GT i-drive 2.0 Build

[Hyena]

Good call, Hyena! You've had a lot of helpful tips lately

That's how I roll :lol:

Something like this, perhaps?

Yep they're the ones I had in mind.

Is there a particular resistor in there to fiddle with?

Nope, fiddling with any old resistor will yield miraculous results :lol:
Once you get it open it up and look at the switch assembly, they usually have a resistor network that determines the voltage. See how that particular one is configured and it should be pretty straight forward. There's probably a resistor coming off each switch point, so you can measure the value for the one in the 22v and 24v positions and it's likely picking something in the middle will give you 23v. Better still solder a pot in there and you can tune the voltage exactly.

I'm kinda tempted to try charging at 4.2V. I mean, really, 4.3V is the no-no land, right? I seem to recall someone saying that charging to 4.2V shortens the life. I wonder if it's true. I was hunting ypedal's thread, cause i recall him charging to 4.2V. I wonder how that's going... Anyone else charge to 4.2V?

I used to charge to 4.2v and then dialed it back slightly to about 4.18v. The other concern with bulk charging is some may go a fair bit over 4.2 if other cells are lagging behind. Mine have always stayed perfectly behaved though. My packs are about 18 months old now with probably 500+ cycles on them and while they sag a little more than when new they still delivery all the kick I need and near enough to all their capacity. To be honest, if they died tomorrow I'd be happy with the service they've given me.

 

[dbaker]

Great tip, Hyena Thanks for sharing

 

[GCinDC]

went in later, the traffic was terrible, and so was i. (on youtube, jazz playing at 480 now. not yet 720.)
[youtube]Q0T3tX6TxJs[/youtube]
(close call w/ ped at 3:35. not proud of it. so don't flame me, please. the side to side motion was due to fishtailing. stopping w/ all i had...)

 

[chroot]

Don't let charge to 4.3v EVER! anyways 4.2v will short LiPo lifetime cycle and stick 4.16v max as possible as last lifetime cycle.

 

[chroot]

LOL @ 3.37 on youtube, I bet this guy who tried sprint across the street and saw you coming. OH SHIT, you evade him close call. haha

 

[TMaster]

3.37... guy was like should I go back or forward! back or forward! Ahhh yikes!!!

 

[ambroseliao]

Hopefully, it will teach him to not J-walk!

Ambrose

 

[Hyena]

Very close call!
You didn't endo though so you weren't really trying to avoid him

As for the shorting the life of his pack by overcharging, I think Greg needs to worry more about shorting his own life span :lol:

 

[dbaker]

Wait till there is ice and snow next week! Those peds will have studded tire tracks

 

[scouser-nick:)]

well done very good self retrain xD i tend to mow people over

 

[deVries]

Very close call!
You didn't endo though so you weren't really trying to avoid him
As for the shorting the life of his pack by overcharging, I think Greg needs to worry more about shorting his own life span :lol:

Dude, that video is "out there". I drove around a bit in DC, so the vibe I'm gettin, but, man, how long have you been squirreling that way on an eBike there? I mean, it's a jungle, and you're crossin hippo & elephants in the squeeze & u-turnin with a lion roaring somewhere nearby red tailing with its claws out to gash w/saber tooth...

You got kids? :?

Better buy a high dollar life insurance package for the family... & have excellent injury rehab insurance too.

Ok, ok, you've been a messenger dude in NYC Manhattan for 10 years or something? :lol: 8)

The jazz was mystical & full of precog... awesome, stay safer, live longer.

 

[GCinDC]

yeah, the second i posted that vid, i knew the gig was up.

how long can these shenanigans continue? the inevitable outcome of such riding would not be pretty.

i saw the story on Matt Dieckmann last night. sobering.

he's talking to me. and frankly, ever since Len's comment:

Has the law of averages ever caught up with you regarding all the lane splitting in DC traffic? :|

i've been meditating (see len's avatar) on hubris, how the gods punish man for being boastful. it's not that i'm outwardly boastful. but how to respond without asking for a lightening bolt? the simple answer is "no, the law hasn't caught up with me" but i'm very superstitious, and wary of saying anything that even whiffs of pride. but my videos seem to be asking for it.

i try to ride in the zone. if somethings up and i'm not feeling it, i go easy, or try to. it's a feeling. i cut tons of boring riding when making a vid, and try to just show the 'dramatic' moments. i guess it's working!

but yeah, i think it's time to do some more 'touring videos' and dial it back in traffic. i'm not going that fast when the studs go on, and i can go back into the woods! but for now, the problem is that it seems i've finally got the HD quality! and feel like i need to lay some more tracks... :lol: i don't know what i was doing fooling w/ the lower res letterbox format. was good to see the foliage... :lol:

that said, here's yesterday's commute, much less crowded, thankfully, a little more breathing room. dropping off the trailer in the morning, and picking up the kids in the afternoon, and the usual nonsense in between: (music at 720 now)
[youtube]8GX6zvRzOlI[/youtube]

 

[Lenk42602]

I don't see boastfulness; I see a man having a romantic experience in an environment where it is impossible to do so by conventional means. Traffic snarls, huge SUVs jockeying for position, people heading to and from their life sentences...It's Washington DC!

Engaging the world through a romantic perpsective always elicits feelings of freedom, special-ness, significance, new strength, new possibilities. I think its why we all have The Grin when we first tear down the road on our machines. Your vids speak to that commonality we all share.

The "Law" operates independently of any romanticism... Long before electric machines, I experienced this first hand on several occasions in Pittsburgh city traffic piloting a pedal bicycle at high velocities.

For me, the first passionate stages of "the ebike romance" provided some much needed air in life sentence I was suffocating in.


Len

 

[dbaker]

It is a great start to the day My ebike commute is often the best part of my day

GC's videos capture the most exciting parts of ebiking. Conside the dramatic camera angles. He edits out the boring stuff.

How much freedom do you feel commuting in your car going to work I enjoy the satisfaction of building and maintaining an ebike and using it to get to and from work I like to appreciate and celebrate the positive aspects, recognize and respect potential problems, and make my way through life with as much joy as possible, leveraging my creative talents as much as I can. I like to extend GC similar encouragement.

 

[Lenk42602]

It is a great start to the day My ebike commute is often the best part of my day


How much freedom do you feel commuting in your car going to work

Here here. Glad I work in a bike shop! Riding on two wheels to work everyday is mandatory!

Len

 

[deVries]

I don't see boastfulness; I see a man having a romantic experience in an environment where it is impossible to do so by conventional means. Traffic snarls, huge SUVs jockeying for position, people heading to and from their life sentences...It's Washington DC!

Engaging the world through a romantic perpsective always elicits feelings of freedom, special-ness, significance, new strength, new possibilities. I think its why we all have The Grin when we first tear down the road on our machines. Your vids speak to that commonality we all share.

The "Law" operates independently of any romanticism... Long before electric machines, I experienced this first hand on several occasions in Pittsburgh city traffic piloting a pedal bicycle at high velocities.

Here's my take on "the laws of the jungle" style of ride shown in the pedestrian video...

Some drivers are going to always remember this eBike rider's daily commute & become pissed-off by the gorilla ride-style & predator-prey dodging techniques displayed in the pedestrian video; not to mention the police issuing tickets for several violations... :lol:

I don't know if this helps the eBike cause where Federal laws are created & implemented? I doubt it. :wink: (I still love that jazz almost hit the pedestrian video you edited, on an empty stomach :lol: , but that can't change this reality viewpoint either...)

This kind of risk taking is guaranteed to end in some form of serious accident. Why?

a) Because drivers don't monitor their rear views enough, and bikes make good "blind spots" to squeeze & squish or cut-off/in-half & run-over. Doors swing open in narrow places -that's a guaranteed bam-slam waiting in that video.

b) There are definitely hostile drivers out there that want to or will run you off the road (consciously or unconsciously)... There are all kinds of these types with different motives and states of mind that drive near you daily! Its just waiting, repetitively on commute, for that random distracted misdirected (or nothing you can do about it, not) moment & you're road rash or worse.

c) There are way too many elderly (unsafe) drivers or visually impaired or spacial impaired or impaired otherwise (fill-in-your-blank) accident prone or text-it/cell-it... too many possibilities, but, for certain, many drivers should not even have a license to drive!

For me, the first passionate stages of "the ebike romance" provided some much needed air in life sentence I was suffocating in.

Yep, but there are ways to experience this w/o the risk and danger of some of this jungle video, imho.

I'm hopefully concerned (not hagg'n/nagg'n) about preventing anyone's adrenaline rush into the shadows (and stains) remaining on the pave ...that was once red in a pool of blood. It's sobering to witness or, fatally worse, experience that, and you never ever forget it, or get it out of your mind randomly... it's formed into a permanent mind stain, pain, or much worse...

:?

 

[deVries]

i try to ride in the zone. if somethings up and i'm not feeling it, i go easy, or try to. it's a feeling. i cut tons of boring riding when making a vid, and try to just show the 'dramatic' moments. i guess it's working!

Sorry if I've been APITA.

Question: How do you get the camera mounted to be so vibration free? The video rocks! ...but no vibration. How so?

 

[Hyena]

It is a great start to the day My ebike commute is often the best part of my day

Likewise. I don't get the opportunity to ride to work every day but on the days I do ride I look forward to going to work and feel fresher and more awake than when I've just sat in traffic for 40 minutes.

I like your videos too Greg, and coming from someone who's also a high speed maniac with young kids to come home to, I think allowing an extra 5 minutes for your commute and doing a little less chopping and changing will be great for your longevity :lol:

 

[GCinDC]

no worries, guys. i appreciate you concern. i decided to get off the street!
[youtube]P1kBJdxdRKA[/youtube]
so cold there weren't many peds. very bumpy path! but rear mount is the least jerky. seat tube very stable compared to the front forks. camera might have built in image stabilization.

ps. NOW i realize that iMovie exports a lower res. the raw vid is 1920x1080, but it exports MAX 1080x720 to youtube. i just discovered i can save it to quicktime unscaled, 1920x1080. this means all my old stuff is low res, so... oh well.

makes me think back to the old days of this thread, almost a year ago. on page 5, a scene of the good old days!:

that was before i realized what happens to that tape in the summer time! gunky!

 

[grindz145]

Sweet video. It does look really stable considering. I'm so jealous of the lack of snow you have

 

[Hyena]

Nice video, it's hard to believe you have those cool trails like that so close to the rat race of your previous vids. I'd definitely be taking that detour on my way to work if it was an option 8)

 

[GCinDC]

Thanks, guys.

I just had Josh Zepps over interviewing the wife and me about, you guessed it, ebikes. they filmed us taking the kids to school, chatting back at home and some show & tell. i'm a bit nervous they're going to hype the speed part, which is guaranteed to anger some folks in this town after it's broadcast on CH 7, sunday's energyNow program. i don't want the attention, and was hoping just to promote ebikes but the story kinda spiraled... we'll see. should air in feb. details later.

 

[Garrick_s]

just checked out some of the vids on You Tube.
Your "3kW Meditation on Hubris"..... I really liked the passing of the peddle biker....like she was standing still.
I swear I could see it her eyes....."WTF was that!?!?!"
AND your kids..... What I would have given to have my dad pulling me around like that at that age.

good vids. Keep it up.
Remember........when on two wheels, it's not IF your going to go down, it's WHEN.
I learned that on dirtbikes and it applies to EB's as well.
Be careful. Cars and pavement have no mercy for us two wheelers.

G

 

[GCinDC]

thanks, i hear ya. i've been down many times before and have no intention of going down again... or every intention of watching like a hawk for anything that could toss me. like meditation, it's an exercise in concentration...

anyway, fyi: i post all the ebike ones here. they'll open in youtube, but i don't make a lot public on youtube, if you were to look up my channel, for example. i only post this stuff for you guys, in other words. (grandparents can't handle it...)

nothing special, but some bit of the shoot, from MY perspective. i was hauling kids, wife had baby and suv up front filming ride to school... lol:
[youtube]dKfApNffoH4[/youtube]

 

[grindz145]

Thats fantastic! Podcast, local TV, what's next? I'd call Letterman...