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Whatever the tallest one is.

Which would be 11t rear to a 48t front crank in my instance.
Good up to about 32mph.

I have so much power that i usually pedal in that gear uphill too. Or i kick it down 1-2 gears.
 
I usually pedal in a gear that allows me to pull chain against the desired resistance and at a cadence that's comfortable without exceeding reasonable speeds for the road and traffic conditions. Sometimes I'll drop onto the front middle chain ring for giving a boost up the hill. I use lower gears for pedaling into the wind.
Out of ~19 gear combinations, I regularly use only 4 or five of them.
 
Henry111 said:
Which gear do you pedal in?
Click to expand...
Depends on conditions. Going uphill? Downhill? On flats? Starting from a stop? Cruising down the road with traffic? Toodling along a canal path? ;)
 
I use the longest 2 gears on the flat and as i only have a 13 tooth smallest cog on the rear freewheel i can just about hit 25mph before the cadance gets crazy. (never did count the teeth on the front crank cog.)

Going up hills is drop the crank cog into middle and use the longest 2 gears on that one... only use the others when something goes wrong and i have no power assist, or im climbing mount everest or something :)

Hopefully once i get my upgraded build done i will be going fron 800watts max to 2.5kw max.. i should only need 1 gear and that will be the longest :)
 
I don't have pas, just a throttle. In this case the thing to do is choose a speed. Then when at 1-2 mph less than that speed, pedal in the gear that gives you the ability to pedal a few mph faster at the cadence you prefer.

In most cases, this is your highest gear for travel on flat terrain. So 48 on the front ring, and 14 on the rear.

To hypermile, you do the same thing, except you set the throttle for a slower speed, such as 15 mph instead of 23.
 
In the R/C model aircraft world Lithium Polymer batteries are almost exclusively used. Their LiPos require ESCs (electronic speed controllers) with a LVC (low voltage cut off) feature to prevent the Lipos from being discharged below 3V. I don't know of any E-bike controllers that have LVC. Yet, I see some guys using Lithium Polymers. How are they controlling the discharge limit? Or is there an E-bike controller with LVC that I just don't know about? I would appreciate any input regarding this subject.
 
All infineon controllers that are programmable have LVC that you can set with a programming cable. 8)
 
Infineon controllers are what most of us use here.

Lyens controllers are great. Check the for sale - new section here.
Cell_man sells some that are well tuned for the MAC and BMC motors.
You can get them from ebikes.ca too.
 
Most folks here seem to be into mountain bikes. It is statistically well-known that most mountain bikes never see a mountain. I prefer road bikes as I never hit those mountain single tracks, and don't intend to. Mostly I ride the paved Class 1 bike trails around Los Angeles.
So my question is:
Is there some problem with converting light-weight road bikes to electric that I don't know of?
Your thoughts please.
Also: How important is suspension when it comes to converting to electric?
 
1) rear and front dropouts are typically much much weaker on road bikes, which is critical. And they also often don't allow for disc brakes, which you will need at faster speeds, partially due to the extra weight an electric setup adds.

2) suspension is important. Front at a minimum, for sure. You can go without it, but the faster you go, the bumpier it is.

You can always put skinny efficient tires on a mountain bike, some MTBs can even run 700c wheels like my trek.
You can also find some mountain bikes that are quite light if you're willing to spend a bit of $ or get a good deal on a used one that was $$$.. which is common since mountain bikes depreciate like Chryslers :lol:

I started out on a roadbike.. then got a light minimalist mountain bike.. then moved on to a more heavy duty mountain bike in the time span of 4 months..
 
For the road, one could build on a cruiser with moderate peformance, but I would not recommend using a lightweight road bike with any hubmotor. A friction drive or other RC drive can be used on a road bike though, and make for a very light Ebike.

Best bikes for a road performance build, would be all mountain or enduro type with 4in F & R suspension and good disc brakes. I use DH and Freeride bikes on the road and mountain, I find that the longer suspension travel is not necessary on the road but happy to have it sometimes, while it is absolute necessity for riding dirt at high speed. I like spring loaded shocks in the dirt, but nothing beats an air can on the street.
 
Throttles on drop bars is also challenging.
 
If you live in a fairly new part of town where the roads are very smooth, I don't see a problem. A geared hub with two bricks of LiPo would be fairly light and compact. For me the big issue is potholes where I live, and the occasional car that forces me to bail-out onto a curb to stay alive. As a result (for my situation) I want 26-inch fat tires front and back, and rims that can take a pounding.

Without full-suspension front and rear...I would occasionally spill my latte, and a commuter these days simply must have SOME standards.

If you've ever just missed being killed,...questions like "do I really need a front disc brake?" are no longer a question.

Although...the final answer to your question might be influenced by my report that I have 3 bikes at the moment...and I want more!
 
You don't need disc brakes. My bottom of the line avid single digit rim brakes can stop me in 10 feet while going 25mph. With an 100lb bike and 200lb rider.

Suspension is.... well stupid in some ways. The cheap ones are just worthless weight on the frame. And the expensive ones are over kill for riding roads. 2.5" cyclops/hook worms are a better investment than a $100 cheap fork or a +$300 decent fork.

What I would like to find is a light, short travel suspension fork that's actually good quality and in the sub-$200 price range.

I'd throw that on a 90's mountain bike frame with a light geared hub, a 500Whr lipo pack, and 2" slicks. It'd be a damn fine commuter bike for around $600.
 
Depends a lot on the riding surface, and your style. add a 15 pound motor and 15 pound battery to a 15 pound road bike and you got......crap. Doesn't feel like a road bike at all anymore and you won't be riding it with the throttle off anywhere.

Take that road bike and put a very light motor, say 8 pounds, keep the battery down to 6 pounds, and now you have some semblance of a road bike feel left. More like riding a vintage bike that weighs 30 pounds, with a bit of help just on hills.

Many of us just load up a mt bike with a big motor and a big battery, and consider it more of a featherweight moped than a bicycle, and are happy with that. It's a better approach for long commutes, where you may be packing panniers of groceries or whatever anyway.
 
Since the benefit to a road bike is the super light weight you will be throwing that away when you add motors and batteries. Besides I would think that the heavier steel frame of a cheap Wal Mart bike for example would be more conducive to the higher power you will be pumping into it.
 
There are e-options that are perfect for just about any type of bike.
My Opinions/Experiences:
- Very few surfaces around me work well for >18mph with road style ebikes that I've experienced.
- Street edges and bike lanes have junk in them that I didn't noticed when peddling only.
- Large tires have more contact with the riding surface and absorb surface imperfections.
- With increased speeds or/and rougher surfaces ... suspension systems smooth the ride and increase tire contact for better control.
- With balloon tires, I experience fewer make me walk it flats, better control and more enjoyable ride. Fat tires rarely fit a road bike frame...
- Full suspension, fat tires, is soooooo nice... works well everywhere!
 
I just put an Elation kit on my flat-bar road bike (Giant OCR3) and loved the responsiveness, really good pickup.
But woeful brakes, had to take it very easy on long downhill runs and did not feel safe. Also pretty harsh ride with no suspension.
So I am transferring the kit over to a bike I purchased yesterday, a nice '09 Specialized Rockhopper, which is still quite light for a MB. Should have enough brakes now and will sacrifice a bit of acceleration, but the top speed should be similar (got slick 1.5" tyres for it too)
Will post up some pics soon.
 
I find that with the current budget woes of most towns the roads aren't as smooth as they used to be so a hybrid is a good choice for me.

I couldn't imagine riding with the 10-speed I had back in the 1970s, skinny tires, tiny seat and no suspension.
 
Amped conversion kit using SLA batteries. This a 36V system.
I prefer not to exceed the original 36V--at least not by much.
Specifically would this work?
Four 5S, batteries (18.5V) each, 5000mAh, 20 C.
Wire one set of two in series equaling one pack to arrive at 37V
Wire the second set of two in series equaling a second pack of 37Vs
Wire the two pack in parrallel to arrive at 10,000mAh.
Your advice please.
 
Sounds correct to me just go to 6s you will still be in spec and warranty of the kit.
 
Henry111 said:
Wire one set of two in series equaling one pack to arrive at 37V
Wire the second set of two in series equaling a second pack of 37Vs
Wire the two pack in parrallel to arrive at 10,000mAh.
Your advice please.
Click to expand...

people tend to wire them in parallel FIRST, then series them.
That way you can wire some of the balance leads in parallel to simplify charging.

wire 2 sets of 2 in parallel (also wire the balance wires of those separate packs in parallel) That gives you two sets of 5S batteries, both are now 10Ah, and completely separate from eachother.
Then wire ONLY the main leads of those 2 packs in series and you would get your 36V 10Ah pack you are looking for. Leaving the paralleled balance tabs alone. (both balance tabs will then need to be connected to a charger for charging. you will need a charger capable of 10S (see other charger posts *especially the ones I have commented in and you will have all of your questions answered)
 
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