The Student-Made Industrial-Strength Electric Tricycle
- Thread starter MikeFairbanks
- Start date
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
It was planned in the fifties and built in the sixties.
Here's a cool tidbit of information that some may or may not find interesting, but I take pride in it: Peachtree City has never had segregation or segregated schools. It was built after all that segregation nonsense, so it has a fresh start, so-to-speak. I think that means a lot because people here get along really well, regardless of background. There's a good amount of diversity, not just with race, but with culture as well. On my culdesac you have us (regular run-of-the mill white family with several generations in America); our next door neighbors are Koreans who were born in Korea, moved to Brazil, Canada, and now are here. Their daughter and my daughter became best friends. Across the street is a family of Venezuelans who moved in about the same time we did, and next door to them is a Hindu family from Pakistan. Our new next door neighbors on the other side are Columbian by birth. Lots of different people, and everyone gets along well. Professionals working and living together and having a great time. We all trust each other and look after each other's kids.
The golf cart thing is the secret. Chris didn't get to see a lot of how people interact because it was really cold and raining when he came down. When the weather is sunnier and warmer, everyone smiles and waves to each other as they pass.
It's like one of our mayors used to say: "Life is better at 19mph."
We even have a 2000 seat amphitheater (on the cart path) and my wife and I went to see the B52s this summer. Great show.
Last thing: Peachtree City has the lowest crime rate in the entire USA for cities under 100,000 people. The national average is 100. Washington DC is about 400 (which is four times the national average). Cocoa Beach (for reference) is a little higher than average at about 125. Not bad.
Peachtree City: 15 (7 times less than the national average).
We're not without our problems, though. Here's our newspaper. It covers the entire county, but focuses quite a bit on peachtree city: http://www.thecitizen.com
Here's a cool tidbit of information that some may or may not find interesting, but I take pride in it: Peachtree City has never had segregation or segregated schools. It was built after all that segregation nonsense, so it has a fresh start, so-to-speak. I think that means a lot because people here get along really well, regardless of background. There's a good amount of diversity, not just with race, but with culture as well. On my culdesac you have us (regular run-of-the mill white family with several generations in America); our next door neighbors are Koreans who were born in Korea, moved to Brazil, Canada, and now are here. Their daughter and my daughter became best friends. Across the street is a family of Venezuelans who moved in about the same time we did, and next door to them is a Hindu family from Pakistan. Our new next door neighbors on the other side are Columbian by birth. Lots of different people, and everyone gets along well. Professionals working and living together and having a great time. We all trust each other and look after each other's kids.
The golf cart thing is the secret. Chris didn't get to see a lot of how people interact because it was really cold and raining when he came down. When the weather is sunnier and warmer, everyone smiles and waves to each other as they pass.
It's like one of our mayors used to say: "Life is better at 19mph."
We even have a 2000 seat amphitheater (on the cart path) and my wife and I went to see the B52s this summer. Great show.
Last thing: Peachtree City has the lowest crime rate in the entire USA for cities under 100,000 people. The national average is 100. Washington DC is about 400 (which is four times the national average). Cocoa Beach (for reference) is a little higher than average at about 125. Not bad.
Peachtree City: 15 (7 times less than the national average).
We're not without our problems, though. Here's our newspaper. It covers the entire county, but focuses quite a bit on peachtree city: http://www.thecitizen.com
John in CR
100 TW
"Built in the 60's". My only question is in 40+ years why hasn't it been copied all over?
It sounds like a great place to raise a family.
John
It sounds like a great place to raise a family.
John
dogman dan
1 PW
$$$$$. Here they are continuing the practice of only building one side of planned streets that were intended to be 4 lane. Eventually the other side develops, but somehow the other side never quite gets finished to plan.... You end up with one side two lane with a sidewalk and curb , and the other side a big ditch instead of two more lanes and sidewalk. Often one side is built for a few blocks, then the road swerves over to meet the pavement where the other side was built for a few blocks. The lots are getting smaller and smaller. No way that kind of land is going to bike paths in the new century. 60's though, land was cheap!
We have 8 miles of major arterial road here, served by buses, but only 10% of it has sidewalk so you can get to the bus stop. Someday the city will have to eat the cost of bringing it to ADA standards after somebody sues. That project was built 10 years ago, so clearly it's not happening for it to be completed.
We have 8 miles of major arterial road here, served by buses, but only 10% of it has sidewalk so you can get to the bus stop. Someday the city will have to eat the cost of bringing it to ADA standards after somebody sues. That project was built 10 years ago, so clearly it's not happening for it to be completed.
e-motion
1 mW
Mike
Looks like you have a very impressive electric tricycle. I have been toying with the idea of electrifying a tricycle. I have an electric bike that I made and it works well. An electric tricycle would be a bit more practical for everyday use. I would like to check out your tricycle to see how it works and performs. It seams that it would be perfect for the paths in Peachtree City. I too live in Peachtree city. I own the local bike shop, Bicycles unlimited. If you want you can bring it by the shop and my guys can tune it up to make sure everything on it work perfectly for no charge.
Brad
Looks like you have a very impressive electric tricycle. I have been toying with the idea of electrifying a tricycle. I have an electric bike that I made and it works well. An electric tricycle would be a bit more practical for everyday use. I would like to check out your tricycle to see how it works and performs. It seams that it would be perfect for the paths in Peachtree City. I too live in Peachtree city. I own the local bike shop, Bicycles unlimited. If you want you can bring it by the shop and my guys can tune it up to make sure everything on it work perfectly for no charge.
Brad
Uncle Ron
100 W
Mike, extra stamina, yes, extra torque, no. Torque is a function of voltage and peak amperage which are set by your battery packs and controller. You will have the max torque that your controller will allow at 36 volts with two packs wired in parallel for far more than twice as long but it won't be more torque.MikeFairbanks said:
My experience with a similar trike with two 36v, 12AH SLA battery packs in parallel is that you will get perhaps 20-30% more high performance range than using the packs one after another. The fall off of output from SLAs on an e-bike is pretty gruesome, long before the pack is anywhere close to being exhausted. SLAs are designed for much lower current draw than e-bikes need and that is why they deliver only a portion of their nominal amp hours For Example with one battery pack I can go about 8 miles (mostly flat terrain) and still have close to full output for the motor. Over the next 5 miles the output is on a pretty steep curve downwards falling to walking speed with the trike. Using two packs in parallel I'll get around 22 miles of high performance range. The drop off of output happens slower and I am around 30 miles before being down to walking speed. Each battery pack does half the work and thus their output performs better and longer. This makes SLAs on a trike a valuable battery option that is nearly worthless on an e-bike for any thing but short trips, but it takes two packs to do it.
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
e-motion said:
Hey, cool.
Sorry it took so long to respond. We've been in Orlando for a week.
You and I attend the same church as well, and I think my wife knows your wife. I'll bring the Trike by this week.
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
FINAL UPDATE UNTIL NEW BLOG:
The Tricycle is fully functional. Yesterday, Friday the 7th of January, 2011, I rode it to work and back for the first time. It worked great. Smooth, strong, and fun. It took half an hour (that time will improve to about twenty to twenty-five minutes). The only downsides were that I didn't have a good enough headlamp (that will be solved this weekend) and my ears were cold. It was 27 degrees out, but I was perfectly comfortable in what I was wearing (with the exception of exposed ears). My gloves, coat, and pants worked great. I'll purchase a cap to cover my ears and then I'll be set.
THIS IS THE END OF THIS THREAD FOR ME: I'm starting a daily blog on Monday to detail the daily commute by electric tricycle. Feel free to follow it, recommend it, etc. by following this link: http://electrictricycle.blogspot.com/2011/01/student-built-electrical-tricycle-phase.html
I'll still be at Endless-Sphere, of course, to talk about technical stuff and fun stuff, but I won't be blogging about the project anymore (other than just chitchat here and there). The daily blog will take care of detailing the daily commute (phase three) of the project.
Phase one was getting the grant and ordering the parts.
Phase two was the construction and testing of the tricycle. That is complete.
Phase three started yesterday, but officially begins Monday: The Daily Commute to and from work by student-built electrical industrial tricycle. Only rain and snow will keep me from riding daily (we don't get much of either around here).
Monday, January 10th through June 1st I will be riding the tricycle to work and back, five miles each way.
I want to give out another big thank you to the following:
Fayette/Coweta EMC for the $1500 grant: http://www.utility.org/ForYourCommunity_OR_BrightIdeas.aspx
Worksman Industrial Tricycles for selling us (with a rush order) a fantastic industrial tricycle: http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/movers.html
Jason and EbikeKits.com for an outstanding and effective product that came as a complete, easy-to-install package. Not only is their product outstanding, but their service was incredibly prompt and personal. Thank you so much: http://www.e-bikekit.com/
And thank you to the Docs, IceCube57, and everyone else who gave outstanding advice. The project has been an incredible success from concept to completion. We have a working electrical industrial tricycle that is fun, functional, and rides like a dream.
Finally, a big thank you to the kids of Crabapple Lane Elementary School for having such an enthusiastic attitude and for doing such a great job of assembling the tricycle, and installing the hub motor and electrical bike kit. You kids did a great job.
I'll continue to see all you E-gearheads on Endless-sphere, and join me at Blogger.com: http://electrictricycle.blogspot.com/2011/01/student-built-electrical-tricycle-phase.html
Have a great day, and KEEP ON BIKING!
Mike Fairbanks
The Tricycle is fully functional. Yesterday, Friday the 7th of January, 2011, I rode it to work and back for the first time. It worked great. Smooth, strong, and fun. It took half an hour (that time will improve to about twenty to twenty-five minutes). The only downsides were that I didn't have a good enough headlamp (that will be solved this weekend) and my ears were cold. It was 27 degrees out, but I was perfectly comfortable in what I was wearing (with the exception of exposed ears). My gloves, coat, and pants worked great. I'll purchase a cap to cover my ears and then I'll be set.
THIS IS THE END OF THIS THREAD FOR ME: I'm starting a daily blog on Monday to detail the daily commute by electric tricycle. Feel free to follow it, recommend it, etc. by following this link: http://electrictricycle.blogspot.com/2011/01/student-built-electrical-tricycle-phase.html
I'll still be at Endless-Sphere, of course, to talk about technical stuff and fun stuff, but I won't be blogging about the project anymore (other than just chitchat here and there). The daily blog will take care of detailing the daily commute (phase three) of the project.
Phase one was getting the grant and ordering the parts.
Phase two was the construction and testing of the tricycle. That is complete.
Phase three started yesterday, but officially begins Monday: The Daily Commute to and from work by student-built electrical industrial tricycle. Only rain and snow will keep me from riding daily (we don't get much of either around here).
Monday, January 10th through June 1st I will be riding the tricycle to work and back, five miles each way.
I want to give out another big thank you to the following:
Fayette/Coweta EMC for the $1500 grant: http://www.utility.org/ForYourCommunity_OR_BrightIdeas.aspx
Worksman Industrial Tricycles for selling us (with a rush order) a fantastic industrial tricycle: http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/movers.html
Jason and EbikeKits.com for an outstanding and effective product that came as a complete, easy-to-install package. Not only is their product outstanding, but their service was incredibly prompt and personal. Thank you so much: http://www.e-bikekit.com/
And thank you to the Docs, IceCube57, and everyone else who gave outstanding advice. The project has been an incredible success from concept to completion. We have a working electrical industrial tricycle that is fun, functional, and rides like a dream.
Finally, a big thank you to the kids of Crabapple Lane Elementary School for having such an enthusiastic attitude and for doing such a great job of assembling the tricycle, and installing the hub motor and electrical bike kit. You kids did a great job.
I'll continue to see all you E-gearheads on Endless-sphere, and join me at Blogger.com: http://electrictricycle.blogspot.com/2011/01/student-built-electrical-tricycle-phase.html
Have a great day, and KEEP ON BIKING!
Mike Fairbanks
greenerwheels
10 W
Hi Mike and welcome to the world of worksman trikes, I'm sorry I didn't see your post eariler, there's a lot I can share, but it sounds like you're learning it on your own!
Here's a link to my build. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16595
My trike is older and has both wheels driven by a differential, I think yours might be single wheel driven, so this may not be helpful, on mine the wheel hub and the axle have keyways that lock the wheel to the hub, a nice aluminum cap and cap screw is all the holds the wheel on the axle, nicely done. If you are missing the key on one of the wheels, or the axle isn't pushed far enough into the hub, its possible for the wheel to only be supported on one side of the hub, it might be fine without weight on the wheel but riding it could allow for your bumping as the axle rotates. Again your rear axle construction may not be the same as mine.
Worksman have been really helpful when I have questions and considering my trike was built in the 80's they still are very supportive.
If I were to build another I would probably consider a geared front wheel as opposed to the ebikekit direct drive, mostly because the direct drive is way too fast for the handling of the bike, even with the limiter connected. I built mine originally to sell, and I don't think I'd be comfortable putting a retiree on it and letting them go. I will say its a lot of fun commuting on it as more than once I've passed lycra suited riders only to have them come up to me and have them stare at my bike at the next light.
I use SLA batteries on the bike and they do just fine as weight isn't a huge issue with this bike.
As for feeling the ride, I'd suggest either a set of Maxis Hookworm tires or Schwalbe Big Apples, my Hookworms really smooth out the ride.
Finally you shouldn't rely solely on the coaster brake, optimally a disc up front would be nice, I'm using center pull brakes with kool stop brake pads.
If there is there anything I can do to help please let me know, I really enjoy the old bike.
Take care
Greenerwheels
Here's a link to my build. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16595
My trike is older and has both wheels driven by a differential, I think yours might be single wheel driven, so this may not be helpful, on mine the wheel hub and the axle have keyways that lock the wheel to the hub, a nice aluminum cap and cap screw is all the holds the wheel on the axle, nicely done. If you are missing the key on one of the wheels, or the axle isn't pushed far enough into the hub, its possible for the wheel to only be supported on one side of the hub, it might be fine without weight on the wheel but riding it could allow for your bumping as the axle rotates. Again your rear axle construction may not be the same as mine.
Worksman have been really helpful when I have questions and considering my trike was built in the 80's they still are very supportive.
If I were to build another I would probably consider a geared front wheel as opposed to the ebikekit direct drive, mostly because the direct drive is way too fast for the handling of the bike, even with the limiter connected. I built mine originally to sell, and I don't think I'd be comfortable putting a retiree on it and letting them go. I will say its a lot of fun commuting on it as more than once I've passed lycra suited riders only to have them come up to me and have them stare at my bike at the next light.
I use SLA batteries on the bike and they do just fine as weight isn't a huge issue with this bike.
As for feeling the ride, I'd suggest either a set of Maxis Hookworm tires or Schwalbe Big Apples, my Hookworms really smooth out the ride.
Finally you shouldn't rely solely on the coaster brake, optimally a disc up front would be nice, I'm using center pull brakes with kool stop brake pads.
If there is there anything I can do to help please let me know, I really enjoy the old bike.
Take care
Greenerwheels
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