Rucksack battery advantages.

[Phoebus]

That, I do not know. I do not have a frame mounted battery DH bike to compare to...

The pack is made by Boblbee, Swedish company. They can ship out of their US HQ in Las Vegas. The waist velcro supports may or may not be available direct - if not, you can find some internet dealers with them in stock (how I got mine).

They are expensive as hell though - $220 for the base (bicycling) model.

I use the Megalopolis model, and my 700wh LiFe battery fits like a glove - just a bit of room to spare on all sides, after generous amounts of padding have been added to the battery. The smaller People's Delite model may work as well for our application, but I have not taken any measurements myself.

I still think it's crazy to run LiPo in a backpack, even with the protection of this backpack!

 

[johnrobholmes]

Some pretty big lipo bags are made these days. It wouldn't contain the fire fully but it would direct the heat somewhat. A temp probe in the pack would help ease my mind.

 

[MadRhino]

I know that I can lift lighter bikes higher however, so there is an argument to be made that weight on the back will make the bike more maneuverable.

Geometry first, then power vs weight ratio is what makes a powered bike more or less easy to lift.
To know how maneuverable a bike is, one only need to do the basic trial exercises: Never touching the ground with your feet, ride very slowly, lift the front, lift and toss the back on braking, keep it standstill, jump it off the ground with suspension compress and sudden depress, doing so try to place it to a perpendicular direction, etc... All things that will be very difficult wearing a back pack with any weight in it. For a rider, maneuverability is a matter of how quick and precise he can be at shifting his weight, and for the bike it is a matter of low and centered the COG is.

 

[dogman dan]

GM has it right, the correct pack is what you want. Something designed to carry the weight low and tight for skiing or climbing is best.

Gut weight does wreck handling. It does for me for sure. Guys who claim it doesn't are in denial. They may also ride good enough to outride most people despite the gut anyway. I've seen it happen at the track. So they may ride great even with a gut. You may not.

 

[iperov]

how many accidents of lipo burns anybody know? I just saw only 1 on this forum. Why I cannot ride with lipo-rucksack?

 

[MadRhino]

Why I cannot ride with lipo-rucksack?

Nobody said you can't. Just be aware of the risk, and know that it will not ride as good and comfortable as if your batteries were mounted properly on the bike.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

For true heavy duty offroading, taking the weight off the bike will definitely make the bike handle better. However, putting the weight on your back has some serious disadvantages.

For a brief period, I had 59LB of SLA in a bookbag. When you have that much weight on your back, if you start tipping back, you're going down. The bike feels almost like stock, but your body is really screwed up with any real weight on your back.

Mount it to the frame.