got the bike to where I had full-brake at 50% lever which was a vast improvement! I also bought the Park Tool Rotor Truing Fork DT-2.
  
  
  
  Then we paid attention to my derailleurs and Jimmy got them both in spec and tuned up, and finished with a lubed chain. Finished by 8 PM closing. My wheel build, tire-mounting, fixing the brakes and derailleurs, plus the Park Tool came to just over $100: What a deal! Oh and the Dropout screw was tossed in for free. Neat guys! The bike flies down the road!!

• The Hitch Bracket – now with the bronze bearing is slightly wider due to the flange and washer, AND the hub axle in shorter than my custom axle (now mounted on the Trailer). Took a while to sort out the absolute minimum washers that could go on to the axle. As it turned out, I didn’t use washers. Instead I used the flat file and leveled the surfaces of the stamped-steel torque arms and put them on first, then the bronze washer, then the hitch bracket, and finally the nut; that’s all the room there was, and no threads left to spare. This was all tightened down and then I worked it over making sure the nut would not back out.
  
  
  
  
  Right side rear stamped steel torque arm, modified to miss the rear derailleur mounting.
  
• Also I removed the EBikeKit torque arm cos it was pointing in a direction that was not useful. Instead I used a modified stamped-steel torque arm, leveled on both sides, and then cut out a link from Aluminum angle and fabricated the clamp. These items were planted flat black and heat cured in the oven one the paint was dry.
• In parallel to this, I would alternate to the trailer and put the unit back together again sans the faring. Really – those are the two big ticket items other than mounting the trailer to the hitch which took time to set correctly.

Where		 Type		  Amount		Total	F/R Tot	Comments		
Trailer	  Batteries	12			 15.24				
Trailer	  Gallons	  2			  16.6				
Trailer	  Clothes	  2			  4		 35.84		Trailer Total		
L/R Rear	 Batteries	24			 30.48				
L/R Rear	 Weights	  2			  6		 36.48		Rear; Simulate charger and food		
L/R Front	Batteries	18			 22.86				 Already loaded in Triangle		
L/R Front	Batteries	12			 15.24	38.1		Front		
							
Total						110.42
Bike only					74.58

• Fabricate the saddle bags connective link.
• Create battery bags for the trailer; just a simple sling where I can pull the whole lot out to make the trailer lighter. The plan is to pull the saddle bags and the Ortliebs off the ebike to make it lighter for stowing. The trailer could be unloaded quickly as well cos my clothes and stuff are already bagged; we just need to bag (or sling) the batteries as well.
• Finish up the batteries cabling; prune the existing cables and add connectors.

jonathanm said:

You need to try and figure out if ALL the wobble is coming from the flex in the frame, or if there are other factors involved. Is there any slop anywhere in the hitch? If it IS purely due to flex in the frame, then the only solution is to increase stiffness with some more material....welded triangle ideally, but even bolting some thing with a lot of torsional stiffness might help as a "get you going" temp solution. You don't have any 80/20 aluminum extrusion lying around do you?

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