Little-Acorn
100 W
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2009
- Messages
- 130
Whizzed all the way here nicely, except for the rear rack pack falling off due to my clumsiness at bungeeing it on. 48V, 1000W rear hubmotor, 20Ah two-piece LiFePO4 battery, top speed 30mph on level ground. Registered with Calif DMV, and even has its own cute little moped plate!
At one point, came up a long medium-slope hill and stopped at the stoplight at the top (Clairemont Mesa Dr. and Ruffin southbound in Sandy Eggo). After a moment, a fellow on a road bike pulled up next to me, and commented that I seemed to be going up the hill a lot more easily than he had. I smiled, said "Well, I cheated", and told him a little about the ebike. Light changed, he zoomed ahead, I accelerated more slowly, being in high gear and not wanting to lug it at low speeds. Passed him after about 300 yards, after noting he was going around 22-23mph - pretty good for an unpowered road bike. I can't do that, being an old fat guy. Cruised at about 25-28mph, and turn around to find him drafting me. Very cool! I tried to ask when he had last drafted a fat guy on an upright ballooner, but I think the wind carried my voice away. I'll bet he got a better draft off me than off any other rider. He eventually turned at a corner where I went straight.
Used about 9Ah in the trip (12 miles) according to the WattsUp meter, going mostly around 25mph. Some moderate hills, otherwise pretty flat. The bike is charging outside now.
This is the second time I've commuted on the ebike. First time, I got up to around 35mph on a long, fairly steep downhill section (Black Mtn Rd. southbound from Hwy 56), and then found out the hard way about a major pothole at the bottom, in the bike lane. Went the rest of the way to work, put the bike on charge, and when I came out at the end of the day, found the rear tire flat. Later I found a significant dent in the rear rim, with one spoke so loose it rattled, yipe. A whole lot of adjusting later, it seemed aligned again, but still lopes along. Might write to my friends in China to get a new rim and a bunch of those thicker spokes. Can't find either available here.
Skirted the pothole today, and got to work OK.
Didn't get a dent in the front rim, because (a) there's less weight on it, (b) bike has a front suspension, and (c) there's a Schwalbe Big Apple tire on it, 29x2.35. I LOVE that tire. Can't put one on the rear, since the forks are too narrow where they join the bottom bracket. So it still has the 700c x 40 tire that was on it from China. Seems like a pretty tough tire, the pothole mashed it down enough to dent the rim and put a pinhole in the tube, but still no bulges etc. in the tire itself.
This points out to me one of the major obstacles to e-bikes becoming a common, reliable mode of transportation: If you set one up fast enough to be useful (Calif allows up to 30mph top speed), you don't really have enough suspension or inflated tire space to deal with the bumps that exist in many roads, especially at the side of the road. Yes, it was stupid of me to let it scream down that hill, and I wasn't looking far enough ahead for such potholes. Live and learn. But I'll never be 100% perfect, and it's just a matter of time before it happens again, somewhere else. Wouldn't have fazed a car at all, or even a motorcycle, because the tires are fatter and the suspension better.
At one point, came up a long medium-slope hill and stopped at the stoplight at the top (Clairemont Mesa Dr. and Ruffin southbound in Sandy Eggo). After a moment, a fellow on a road bike pulled up next to me, and commented that I seemed to be going up the hill a lot more easily than he had. I smiled, said "Well, I cheated", and told him a little about the ebike. Light changed, he zoomed ahead, I accelerated more slowly, being in high gear and not wanting to lug it at low speeds. Passed him after about 300 yards, after noting he was going around 22-23mph - pretty good for an unpowered road bike. I can't do that, being an old fat guy. Cruised at about 25-28mph, and turn around to find him drafting me. Very cool! I tried to ask when he had last drafted a fat guy on an upright ballooner, but I think the wind carried my voice away. I'll bet he got a better draft off me than off any other rider. He eventually turned at a corner where I went straight.
Used about 9Ah in the trip (12 miles) according to the WattsUp meter, going mostly around 25mph. Some moderate hills, otherwise pretty flat. The bike is charging outside now.
This is the second time I've commuted on the ebike. First time, I got up to around 35mph on a long, fairly steep downhill section (Black Mtn Rd. southbound from Hwy 56), and then found out the hard way about a major pothole at the bottom, in the bike lane. Went the rest of the way to work, put the bike on charge, and when I came out at the end of the day, found the rear tire flat. Later I found a significant dent in the rear rim, with one spoke so loose it rattled, yipe. A whole lot of adjusting later, it seemed aligned again, but still lopes along. Might write to my friends in China to get a new rim and a bunch of those thicker spokes. Can't find either available here.
Skirted the pothole today, and got to work OK.
Didn't get a dent in the front rim, because (a) there's less weight on it, (b) bike has a front suspension, and (c) there's a Schwalbe Big Apple tire on it, 29x2.35. I LOVE that tire. Can't put one on the rear, since the forks are too narrow where they join the bottom bracket. So it still has the 700c x 40 tire that was on it from China. Seems like a pretty tough tire, the pothole mashed it down enough to dent the rim and put a pinhole in the tube, but still no bulges etc. in the tire itself.
This points out to me one of the major obstacles to e-bikes becoming a common, reliable mode of transportation: If you set one up fast enough to be useful (Calif allows up to 30mph top speed), you don't really have enough suspension or inflated tire space to deal with the bumps that exist in many roads, especially at the side of the road. Yes, it was stupid of me to let it scream down that hill, and I wasn't looking far enough ahead for such potholes. Live and learn. But I'll never be 100% perfect, and it's just a matter of time before it happens again, somewhere else. Wouldn't have fazed a car at all, or even a motorcycle, because the tires are fatter and the suspension better.
