X3 SX Trike Electric Upgrade Advice

[creakinator]

Hi Everyone,

I want to upgrade my X3 SX Trike http://www.sunbicycles.com/product_detail.php?short_code=X3+SX+Trike&cl1=RECUMBENT to electric, mainly for pedal assist. I want to use my trike for commuting to work on a more consistent basis especially since gas is heading up to 4+/gallon. I am totally new to electric anything and have gotten two options from dealers that I've talked to.

Here are my facts:
*220 pound female, trike is 59 pounds and my stuff to carry to work is 10-20 pounds.
*my commute is 10 miles one way. It takes me about 50 minutes in morning and 90 minutes in evening.
*the ride into work is a drop in elevation with only one short steep hill over some train tracks.
* the ride home is my problem. The overall ride is a rise in elevation with only two short steep hills. The main issue is the wind in the evenings as the wind is against me the entire ride home and the high temperatures 90+ in the summer.
* I am looking for pedal assist to up my speed. I would like to pedal without the electric in the morning ride for the exercise. The evening ride would be pedal assist to get my speed up past 10+ so I can cut my commute time. I'd like to get my bike ride time under 40-50 minutes in the evening. I'd like to ride more on the weekends and have the electric to make the ride a bit more fun - cover more distance more efficiently but get sweaty in the process.
*I think I need to use a trailer to carry my work stuff (lunch, work clothes, laptop computer, purse, etc). I'm thinking of putting a rack on the back of the bike so I can an pull a Burley Travoy trailer http://www.burley.com/home/bur/page_416/travoy.html with all my gear as Sun bikes only provides a small basket to put on the back of the bike which will not hold my work stuff (lunch, work clothes, laptop computer, purse, etc.). The Travoy trailer is the only trailer that I can find that will hitch to a bike rack. Most of the trailers need to hitch to the rear wheel or a seat post.

Here are the two options I've been given:
1. Upgrade the current 16 inch wheel to a 20 inch wheel and put a BMC hub motor on the front wheel. I'd have to change the front fork out to do this which I don't mind.
2. Install a Electro Portal E-4 mid-drive kit

Any suggestions? Which is the better option? Is there a better option than what I've been given? Let me know if you need more details As I said, I'm not sure what I am looking for. I get lost in the details when I read the websites as I really don't understand the wattage information so I can translate it to actual riding experience. Is seems there are a lot of options if I can put a hub motor on the front wheel, but I am concerned as there isn't a lot of weight on the front wheel so traction would be my concern - is that a valid concern?

Thanks for you help.

Christy

 

[docnjoj]

My wife rides a USX HD with a front hub and has no problem with traction. Yes to the 20" front wheel and fork change. You might want to look for a fork with disc brake option as several hub motors have a mount for a disc rotor. Welcome to ES and good luck with your project.
otherDoc

 

[dogman dan]

I'm partial to front hub motors myself, so I think a 20" front hub is a great idea.

Sounds like you aren't into speed, so that's where things may get complicated. For a 20" wheel, and a top speed less than 20 mph, a 9 continent 2807 motor would be just about right. But they don't sell that motor winding in 20" wheel. They might be willing to custom build one for you though. http://www.ebikes.ca/store/store_nc.php

Run it on a 36v 15 ah or 36v 20 ah lifepo4 battery, Pingbattery.com is a good vendor for batteries. You could run a smaller battery from ebikes-ca if you could charge at work.

 

[Rassy]

Hi Creakinator and welcome to the forum.

I have also had a X3 USX with a front hub in the 20" wheel and no problem with traction. My daughter-in-law currently has that trike set up that way and she really likes it. My brother has the older but very similar X3 SX which has the box ladder frame instead of the X frame. He is still recovering from a stroke, so no motor on his trike yet, but I see it might happen in the future and I noticed how nice that Electro Portal E-4 mid-drive kit looked in their ad on his model.

I am now partial to a motor that drives through the gears, since it eliminates problems with hills.

However, a hub motor is an easy and clean solution. I would hesitate to recommend changing out the front fork. I have a Bafang that I got from JohnRobHolmes of this forum, laced in a 16" wheel. I used this motor on a BOB pusher trailer and at similar weights to what you mentioned it would go up 20% grades with no problems. I have not checked to see if this motor would fit the SX fork, and since my brother lives over 200 miles away it will be a few weeks before I could check that out.

Issues with the Bafang include a little noisier than direct drive hubs, but since they freewheel they lend themselves to someone that wants to pedal some without the motor. My Bafang is also the "slow" wind made for a 26" wheel so it tops out under 15 MPH. John Rob told me there is another wind made for 20" wheels that would give you a few more MPH's at the cost of the better hill climbing.

I also laced a Wilderness Energy brushed motor (WE BD36) into a 16" wheel for an experiment with that same BOB trailer. It was quieter than the Bafang but had less hill climbing ability, and also was not freewheeling.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I will be following it for my own future use if I should decide to put a motor on my brother's trike.

 

[dogman dan]

I shoulda mentioned Holmes hobby.. He can sell you a nice bafang in a 16" wheel. With a lowish power controller, you will find it just right for the slower speeds you like. You can also get controllers with a three speed switch installed, allowing even slower speeds to work well.

The gearmotors can get hot when worked too hard, but It sounds to me like you wouldn't be climbing the rocky mountains. The direct drive motors I pointed to in the first post have a bit more wattage for getting up longer steeper hills.

 

[creakinator]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will go with the hub motor right now as it seems it will be less changes on my trike except for the fork upgrade. And I can always upgrade to another hub motor as I go along or even throw a chain drive into the mix later.

I'll post again after I get this done later this month.

Christy

 

[Rassy]

Christy, I mentioned earlier that you might be able to put a hub motor laced in a 16" wheel directly into the original fork. Member StudEbiker has just purchased an EZ-1 Recumbent with a hub motor installed into the front 16" fork. You can see a picture and some discussion in his thread here:

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&p=372332&sid=64ed17be5fcd13b1ebf088542fe0951e#p372332

 

[docnjoj]

Actually my wife's old Bike-e has a hub motor in a 16" wheel. If it can be done Holmes can probably do it. Definitely worth the cost to have him lace and true the wheel. That way you could keep the 16" fork. Top speed would be about 16-18 mph with the right motor wind and 36 volts.
otherDoc

 

[StudEbiker]

The EZ-1 that I got this past weekend had a 36h 16" wheel with a brushed motor in it. If you need the wheel, I am happy to cut the motor out and send the wheel to you. They had to spread the forks quite a bit to get the motor in the fork and it looks like they hand drilled the extra holes and the spokes are hella short, but it can be done.

 

[creakinator]

The EZ-1 that I got this past weekend had a 36h 16" wheel with a brushed motor in it. If you need the wheel, I am happy to cut the motor out and send the wheel to you. They had to spread the forks quite a bit to get the motor in the fork and it looks like they hand drilled the extra holes and the spokes are hella short, but it can be done.

Thanks for the offer of the wheel, but I think I'm OK. I contacted my local bike shop and they ordered the fork for me and will install it. Once that is done I'll get the motor and all installed.

Christy

 

[Lemlux]

With these 16" rims I imagine that the valve stem can deflect significantly to the side against the hub. Does that create a stress problem?

I've been thinking about lacing a Crystalyte HS24 hub into a 16" hub and driving it at 72V. In this case the 34mm wide hub would be only about 15mm from the rim generating a large deflection. I've been wondering whether I would have to drill an eccentric hole for the valve to avoid or reduce valve / tube stress.

 

[docnjoj]

For a valve stem on a 16" or even 20" I use the 90 degree bent ones at RV supply places. they only go about 1/2" vertical and then bend 90. I usually keep one on my tire pump too.
otherDoc

 

[kriskros]

a John Holmes loaced bafang,geared motor would be Very good... geared motors freewheel so there is no drag when pedaling [ and peda;ing is important to you] like their is with DD motors... Add a Ping 36v,12 to 15 amp battery , a controller and cycle analyst from ebikes .ca and you are good to go.. i have this setup on aNorco mtb... works greast... NOTE ask John to replace one oif the nylon gears with a steel one..much more durable

 

[Lemlux]

docnjoj:

The 90 degree adapters wouldn't seem to avoid the problem. Schwalbe valve stems on 16" tubes are 40mm long and a 90 degree adapter would probably add about 10mm. Are there any 16" tubes available that have very short stem length before a 90 degree bend?

Again, the distance from hub to rim is about 15mm.

 

[creakinator]

Hi Everyone,

i got my trike electrified and it is a blast to ride. This week I started to ride it to and from work - a twenty mile round trip. My ride in the morning is about 45 mins and home is 50 minutes compared to my precious times of an hour into work and up to an hour and a half getting home. I had the system installed by San Diego Electric Bikes. Pat did a great job on fitting the system to my trike and doing a couple of custom items to get everything to fit right on my trike. i upgraded the front wheel to a 20 inch wheel. The hub motor was installed on the front wheel.

i wish I would have done this a year ago. It is so much fun to ride the trike. I still get my exercise on the trike as I pedal most of the time with the electric to help me get up to above 10 mph and help to stay above that speed.

It was well worth the price. And now with gas at 4/gallon, I should be saving myself over 200/month in gas costs.

Christy