ElliottE
100 mW
Back in Spring of 2012 I decided to design and build a comfortable cruiser that could pull me (at 238 lbs) up the steep hills of my hometown, Spokane. Furthermore, it had to have the range to get me all the way across town and back, while handling said hills. After multiple design revisions and two prototype designs, I now have prototype #2 in hand and ready to show off to the world. This bicycle was built from raw tubing, sheet metal and various components.
This design has been performing very well, I've been taking it out daily since last week and getting in 20+ mile rides on it, with lots of hills along the way. The top speed is 20 mph, I have it governed to max out at 1000 watts output, it weighs 84 pounds and is extremely comfortable to ride; when I get off the bike I'm not sore at all, something I cannot say for most bicycles.
This design handles all but the steepest hills entirely under motor power, when the hills get steep enough to bog the motor I add pedal assist. I'm able to climb the very steepest hills I've encountered so far at about 10mph while pedaling along in 4th gear, and I'm not having to stand on the pedals, the additional effort I'm putting into the crank is roughly equivalent to what I'd be putting into the pedals while pedaling up a very modest incline without a motor. I'm very happy with the Shumaker drivetrain that I've been using in these prototypes, and the Cycle Analyst V3 is performing extremely well along with the Castle Creations controller, and last but not least the Allcell 36V 20Ah battery has been performing to spec, I've gotten 18Ah out of it in one 25 mile ride and it was still going strong.
Special thanks to Glenn Copus of Elephant Bikes for his guidance and insight during this design process. Additional thanks to Matt Shumaker, and a special thank you to the good people at Grin Cyclery who make the Cycle Analyst.
This design has been performing very well, I've been taking it out daily since last week and getting in 20+ mile rides on it, with lots of hills along the way. The top speed is 20 mph, I have it governed to max out at 1000 watts output, it weighs 84 pounds and is extremely comfortable to ride; when I get off the bike I'm not sore at all, something I cannot say for most bicycles.
This design handles all but the steepest hills entirely under motor power, when the hills get steep enough to bog the motor I add pedal assist. I'm able to climb the very steepest hills I've encountered so far at about 10mph while pedaling along in 4th gear, and I'm not having to stand on the pedals, the additional effort I'm putting into the crank is roughly equivalent to what I'd be putting into the pedals while pedaling up a very modest incline without a motor. I'm very happy with the Shumaker drivetrain that I've been using in these prototypes, and the Cycle Analyst V3 is performing extremely well along with the Castle Creations controller, and last but not least the Allcell 36V 20Ah battery has been performing to spec, I've gotten 18Ah out of it in one 25 mile ride and it was still going strong.
Special thanks to Glenn Copus of Elephant Bikes for his guidance and insight during this design process. Additional thanks to Matt Shumaker, and a special thank you to the good people at Grin Cyclery who make the Cycle Analyst.
