LongRyder
1 mW
Greetings! I've been avidly reading this forum for the last few days and enjoying every eye-frying minute.
My wife has gotten me back into biking around town and taking some longer rides for exercise. As if I don't already have enough projects lurking in the back of my mind, I've started thinking about using a bike for a long commute. I've got to get my weight down (~225 lbs at 5'10"), and longer rides will take a bite out of my gas expenditures. I just bought a 1995 Cadillac DeVille after wanting an old-man car for 20 years.
I live in Xenia, Ohio, and during the school year I'm the pianist for the choirs at the Loveland, Ohio schools. They're both very bike-friendly towns with 40 miles of flat, paved, well-kept bike path between them, and I'm feeling froggy enough to want to tackle it once I get a more comfortable bike seat and the weather starts to cool down.
I have a Diamondback I got used from a local store. I honestly don't know more about it than that, so I'm attaching a picture for general reference. I've had it up around 25 MPH at least and felt completely safe.
I'm going to try to make a front fairing/windshield next week out of some sort of Plexiglass, and I'm half tossing around the idea of a side fairing, too.
But, there's no way I'm going to attempt an 80-mile round trip without electric help. For one, I sweat like mad and I want to keep a lid on that as much as possible. For another, there are going to be at least two hills right when I get to Loveland that I just ain't gonna pedal up.
If I can average at least 25 MPH the whole way with light-to-mild pedaling, it would be worth the build. I can recharge batteries while I'm at the school. I'd like to start with SLA and worry about better batteries later, because I'm not going to charge LiPo's inside a school until I'm used to them. I've seen hints but not explanations about using NiCads in conjunction with SLAs to minimize Peukert's effect.
I'm pretty set on a two-wheeled trailer because I want to still be able to hop on the bike and take it around town without people being tempted to steal a nice e-bike. Also, I have a longer-term daydream of using the trailer as a base for a bike camper most likely made of coroplast, so I'm thinking no more than 50 pounds of gear with small stove, sleeping bag, water, cooler, etc. (I'd rig up jacks to support the frame when I sleep on it.)
I'll have a ton of questions about brakes, kill switches, tires, etc., but I figured it would be easiest to tackle one subject at a time.
The first thing I want to figure out is what kind of motor and electronics I need. Since I'm new at all this, I think hub motors would be the easiest for me to build a frame around, plus I don't want the drag from a chain drive.
What would I need as far as motor and battery power?
The thought of getting two scooter motors like one of Rassy's builds is appealing, since scooters can be had so cheap. Would a motor off a Razor be geared? Another thought I had was that, if one of the motors went kaput, I'd still have the other to limp me to where I'm going.
I was also impressed with what evdeals.com offers for $400, but that would mean only one motorized wheel, since I'm trying to keep that part of my just-made-up budget around that amount.
http://www.evdeals.com/electricrider_conversion_kit_bas.htm
I have read through a lot of threads, but wrapping my mind around new concepts while trying to figure out what I need is tough. Please, sling advice my way!
My wife has gotten me back into biking around town and taking some longer rides for exercise. As if I don't already have enough projects lurking in the back of my mind, I've started thinking about using a bike for a long commute. I've got to get my weight down (~225 lbs at 5'10"), and longer rides will take a bite out of my gas expenditures. I just bought a 1995 Cadillac DeVille after wanting an old-man car for 20 years.
I live in Xenia, Ohio, and during the school year I'm the pianist for the choirs at the Loveland, Ohio schools. They're both very bike-friendly towns with 40 miles of flat, paved, well-kept bike path between them, and I'm feeling froggy enough to want to tackle it once I get a more comfortable bike seat and the weather starts to cool down.
I have a Diamondback I got used from a local store. I honestly don't know more about it than that, so I'm attaching a picture for general reference. I've had it up around 25 MPH at least and felt completely safe.
I'm going to try to make a front fairing/windshield next week out of some sort of Plexiglass, and I'm half tossing around the idea of a side fairing, too.
But, there's no way I'm going to attempt an 80-mile round trip without electric help. For one, I sweat like mad and I want to keep a lid on that as much as possible. For another, there are going to be at least two hills right when I get to Loveland that I just ain't gonna pedal up.
If I can average at least 25 MPH the whole way with light-to-mild pedaling, it would be worth the build. I can recharge batteries while I'm at the school. I'd like to start with SLA and worry about better batteries later, because I'm not going to charge LiPo's inside a school until I'm used to them. I've seen hints but not explanations about using NiCads in conjunction with SLAs to minimize Peukert's effect.
I'm pretty set on a two-wheeled trailer because I want to still be able to hop on the bike and take it around town without people being tempted to steal a nice e-bike. Also, I have a longer-term daydream of using the trailer as a base for a bike camper most likely made of coroplast, so I'm thinking no more than 50 pounds of gear with small stove, sleeping bag, water, cooler, etc. (I'd rig up jacks to support the frame when I sleep on it.)
I'll have a ton of questions about brakes, kill switches, tires, etc., but I figured it would be easiest to tackle one subject at a time.
The first thing I want to figure out is what kind of motor and electronics I need. Since I'm new at all this, I think hub motors would be the easiest for me to build a frame around, plus I don't want the drag from a chain drive.
What would I need as far as motor and battery power?
The thought of getting two scooter motors like one of Rassy's builds is appealing, since scooters can be had so cheap. Would a motor off a Razor be geared? Another thought I had was that, if one of the motors went kaput, I'd still have the other to limp me to where I'm going.
I was also impressed with what evdeals.com offers for $400, but that would mean only one motorized wheel, since I'm trying to keep that part of my just-made-up budget around that amount.
http://www.evdeals.com/electricrider_conversion_kit_bas.htm
I have read through a lot of threads, but wrapping my mind around new concepts while trying to figure out what I need is tough. Please, sling advice my way!