Beach Cruiser with 2 hub motors!

[RVD]

I met a guy out on the beach trail today on my commute to work. I was working from home this morning and rode into the office after lunch so I am rarely on the trail at that time. I almost never run into another e-bike out on the trail because usually I'm riding way too fast to stop anyone going the opposite way and since most e-bikes are fast, we rarely pass each other going the same way.

But this time, the guy was up on a hill that enters onto the trail while I was already on the trail. I saw him, he saw me, he yelled at me to stop...so I stopped for a quick chat.

His bike was really cool. It was definitely one of the best builds I've ever seen. It was a cruiser that looked like a throwback harley from the old days. Maybe it was also because he had a black leather jacket on with a small harley style helmet. But the coolest part is that he actually had 2 hub motors running. I've seen pictures of 2 hub motors before (e.g. Ambrose's bike on his blog) but in those cases, both motors were not actually in use. This guy had 2 hub motors (e-bike kit in the front, magic pie in the back) with each motor going to it's own controller and then both feeding into a single battery. He wasn't too clear on the battery chemistry but from visual inspection and what he said, I believe it is a 48v lifepo4 13.5ah. He said that he usually just uses the front hub motor (e-bike kit) because it's more efficient and uses less battery but sometimes if he's going up a hill or something, he'll use both at the same time.

He had a full throttle on each side so each hand controls a motor.

I found the guy's page on facebook. Pictures of his bike are: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.144272935676478.18058.100002813180250&type=3

If he's not already on ES, I invited him to join. His name is Carlton.

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

i get 'This content is currently unavailable' when i click the link.
but then it's happened to me b4 when trying to access an https secure page when i know it's def there.
any idea what i'm doing wrong?

His name is Carlton

is he a doorman?

 

[RVD]

aw sorry. i guess you have to be logged into facebook to see his album.

anyway, here's a pic.

lol, i have no idea what he does for a living.

 

[jkbrigman]

i get 'This content is currently unavailable' when i click the link.
but then it's happened to me b4 when trying to access an https secure page when i know it's def there.
any idea what i'm doing wrong?

His name is Carlton

is he a doorman?

Toorbough, you're showing your age!

His question is a reference to the (very) old US network television comedy "Rhoda". When someone came to her apartment building for her, "Carlton, the doorman" would call her on an intercom to announce the visitor and add some hilarious comment or question. Whenever he would page through the intercom, he would always start "Hello, this is Carlton, your doorman..." even though it became painfully obvious that it could only be Carlton calling on the intercom.

 

[jkbrigman]

BTW: the bike is magnificent, looks like a natural for conversion, with front suspension forks, giant, comfortable seat, beefy frame, Schwalbe tires on 26" rims, rear derailleur, no front derailleur, huge double-height battery, looks like one of those aluminum-encased 48V 15Ah batteries. Incredible lighting - three large LED arrays up front, and the three red lights in the rear. No disc brakes, but the V-brakes have gotten good feedback on the forum (that's what I've got on my bikes...)

I hope Carlton calls in on the intercom with some good performance data!

JKB

 

[RVD]

heh, i'm a pretty old guy myself so i actually understood the Rhoda reference.

I am pretty sure that this is the bike that he used: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/adventurer-folding-cruiser-bike/37700 - yes, it's a folding bike too!

According to Carlton, he sold his car so that he could build this bike. He also roller blades a lot and initially wanted to try to build something for his roller blades (maybe a small motor?) but came online and saw bike stuff.

However, I don't think he's on ES as his bike doesn't have a lot of the stuff that we put on our standard builds such as a CycleAnalyst. However, he did know what it was when he saw mine.

He said that he just uses the front hub motor most of the time since it uses less power and he gets better range but when climbing hills he uses the rear magic pie as well so he uses both motors in those cases. Interesting that he was able to hook everything up to the same battery.

 

[RVD]

I also noticed that I don't see torque arms. Maybe he should get some...

 

[jkbrigman]

I also noticed that I don't see torque arms. Maybe he should get some...

Excellent point. I've noticed while doing my own build that the steel (I'm using a steel-framed bike) is softer than I would have expected. There are some spectacular examples of torque arms on the forums - even a "torque disc" - it doesn't have any arms, it's just a bigger disk with holes that match up to the threaded bosses in the dropouts.