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From Mountain Bike to Electric Trike - fairy tale...

adnikauto

adnikauto

New here
Joined
Jul 7, 2025
Messages
12
Location
Upstate, NY
It's started long, long time ago.... as a regular Mountain Bike...



After some time, bicycle was rewarded with some "electrification" - very small and secondary to power of my muscles :D






It was done in times when not so many people was aware and electric bikes were not as popular as todays days...



250 Watt motor was supported at first by 10 Ah battery, than by 20 Ah battery...

No advance controls, just simple On/Off switch - simplicity, simplicity...




Than another idea come to my mind, and Mountain Bicycle started a new exciting life as a ELECTRIC TRICYCLE....












As of today, most likely Trike will receive another electric motor, this time it would be Mid-drive 500 Watt Bafang 48 Volt /or similar/ drive with secondary Battery as well as bigger front sprocket to let me pedal /keep up with electric motor/ with speed above 30 Mph ....

Any advise, good or bad or anything... ???
Best,

:D(y)
 
30mph might be a tad too fast for your trike. And if you install a bbs02 you won't "need" your front motor.
Though I think a capable direct-drive up front would be a great thing. But that brings up a whole other can-of-worms.
 
adnikauto said:
As of today, most likely Trike will receive another electric motor, this time it would be Mid-drive 500 Watt Bafang 48 Volt /or similar/ drive with secondary Battery as well as bigger front sprocket to let me pedal /keep up with electric motor/ with speed above 30 Mph ....

Any advise, good or bad or anything... ???
Click to expand...
Only that I'd guess it's unlikely a trike of that design / layout will be easy to operate safely above around 10-12mph, maybe 15, based on my own experiences--almost any little steering input as you get higher can cause them to flip, as can road problems / condition changes.

If you haven't already, I'd recommend finding a long steep hill to ride down, where you can clearly see your speedometer while riding without looking away from the road, and try it out at various speeds to see how it feels, icnluding performing any of the maneuvers you expect to need to while riding at those speeds normally in whatever conditions (traffic, etc) you have to.


My SB Cruiser trike took some experimentation to reach safe operation at 20mph, and it's a much longer wheelbase, and lower overal COG, different steering, etc.

A previous trike, Delta Tipper...er...Tripper, ;) that used the same rear end I built SBC out of was very unstable and while I could ride it at 20mph, it had to be slowed quite a lot, like to walking speed (or less) for turns, and even then I tipped it over multiple times. If I had less than 26" rear wheels on it it would've been better, but not by much.

Even when I used that trike kit on Crazybike2, about as long as SBC but even lower with various significant design differences, I almost flipped it just going down the street at somewhere less than 15mph. :(
 
I may have some "need" to complicate things... which is not good. At first was thinking to install 500 Watt 48 Volt front hub motor. Than come up with Mid-drive solution...
But it is one thing I also consider - it is excessive weight.
In double motor and two batteries configurations - whole thing will be heavy like a hell... :(
Decisions, decisions, decisions... plus of two independent drive systems will be redundancy - if one system fail, switch to secondary system... and keep going...
:)(y)
 
If all you need is redundancy beyond your pedal power, then any middrive of even the same power level as your front hub will work.

Then get another of the same Wh capacity battery (Ah may vary if the new drive systme voltage is different...but personally I'd get a new drive that oeprates on the same battery you have now, and then get a spare identical battery so that either one can operate either system at need).


If you have some other need for adding the second drive, then you should sit down and notate for yourself all of the specifics and details of that need.
Then notate all the specifics of where that drive is going to mount on the trike, measurements, etc.
Then notate all the things you wish your existing system could do.
Then notate all the riding conditions, weather, and terrain you will need it to work in.
Then use that info to figure out how much power it takes to do what you want under those conditions (like with the ebikes.ca trip simulator, etc)

Then you can start looking for a system that meets all the requirements, can do what you want, has all the features you want, operates the way you want it to, and actually fits on teh trike and is installable (not necessarily the same thing). ;)


On my system I use two independent rear hubmotors, linked at their throttle inputs so a single Cycle analyst lets me control both with my pedals as if they were a throttle; faster I pedal, faster I go.

My trike kit is heavily modified from original, but it doesnt' work quite like yours--it uses regular wheels with a chain from it's axle to the left one, so it can more easily be done this way.

For your trike kit to be used that way, you'd have to add a subframe to each side with wheel mounts / dropouts, behind / below / etc the present axle-mounted-wheel point, and then add sprockets to the axle ends in place of your existing wheel hubs. then add sprockets on the inboard sides of whatever wheels you choose to use back there and chains between the axle sprockets and the wheel sprockets. Not simple, but not impossible.

The hubmotor itself is simpler than the middrive...but the work to add the hubmotors is much more comlicated than installing the middrive. ;)


On my trike I'm not worried about drive systme weight, as the trike itself, and me, are heavy enough to make it not make much difference, plus the heavy cargo or big dog(s) I built it to carry can weigh as much as the enitre trike, drivetrain, and me, or more.
 
@amberwolf
Yep, you are right about challenge at higher speed.

As long I'm going straight- /road is going straight/ I can and I did try to "fly" on this bike and correcting the path of the bike by balancing my body instead of correcting the handlebar.

I'm fully aware that sooner or later I may go down in case of wrong way balancing my bike, that's way I did order some knee and elbow protectors... but this feeling is like addiction- going fast make me to go even faster, that's way I need to keep up pedaling no matter how fast I'm going. But current ratio is not sufficient at all...
Thank you for words of caution... (y)

P.S. Just hope that the original aluminum frame will keep up with my 200 lbs and weight of my bike with all the "extras"...
:ROFLMAO:
 
adnikauto said:
...with speed above 30 Mph ....

Any advise, good or bad or anything... ???
Click to expand...
Nice lookin' build.... but I'd s-t-r-o-n-g-l-y discourage anything even close to 30 MPH. Two wheels doable... definitely not 3 on an conventional upright.

You ask, I responded.
 
Last edited:
Like your build, really like the two wheel axel setup. never have seen one like that, what is the brand?

My mother had a E trike, could not corner very fast. Had to lean into it, was good for her. I have an tadpole trike, can do 30 but with out full suspension fast is out of the question.

If you want to drive fast on a three wheels then you need suspension and get lower. I'm 4" off the ground, learn not to drop your hands down, lol.
 
Just one way-out question. If you can see that you are going to spend large amounts of money, should you consider switching to a tadpole trike as your platform?

Just curious of what you might consider if you take stock of how far you are going to go with this.
 
@offGridDownUnder

Not really. Tadpole trike is not in my horizon. If I would switch to anything, it would be this:


But it would be a big problem with transportation of this huge, heavy bike... either you need a van, pickup truck with ramp or a trailer... which any of this is not appealing choice to me...
.... beside spending almost 4 grand at once :rolleyes:


So to answer clearly your question: no and no...
I'm happy with what I have, and if any upgrades are coming my way - I will look forward to it...
👍 :ROFLMAO::D(y)
 
Well, I performed a next step to take me into 30 mph territory!
👍 :D (y)

Upgraded Front Crank:
From 20/32/42 to 28/38/48
Before:



After:

 
Nice build!
Maybe mount the battery pack/bag behind the rear axle low to the ground to lower the center of gravity and shift it rearwards. Using a shorter steering stem so your body weight also is a little more rearward will improve the stability. But going 30mph on it will surely be very "entertaining" especially if you need to take a curve...
 
But going 30mph on it will surely be very "entertaining" especially if you need to take a curve...
Click to expand...
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

Already is "entertaining"... 30 mph - only going downhill and relatively "straight"... any bigger curve can take me right to the Earth Orbit...
👽✌️

 
Last edited:
@slaphappygamer
Yep, bike rack look like something... basket not so much, will install when I be 104 age... :bigthumb:
BTW- rack and a bag is a "house" for my bike 20 Ah battery, though... and side panniers are ready for drinks and snacks :cool::p:ROFLMAO: and rain gear ...
 
Well, I'm back... :ROFLMAO: :bigthumb:
Testing my new GPS Bike Computer, and having a little "warm-up" :p



I was so excited to ride along all the traffic on the highway, that forgot to switch settings to miles... ;)




But, oh boy... with a very new crank, I can and I will keep up with traffic, having only 250W front hub motor as well as 2 legs :D and being 64 ...

Now imagine, 200 lbs "greybeard" laying flat on this vehicle, flying close to 40 km/h...
No wonder that passing cars honks and passengers weave their hands - whole hands, not with one finger up... :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

 
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