E Trike Build

[kajakdan]

Hey all. Making/made the transition to ebike/etrike and want to start a thread. Newbie here so please bear with me. I have a Sun EZ3 SX recumbent and will put on a 48 or more volt mid drive system to be determined hopefully by council here and my own ideas.

Side note: I have been lurking here for some time but there is so much, I needed to filter and condense. Hence this thread.

Currently considering Bafang bbs02 48 volt 750 watt with a big lithium battery and...I am sorting out capacitors too. I live in Hood River OR and we have HILLS...straight up the side of the gorge in my case. I ride year round and have sold my car. I want my trike to tow my kajak to the river about 5 miles away and home when done. I am a big guy at 6-2 200+.

Looking more closely at LightningRod systems.

Am considering a supplemental friction drive (Maybe driven by the capacitors?) for extra oomph or backup when needed but as an entirely separate system to avoid wiring issues amongst other things.

kd

 

[Wheazel]

Am considering a supplemental friction drive (Maybe driven by the capacitors?) for extra oomph or backup when needed but as an entirely separate system to avoid wiring issues amongst other things.

I think this is contradictive, better to avoid wiring hassles by using one system. With the right system you will not need the extra oomph because it will always be available.

 

[kajakdan]

Extra traction in snow and really wet or icy conditions in Oregon mountain areas and the Columbia River Gorge. These hills are miles long and steep too. The capacitor idea is for fun...playing around which is what I get to do as a retired old geezer. I play around with Arduino so the wiring bit is actually for fun too. One of the things I have noticed about the trike is the lack of traction due to the weight distribution I assume. I can "spin out" really easily. A concern, therefore, is actually having enough to pull a load up some of our hills and more control in snow. And yes, I know about riding in winter...rode year round in Minnesota for years. (coldest...29 below)

I am torn about the tires currently on the trike...slicks essentially. Great for speed, efficiency but lousy for traction.

 

[Wheazel]

I am a winter cyclist here in Sweden, with roughly 8years of wintercycling in my bag. Mostly with mtn bike, but the past 2 winters with my upright tilting trike.
The only fall ive made is when i had bad and worn spiketyres on my good ol mtn bike. Since then I use only good tyres like hakka 300, icespiker or similar.

What I have learned from all this:

If you want the best grip possible, you have to use 26" wheels. This size has all the best spiketyres for traction.
With my upright tilting trike, I basically have a wheelbase in the front which eliminates the risk of the front wheel suddenly disappearing as can happen on regular bikes. (the base is still only 50cm wide (~20inch))
These front wheels are 20", but when you have the traction from 2, schwalbe marathon winter is decent, and makes a probably safer ride than a single tyre of the best kind.
Snow thats been solid but then halfmelts and gets to a sludge from the cars crushing it, is a problem tho, and I feel it is worse with bikes that make more than 1 track in the snow.
I dont know any good solution for this, "knifewheels" would probably work best I doubt fat tyres are any good as I imagine they will be all over the place like regular mtnbike tyres.

As for riding characteristics of the trike you describe, weight distribution could probably be changed if adding an electric system.

An advantage with the winter is that it pretty much ensures you cant overheat the motor

 

[kajakdan]

You are absolutely right about the slushy snow. My skinny tire bike did much better than the mountain bike. Rear tires on my trike are 16" so options are limited: I have considered changing them to 20" but dropped that fast not knowing how it would affect the steering geometry. Snow is an annual event but doesn't last long...from a few days for a month and the roads are cleared pretty quickly and graveled here. Spikes won't work but what fun! I sure could have used them in MN but we don't really get the hard, long freezes. Mostly,my concern is wet pavement and big loads. As I said, I want to tow my kajak home and back and the hills here are real killers....I just don't know until I go for it. Interestingly, no shops in town, or anyone I can find locally, has a clue about ebikes/trikes/quads. I am definitely going to start with the biggest mid drive and as much battery as I can afford...probably more than I can afford truthfully! thanks for the feedback...

 

[kajakdan]

You are absolutely right about the slushy snow. My skinny tire bike did much better than the mountain bike. Rear tires on my trike are 16" so options are limited: I have considered changing them to 20" but dropped that fast not knowing how it would affect the steering geometry. Snow is an annual event but doesn't last long...from a few days for a month and the roads are cleared pretty quickly and graveled here. Spikes won't work but what fun! I sure could have used them in MN but we don't really get the hard, long freezes. Mostly,my concern is wet pavement and big loads. As I said, I want to tow my kajak home and back and the hills here are real killers....I just don't know until I go for it. Interestingly, no shops in town, or anyone I can find locally, has a clue about ebikes/trikes/quads. I am definitely going to start with the biggest mid drive and as much battery as I can afford...probably more than I can afford truthfully! thanks for the feedback...

 

[kajakdan]

I would love to post avideo of my complete trike. I have kept a blog of sorts on the process on WordPress since I can do so much more there than here. I went with the Bafang 8Fun, 48 volt and a 20 amp hour lithium battery. Sure have learned a lot:
1. When ordering for a trike, one has to specify some changes from a bicycle build. Longer leads because of the different geometry.
2. Only one brake cut-off is needed. I bought two, one for each brake, but it conflicts with other devices requiring the power lead and is beyond redundant.
3. I had concerns about the sizing of the wire I needed to buy to make the splice...for which the connectors were provided. Council from seller (EM3ev,who are great by the way) said 14AWG was adequate...I went with 10AWG because it fit the connectors nicely. A little solder, slip on the shrink wrap, wrap with electrical tape and power is ON!
4. I had incomplete directions for the controller. Google it, find the PDF and problem solved.

Here is a link to a pretty straight forward series of posts showing the build. Just had a ton of fun.

https://baxterbent.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/motor-arrived/

 

[Triketech]

The BBS02 is a good choice although with one wheel drive you'll eventually want to add a differential.

Big Apple tires would work well; they roll very easy have good wet traction, decent flat resistance, and nice ride.

 

[kajakdan]

The BBS02 is a good choice although with one wheel drive you'll eventually want to add a differential.

Big Apple tires would work well; they roll very easy have good wet traction, decent flat resistance, and nice ride.

I would like to know more about the differential. Of course I will google it as well but any info you have would be great.

 

[Triketech]

Samagaga differential is pretty common on delta trikes. Its a conventional spider gear system, I think Utah Trikes has them.

Also there are a few double freewheel systems floating around.

 

[kajakdan]

Samagaga differential is pretty common on delta trikes. Its a conventional spider gear system, I think Utah Trikes has them.

Also there are a few double freewheel systems floating around.

Cool, that is what I found too. Be saving my pennies.
I also saw a few references to some old Schwinn difs that folks have retrofitted...didn't look too far to know what it takes. CL has some often enough that I will keep an eye out.
d