---Preparions for the winter---

[Eric G]

My Batteries and controller are concealed from the elements in the metal can under my bike seat so wetness and moisture isn't an issue with those parts.I've packed in some silicone where the wires enter the rear hub.I keep the chain well oiled.I've siliconed where the throttle wires enter the throttle and the same for the brake disconnect.

Twice a year in spring and late fall I tear down the bike and give it a good overhaul.I regrease all the wheel bearings,Regrease the bearings by the handlebars and forks using white lithium grease. Clean out the drum brake and replace what looks like needs replacing.

I've never used the Crystalyte in winter yet,I only got it last spring.The old motor faired well with winter use and I figure the Clyte will do the same.

It doesn't hurt to be extra careful riding in winter,the roads get narrower with snow piled up onto the shoulders.Black ice can catch you by suprise and knock you on yer butt in a second. Remember that if you can slip and slide on bad roads so can cars.

Eric

 

[moggy]

im going to put bike on blocks for the winter and take all the tires off and double tarp the frame and plug all holes

and have the back rims straitened and sand blast all the wheels and replace the pads in the drum brakes

 

[recumbent]

I don't ride much in winter, even though we hardly get snow. But you can dress for anyweather. Found that out doing geophisics for thee years when i was a teen.

 

[moggy]

well the wheels and electronics are are all off . the frame is on blocks and double tarped . I oiled all moving parts on the frame . and greased the cable openings . also sent one rear wheel off to be trued the rim had a ding in it .
and 3 broken spokes . will work on a speed control over the winter & motor mount.

 

[Doctorbass]

-having battery fully charged to 86V and set the current limit to 60A
- having good life insurances :lol:

Doc

Who gets your ebike when you die? :wink:

Xyster, i "plan" to die at around 75-80, so i have 50 years max left for me. Let suppose that you will die in the same period (75 years old), i would not see you at 65kph on my bike!!!! 8) or that could be very impresssive and get more the attention of car driver then me when i run my ebike at 65 in a 50kph zone with car driver that i get the attention...!! :lol: ... eee i think i'm better in french to explain... lol.. sorry

 

[Doctorbass]

Yesterday i ordered these Husky studded tire from Biketiresdirect.com


Innova Ice Husky Studded Snow Tire: 26 X 2.1: 268 Carbon Steel Studs

Total cost for 2x tires + 2x 26x2.1/2.4" Tube: 86.70$
shipping to Canada included

My actual tires are like slick du to some burnout.. :lol:

Snow as come now (20cm this morning ) and it's time to have fun with studs!

Here is a review:

I've done just two snowy rides with my Innova studded tires (Ice Husky style, I think) and they work great. A couple of lessons learned though, thankfully none through hitting the ground:



The tires grip snow and ice better when they're fully inflated. The first ride I rode the tires soft thinking, "more tire will be in contact with the rode at a lower pressure." But I noticed that the softer pressure allowed the tire to mush inward and didn't allow the studs to dig in. After increasing the pressure to full capacity, I noticed that the studs gripped much better on the ice.

If you're riding with fenders, make sure the tires will fit under your fenders. I've got pretty cheap fenders and I had to pull them up a bit with zip-ties to get the tires to fit under without rubbing.

Studs or not, nothing will grip a wet manhole cover.

Be careful when accelerating because stomping on the pedals can loosen the back traction a bit.

The best part of the road to ride in is the part where there's the most asphalt exposed. You get a lot of grip on packed snow, too, but ice is a crap shoot. Sounds basic, but traction lessons in powdery stuff



North Divisioin sells a number of different studded tires and as long as you're dressed in layers, you can ride outside year round.

Enjoy,

Alan

 

[swade]

I decided to go with the NOKIAN EXTREME 294 tires.

I tried them out today for the first time in snowy conditions. There was about 3cm of new snow and some ice in quite a few areas. I ride a hard tail, front suspension with a 408 at 80 volts with a new 40amp 72 volt 4110 fet controller A123's in 24s5p. I limit the amps to max 30 with the cycle analyst because 11.5 ah is just enough to get me up the long steady hill going back home.

These tires were quite impressive. On any snow or ice conditions, it felt like riding on hard packed dirt. Very grippy and predictable almost tacky. I felt confident enough to moderately apply the front brake, even around corners with about the same pressure as I would use on dirt.

DoctorBass has it right with tire pressure, I too recomend maxing out the pressure. With studs though, wet and even dry pavement can cause your tire to slide right out at high speed when applying lots of brake. So you have to be more cautious with aggresive braking and cornering on wet or dry pavement.

My only negative on these tires is that above 50km/hr, the front wheel started to death wobble a little bit. I took it up to this speed a few times on different conditions and noticed it each time. Its not the rim, the same wheel with slicks on the day before was fine at higher speeds (75km down a big hill). I'll have to see if it improves over time, it may be just a break in thing. The tires still have protruding rubber from the tread that was part of the mould they were made from. Once that wears off it might be different. The tires DrBass picked above might not have this tendency as much. The tread on the nokians I have seem more suited to deep snow and dirt than pavement. I'll post an update after a month or two and note if there are any differences. I do ride the bike on one section of my commute down a dirt path for about 5 minutes. This is why I chose the aggressive tread. It'll be foot deep snow or pure ice at times over the winter.

With these tires and warm clothing, I see no reason at all to park my bike for the next 3-4 months here in Calgary Alberta Canada where we have real winter about to occur. My normal daily work commute e-bike time is about 19 minutes. Today it took 23 -- still way faster than the car, regular bike or bus. Winter commute times by car after a normal snowfall can take 60 to 90 minutes each way. Bus times when I factor in waiting and not being able to get on busses that are already full can easily push the 2 hour mark back to my house from downtown.

For clothing, I wear snow pants, a leather motor bike jacket, warm winter gloves and hiking shoes that are winter rated to -20 celcius. On my face I have a balaclava and I wear a toque (winter hat) under my bike helmet. I also wear old ski googles for keeping the skin frost bite free around my eyes and to prevent the watery blindness that occurs at high speed. Under my leather coat, I'll put on whatever layers are needed for the temperature. With this gettup, I'll be fine down to -25 celcius. That's my limit for outdoor activity based on years of skiing.

Another thing that really makes winter e-biking a pleasure is having a decent light. I've tried every sub 40 dollar bike light on the market over the years and they all aren't usefull for e-biking at high speed. In the winter, its dark both ways on long work days. I need to see and be seen. A lot of pedestrians without lights use the paths I ride on so not seeing them could be a disaster. I'm using the Single HID SCMR16 12 degree spot light mounted on my bars: http://trailtech.net/single_hid_scmr16.html With it, darkness is no longer a factor that limits my speed. Their advertising claims it turns the night into day, and for my purposes, it really does.

Here's a decent review of available bike tires. Keep in mind these guys go slower than we do
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/article2340.html




[/url]

 

[marty]

I'm using the Single HID SCMR16 12 degree spot light mounted on my bars: http://trailtech.net/single_hid_scmr16.html

Copy from trailtech.net
Accepts 12-30 volts. Draws 30 watts per light.

Swade,
How do you power light?

 

[swade]

Hi Marty,

I'm using this water bottle style battery:
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3319

Packing The pack is made of 12 pcs 2600mAh 18650 Li-Ion cylindrial cells (3S4P)
The battery pack is installed in 700 mL water bottle for both impact and water resistant.
Voltage Voltage: 11.1V (working) 12.6V ( peak) 7.5 V ( cut-off)
Capacity 10.4 Ah. (115.44 Wh)
Protection Two PCB (6.5A) installed with the battery pack to protect the battery from
Overcharge (>12.6V)
Overdischarge ( <7> 16 Amp)
Short circuits
Two 7 Amp polyswitch installed to limit max. discharging current at 14 A and to protect wrong polarity.

Prewired 4' long Trail-Tech female water proof connector for discharge terminal.
Please click here to view larger image.
Excluded the connector adaptor for charging. Please click here to order seperately.

Max. Discharging Rate 14 Amp limited by two polyswitch
Dimensions Battery size:5.2"(132mm) L x 1.5"(38mm)W x 1.9"(49mm) H
Water bottle: 2.25"(57.15") Diameter x 9"(229mm) height

Weight 1.6Lb(725 grams)
SmartTips You may choose our 1.5A (Trail-Tech Male plug) Smart Li-Ion battery charger to recharge this battery pack.
The estimated charging time is 10 hours
Must charge the pack for only one charge/discharge Terminal (Trail-Tech female plug) pack
Must not charge via discharge terminal for the pack with seperate charge terminal (two pin universal plug), discharge terminal (Trail-Tech female plug)
For international use. Please order the AC plug adaptor seperately.

Applications Trail-Tech 30W HID light with 3.8 hours burntime.
Trail-Tech 13W Single HID light with 11.5 hours.
Trai-Tech 26W Dual HID light 5.7 hours

Warning Li-Ion battery may be exploded if misuse. We are not responsible for any damages or losses caused by misuse.
Please check battery polarity before plug battery into light. Never make wrong polarity connection.
For safety warning please see the link here

 

[pigboy666]

Those Studded bike tires are nice, but they're so expensive. Shops around here sell them for around $100 a piece. I just went to the hardware store and purchased approx 500 1/4" pan head screws. Drilled a hole in the knobbies from the outside in. Screwed up the tires from the inside out. Then used at least 2 or 3 layers of sliced old innertubes to protect the inside if the tire. The result is one Mad-Max knarly looking tire!

Then you'll want to take the tips off the screws (even though the spikes look cool) so that they're almost flush with the rubber treads. Takes a fair bit of patience to make these tires, but it'll cost you about $25-$40 per wheel to get a new tire and screws.

Hooray Winter!

 

[Doctorbass]

!!! Today i received my new studded tires!!

Look at these beast!

268 tugsten carbide studds!

26x 2.1 60psi

I will install those soon and will let you know how they are!

Doc 8)

 

[swade]

I decided to go with the NOKIAN EXTREME 294 tires.

..

My only negative on these tires is that above 50km/hr, the front wheel started to death wobble a little bit. I took it up to this speed a few times on different conditions and noticed it each time. Its not the rim, the same wheel with slicks on the day before was fine at higher speeds (75km down a big hill). I'll have to see if it improves over time, it may be just a break in thing. The tires still have protruding rubber from the tread that was part of the mould they were made from. Once that wears off it might be different.

Here's a decent review of available bike tires. Keep in mind these guys go slower than we do
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/article2340.html

Well its been about 200km on these tires now. They have gotten a little better with some wear on them. Still though, I wouldn't recommend going over 50km an hour on them in snow or on ice. I'll probably try a different brand or tire company the next time I choose tires. For sure though, these things are really excelllent below 40km an hour. I can easily take most cars off the line when its snow or ice.

Been riding every day here in Calgary in -10 to -20 degrees celcius weather. Roads have been snow, slush, ice and a bit of dry pavement. My commute times have risen from 18 to 21 minutes to get to work and from 22 to 25 to get home. Going home is all uphill. So winter really isn't a factor. Takes a bit longer to get all geared up though.

 

[lawsonuw]

I've Googled around a bit on bicycle stability, my guess on why the studded tires "death wobble" at high speeds is lower traction and sidewall stiffness combined with higher tire weight. Particularly the higher tire weight could be causing problems by coupling fork flexing and steering.

Good to hear the studs are working for you. Had a heavy icy snow fall recently where I live. Just walking is interesting

My two cents,
Marty