Blue Dream: Maxarya Ray 2 Semi Recumbent w/high eff mid drive

I'm wrong about the weight. Just weighed it, came out to 53lbs.
Keep in mind that i have a large model and i've added 10lbs easily.
The battery is 10.3lbs, so when finished the bike should weigh 63lbs.

I think this bike is a few pounds heavier than the large size Cannondale i had before.

I could buy a number of bike components that are lighter ( thus a lot more expensive ) and save 3lbs, but i don't find that weight matters much on this kind of bike.
 
neptronix said:
I could buy a number of bike components that are lighter ( thus a lot more expensive ) and save 3lbs, but i don't find that weight matters much on this kind of bike.
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Low center of gravity, lots of scope for adding weighty batteries...
 
Exactly, a 100 mile range at high speed is totally possible on this bike, thanks to the aerodynamics. According to the ebikes.ca sim, i get 39 miles at 33mph with my 52v 19.5ah battery.
 
Guerney said:
Rapidly inflating airbag bodysuits for cyclists is the sensible way forward, enabling us to safely roll and bounce basketball-like over the road and vehicles etc. post-accident.
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I remember the instant-inflating helmet from a few years ago. Seems like it never took off in popularity?
 
Battery platform is built. Real glad that i had this triple bob from ebikes.ca handy.

2024-06-25 07_32_27-Window.jpg

If i had the equipment to do brazing, this could have been simpler and lighter. You're lookin' at ~2lbs of metal.
But i don't mind since the bike is so light in the front, it could use extra heft up there.

The Toecutter said:
Is there a possibility of a faring in its future?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, it will probably be a minimal one.
 
99t4 said:
I remember the instant-inflating helmet from a few years ago. Seems like it never took off in popularity?
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They segwayed into instant-inflating hip protection devices which work the same way, which appear to be thus far, just as successful.

A rapidly inflating 9ft diameter ball fully protecting the entirety of the cyclist would be much better received. We'd be fully protected bouncing all over the road, buildings, vehicles, and other objects, people and animals. It's a dream I hope you will all share. Crowdfunding soon.
 
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neptronix said:
If i had the equipment to do brazing, this could have been simpler and lighter.
Click to expand...
Aluminium or steel, alloys or not... I think you'd risk ending up with a snapped frame while ridden. "Get me a Maxarya Ray 2 sandwich and make it snappy" etc. (Or should that be crocodile? ;)) That way be dragons etc.:eek:
 
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Guerney said:
Aluminium or steel, alloys or not... I think you'd risk ending up with a snapped frame while ridden. "Get me a Maxarya Ray 2 sandwich and make it snappy" etc. (Or should that be crocodile? ;)) That way be dragons etc.:eek:
Click to expand...

I don't mean brazing directly to the frame, no way!
 
neptronix said:
I don't mean brazing directly to the frame, no way!
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I've seen low temperature welding rods work well on another forum, welding an aluminium subframe for a Carry Freedom bicycle trailer platform extension. He used a common garden blowtorch.

Superglue + graphite is supposed to be pretty strong, fiddly to apply though. Have lots of acetone handy, it'll dissolve that mix eventually when it inevitably cakes your fingers.




I wouldn't trust it, you're better off bolting as you have.
 
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Yeah i don't trust any glue to be vibration resistant enough to handle getting rattled at 40mph on 20" wheels for a long period of time!
 
I'll do that if it loosens; i have easily 3x-6x the metal to metal contact holding it in place, and i'm also not at an angle like a usual battery holder is though, and full suspension is helping smooth things out quite a bit.
 
neptronix said:
i don't trust any glue to be vibration resistant
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I wouldn't either.

If you're bonding similar or dissimilar substrates (i.e. wood to metal, ect) you're wise to use epoxy instead. Somewhere I have a photo of a well shaved (butchered?), cast aluminum goose-neck I epoxied into a 24" length of 6061t6 1" tubing - 'twas a steering extension on a CLWB I built long ago. I chose epoxy bonding to avoid annealing the tube. I used T-88. Kitfox (manufactures experimental aircraft) recommended it at the time, for bonding the wing ribs to the aluminum spars. Note: "non-brittle". Just to be clear... epoxy is not glue.

www.systemthree.com/products/t-88-structural-epoxy-adhesive
 
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neptronix said:
I'll do that if it loosens; i have easily 3x-6x the metal to metal contact holding it in place, and i'm also not at an angle like a usual battery holder is though, and full suspension is helping smooth things out quite a bit.
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It's tough stuff. When the time comes for removal, my speculation is that red threadlock can be softened by acetone: tap lightly with hammer, apply acetone, attempt to turn the bolt both ways, apply acetone, hammer lightly etc. I'll need to try that at some point, before reaching for the blowtorch. Bear in mind acetone can also dissolve paint.
 
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neptronix said:
Yeah i don't trust any glue to be vibration resistant enough to handle getting rattled at 40mph on 20" wheels for a long period of time!
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Wrap it with heavy duty rubber band (long strip of bicycle inner tube) and it's not going anywhere. Do a neat job and it should look quite presentable.
 
Zambam said:
Red hot? Don't think so. 500 F with small butane torch softens it to be easily removed.
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Perhaps I have been unreliably informed, or reliably misinformed. Thanks, will try that when the time comes, if acetone doesn't soften the red gunk.
 
Guerney said:
Perhaps I have been unreliably informed, or reliably misinformed. Thanks, will try that when the time comes, if acetone doesn't soften the red gunk.
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To ease your mind. Put some Red on a nut and bolt you don't care about. Let it fully cure and try the torch.
 
next.henkel-adhesives.com

How to remove red threadlocker

Everything you need to know about removing LOCTITE® High-Strength Threadlockers
next.henkel-adhesives.com next.henkel-adhesives.com

Anyway, red seems like overkill for this application (battery mount fasteners?). Blue should work fine.
 
Keep in mind that there's very little holding stress on this mount and 6 bolts that are 2x larger than the 2 bolts that would normally hold the motor.

Trust me, it'll be fine!

1719774175826.png
 
Zambam said:
To ease your mind. Put some Red on a nut and bolt you don't care about. Let it fully cure and try the torch.
Click to expand...
Rather like superglue, red threadlock sets within it's container fast; now a solid useless lump - no chance of a drop squeezed out three years later. Thats a good thing, because my mind being eased would unease my mind accustomed to being in a constant state of unease, I'm not sure I could cope with such radical change.


99t4 said:
next.henkel-adhesives.com

How to remove red threadlocker

Everything you need to know about removing LOCTITE® High-Strength Threadlockers
next.henkel-adhesives.com next.henkel-adhesives.com

Anyway, red seems like overkill for this application (battery mount fasteners?). Blue should work fine.
Click to expand...
I have my doubts about that, it's easy to break blue threadlock. That part of the frame flexes, would flex a little more without the stiffening effect of the mount, between the letter "R" and the end of the second letter "A" especially.
 
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Can we take discussion of threadlocker somewhere else? this is my build thread and i'd like to keep it clean.
 
Thank heavens the long streak of 95f-105f weather is over.. even 6am in the morning was too hot to ride.. Utah is brutal.
I've been able to exit my safety bubble again and get back on the road in the early morn.

Finally finished the mid drive setup... so far, i've found this to be very close to ideal gearing after many experiments. The 36T gear might change to a 38T or 40T so that pedaling speed better matches the ideal motor RPM... but we're very close.

maxarya ray 2 max gearing.jpg

It is geared so that it sustains 30-32mph w/pedaling on flat ground. For some reason, the mid drive is capped at 900w and does not produce the promised 1200w ( should be 1300w because i'm running 52v ) peak.. i'm working with bikee to resolve this problem. I may revise the gearing for slightly higher speed, depending on how much extra power i get.

During a prolonged ~3% grade climb, i could sustain 26mph with pedaling. Not bad. The missing wattage probably brings this to 30mph.

1724252003535.png

I notice that the frontend is juddery and rough on the smallest of pavement imperfections even with the tire at 25 psi. I think this has to do with the fact that i worsened the weight balance & the front fork angle is extreme, thus this little air fork can't intervene. Putting the battery on the front didn't help that much.

22" tires range from 1.37" to 3.0" wide. It's possible with a narrower and taller rear tire, i can gain 8mm of height in the rear. By removing the 10mm shim and removing more meat off the pedal to compensate, i get 18mm of geometry correction, which is far from enough..

Sounds like my best hope is 22" rear / 18" front & I will get, at best, stock geometry that way.
 
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