Gazz
1 µW
Hi all,
First post here, i'm based in Nottingham, England, and have only just got back into cycling after discovering a style of bike i can actually ride for more than 5 minutes without being in severe pain,
That bike is a giant revive semi recumbent bike, it's a bit of a heavy beast, and i also pull a trailer for my dog to ride in when she gets tired, but i love the riding position with the crank forward and backrest seat, having back and joint problems, i just couldn't ride an upright bike anymore.
The version i have is the N7 as above, which has a 7 speed nexus rear hub, the chain runs in the swing arm, 48T chainwheel, chain wraps around about 80% of the chainwheel, bottom half goes over a tensioner that is just a derailleur sprocket on a spring mounted arm, so the chain return is running about half an inch from the power side of the chain (the return part of the chain is actually in a channel in the bottom of the swing arm)
Giant did make an electric version of this bike, mounting a panasonic motor behind the BB,i'm not sure exactly how it drove the bike, no photo's i can find of one with the plastic covers off.
Anyway, my plan is to mount a motor just behind the BB on the swing arm, and have the drive sprocket engage the chain where the tensioner used to, freewheel crank set, and 12x 15AH lifepo4 cells stuffed down the top tube of the frame.
Unfortunately the version of the bike i have has the round seat tube:
and thus prevents me using all the length of the top tube internally, as the seat tube goes thru the top tube, but i rekon i'll still have enough room, if not, i can always do a flat pack for rear rack mounting.
Has anyone ever done this kind of conversion before? i'm imagining a cyclone style motor would be best, or maybe the GNG V2,
I will only be using this bike to help me get fitter, going for rides with my GF and the dog (GF has a Raleigh pioneer 2, probably go for a hub motor in that) so 15-20 mph max is more than adequate for me, would prefer range over speed,
Road/cycle path and pretty well made off road cycle trails are my planned use, moderate hills i rekon.
i'm thinking maybe a 350 watt motor??
The bike has 20" wheels, i'm in the process of fitting an 18T rear sprocket and high pressure rear tyre (hence i've used photo's found on the net, will take my own photo's of the bike when it's back together)
I weigh 115 kilos, the bike stock is about 24 kilo's, dog trailer is prolly 10 kilos, and the dog is 30 kilos, so around 170 kg/375LBS!!! all up weight before adding electric bits.
Please feel free to pick my plans to bits and point out glaring errors (weight being the biggest issue i think)
First post here, i'm based in Nottingham, England, and have only just got back into cycling after discovering a style of bike i can actually ride for more than 5 minutes without being in severe pain,
That bike is a giant revive semi recumbent bike, it's a bit of a heavy beast, and i also pull a trailer for my dog to ride in when she gets tired, but i love the riding position with the crank forward and backrest seat, having back and joint problems, i just couldn't ride an upright bike anymore.

The version i have is the N7 as above, which has a 7 speed nexus rear hub, the chain runs in the swing arm, 48T chainwheel, chain wraps around about 80% of the chainwheel, bottom half goes over a tensioner that is just a derailleur sprocket on a spring mounted arm, so the chain return is running about half an inch from the power side of the chain (the return part of the chain is actually in a channel in the bottom of the swing arm)
Giant did make an electric version of this bike, mounting a panasonic motor behind the BB,i'm not sure exactly how it drove the bike, no photo's i can find of one with the plastic covers off.

Anyway, my plan is to mount a motor just behind the BB on the swing arm, and have the drive sprocket engage the chain where the tensioner used to, freewheel crank set, and 12x 15AH lifepo4 cells stuffed down the top tube of the frame.
Unfortunately the version of the bike i have has the round seat tube:

and thus prevents me using all the length of the top tube internally, as the seat tube goes thru the top tube, but i rekon i'll still have enough room, if not, i can always do a flat pack for rear rack mounting.
Has anyone ever done this kind of conversion before? i'm imagining a cyclone style motor would be best, or maybe the GNG V2,
I will only be using this bike to help me get fitter, going for rides with my GF and the dog (GF has a Raleigh pioneer 2, probably go for a hub motor in that) so 15-20 mph max is more than adequate for me, would prefer range over speed,
Road/cycle path and pretty well made off road cycle trails are my planned use, moderate hills i rekon.
i'm thinking maybe a 350 watt motor??
The bike has 20" wheels, i'm in the process of fitting an 18T rear sprocket and high pressure rear tyre (hence i've used photo's found on the net, will take my own photo's of the bike when it's back together)
I weigh 115 kilos, the bike stock is about 24 kilo's, dog trailer is prolly 10 kilos, and the dog is 30 kilos, so around 170 kg/375LBS!!! all up weight before adding electric bits.
Please feel free to pick my plans to bits and point out glaring errors (weight being the biggest issue i think)