was away...am back!

[RVD]

ok, i was gone for awhile but i'm back.

quick history. i got into ebikes back in 2011 and built a few bikes for myself and a few friends.

i was building bikes back then with kits from ebikekits and motors from crystalyte using controllers from lyen, batteries (lipo from hobbyking, lifepo4 from ping), etc.

my first ebike: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=27525
my second ebike: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34958

in 2012, i moved from Southern California to Seattle for a new job. i had to take apart all of my bikes for the movers and i'm say to admit that to this day almost 3 years later, the bikes are still in pieces. i don't really have the skills, time, or inclination to put all of this stuff back together again. i also had 2 more kids (3 total), etc. so i guess life got in the way.

i was never that great of a bike mechanic to begin with and i think putting these bikes together is actually a little over my head. even back then, i always had brakes rubbing and stuff like that so my brakes weren't even working most of the time (on my main ebike, i had front hydraulic disc brakes + regen so that's all i used to stop. when i installed the hydraulic brakes, i got fluid all over myself and that was a massive pain to get off.

anyone know of a decent ebike friendly bike shop in the seattle area that can help me put these bikes back together again? they'd have to install the rear hub wheel, install rear brakes (cantilever), install front brakes (hydraulic disc) on the main bike. on the folding bike, they'd have to install the rear hub wheel and that's it. once these main parts are in, i should be able to do the rest.

for batteries, i used a 40v 20ah lifepo4 for commuting when I was in LA (i didn't want to risk a lipo fire at work) but it really threw the weight off on the bike. i like the lack of weight of lipos. do people still use lipos? i probably need to get back up to speed on advancements over the last 3 years (a123s where getting popular back then).

RVD.

 

[Dauntless]

Oh, but you know something changed while you were gone, right?

 

[wineboyrider]

Welcome back! Dauntless is an a###!

 

[Dauntless]

An academic. Very much so. Your sense of awe is, of course, s###!

 

[RVD]

looks like i have a lot of reading to do.

on the ev front since 2012 i have:

1) bought an electric car (nissan leaf) and use it to commute every day
2) bought an electric skateboard - zboard sf special - waste of money because i realize that i'm not athletic enough to ride it

 

[Dauntless]

bought an electric skateboard - zboard sf special - waste of money because i realize that i'm not athletic enough to ride it

Interesting you say you need to be "Athletic." Is it small? Low powered? Feeling a balance problem because you haven't been skateboarding in awhile? (The problems I anticipate.) I have thoughts in that direction because parking when I go into LA can be a matter of a mile or more of a walk once I find a spot.

 

[Chalo]

Maybe your thoughts should wander in the direction of how to cope with closed head injury, because an electric assist banana peel mobile looks like the express lane to concussion.

 

[Dauntless]

In my lifetime they never STOPPED saying that about a regular skateboard. But it has hardly been a regular occurrence. Maybe the comet will wipe us all out before the accident.

 

[RVD]

lol, the Zboard seems like it would help if you have a background in skateboarding. I have never skateboarded in my life and thought it might be fun and easier to use this thing but turns out that it's hard and it's hard to learn at my age...

(p.s. sorry for the really late reply)

 

[nutnspecial]

electric assist banana peel mobile looks like the express lane to concussion.

I had to laugh out loud- that's me for sure on one of those dastardly contraptions.

Welcome back OP! Sounds like a 'normal' bikeshop will be able to take care of most of your concerns. Seek out one off the beaten path, but with some intelligent people and they might be more of a help than you'd think in terms of any 'e' stuff.

 

[Dauntless]

The funniest part is that's from the same guy who's so vocal opposing helmets.

 

[nutnspecial]

Nice one :lol: ! Been there done that. With a little practice a tidy front flip is possible hahhah-

 

[striider]

Chalo might be on to something. I had a nice front flip off a skateboard in my teens...only time I have ever been unconscious (from impact, not booze ) and the last time I ever rode one of those things.

 

[RVD]

I found a LBS that works with electric bikes. They seem pretty good and they were able to fix some issues that I had with my folding bike conversion. The biggest problem is that the rear hub wheel is a little too big to fit in the dropouts. I was able to spread them to get it to fit but there was a lot of fender and brake rub, etc. They were able to true up the wheel and make some adjustments to get everything to fit well enough so that they bike runs now without rubbing on the sides. The freewheel is still too big though so the chain doesn't have enough space on the highest gear and the alignment / setup isn't right so the chain drops if you go to lowest gear. They adjusted the derailleur as much as they could but I don't need to shift that flawlessly so I think I'm fine just using the middle 5 gears or so instead of all 7.

I took my full sized bike there to get them to fix up my hydraulic brakes and install new hydraulic brakes for the rear. I have never been able to get rear brakes working on that bike so I always just use the electronic brakes to cut the engine + regen + front disc brake to stop...probably not the safest setup. We'll see how it comes back (just dropped it off yesterday and hope to pick it up today or tomorrow).

I did have one scary situation on that bike once when my throttle went crazy and the throttle basically went into full throttle mode on it's own. Luckily I wasn't actually riding the bike (or at a stop sign or something like that). I was standing next to the bike after a ride so after the bike went crazy for a split second, I used my kill wire (glad I set one up) to kill the battery going to the controller to stop it. Some folks here at the time told me that if I was out on the street, my electronic brake would have stopped it but still would have probably freaked me out. I bought a much better throttle to replace the old chinese one after that.

 

[The fingers]

The last time I hit a curb I landed on soft, wet grass. On my first 10 speed as a kid, I hit a curb and landed in the street crying. A kindly little old lady came out of her house and tried to offer me a cold glass of milk. I thought she was going to poison me or something so I rode away in the opposite direction of my house. :lol: