Recent content by Goathead

Got one myself and I pretty much blame Endless-sphere . . . This write-up is one of the most concise I've ever seen on this car or any other. I would add a couple of notes about CarMax where I purchased since, as noted in the first paragraph, these cars are geographically limited to California...

Thanks all. Sounds like I can go up amperage or even eliminate the fuse. What I don't understand is why a 30A worked, but now doesn't? I don't think I offended the magic smoke which resides in all things electronic, but . . . (Maybe the circuit was compromised enough to blow the fuse --...

After a summer of essentially flawless performance, I am now blowing the fuse off the battery at any time I go full throttle. The circuit consists of 48V 20aH LifePo4 battery; 30A glass fuse; CycleAnalyst w/shunt -- set to limit flow to 20A; 30A controller; Crystalyte high torque motor all...

As used by the German post office, but with stats on adoption throughout Europe . . . http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/business/e-bike-sales-are-surging-in-europe.html?ref=business&_r=0

Read between the lines, though. This is a guy who thinks that he'll have to switch shifters if he changes the number of cogs on the back-end. Unless he demonstrates otherwise, he's not a mechanic and can't or won't build his own his bike. (No fault implied, it's a big world with too much to...

As Bob Seger might say: "I'm little bit older and a lot less bolder than I used to be . . . I used to pedal 'round, but now I have to worry about my knees" House is on a mesa, driving to the grocery seemed sort of absurd. Kind of like driving one's bike to a bike path or driving the car to a...

The bike you want comes with years of cardio-vascular conditioning and a new set of knees. (And really, if you had chest pains, contact your doctor -- that's serious stuff.) The efficiencies to be wrung from a bike come on only about 4 dimensions and they take you in the opposite direction of...

Yeah, the ebikekit pulls 17 amps going up my hill with just me and the battery; the electric rider kit pulls only 9 with a lightly loaded trailer, in addition. It's a just much, much bigger motor -- about a third larger. The controller also passes 30A instead of 20. BUT, as I said they've...

But the guy in Switzerland likely had a full machine shop and dozens of years of machine shop experience. Don't overlook that. It may represent hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of skills and equipment -- I don't think anyone is going to give that away for free and the market is proving it...

Also have the e-bikekit.com kit (though the spec's have changed someI. They now proviso against 48v and riders/weight beyond what I want to haul . I've beaten the hell out of it and it still runs. I think hauling 50 pound sacks of bird seed in a trailer will finish it. No hesitation in...

. . . but you don't have enough money, you say, so it's all pretty much moot. Not every frame and fork is suited to what an e-bike is. Choose wisely.

Battery is likely half your cost, the rest of the kit won't come down much -- it's copper and castings and electronics and labor. Not much place to go on them. Everyone here is waiting for the next big breathrough in battery tech. Not much coming anytime soon from anything I can glean. Like I...

If you really want an e-bike, why just buy the one from electricrider.com and be happy? It's even got the battery included in the price, you get a new bike of good quality that is built and warranted as a kit. (Again, trust me, you don't need that many gears. Go to a store in SF and test ride...

Torque is the name of the game for hills and for hauling. Motors are wound for speed or for torque. Number of turns of wire on the coils is the nominal difference (it's a bit more complicated, but that's the least you need to know.) You can burn out a motor pretty easily and in a couple of...

Low end motors won't pull a trailer up a hill, especially when you go with a larger wheel -- you are effectively gearing up your final drive, losing torque and gaining speed. Maybe, buy a good used bike and put the money into the battery and motor? (I"m also not sure you'd actually have to...