With this second customisation under his belt (or should that be chain?), our resident electric bike guru Flecc has unveiled the Project 'T' bike, or Torq Radical based on the eZee Torq.
This latest project has seen him tackle some of the criticisms of the original Torq including its hill-climbing ability and ride comfort contributed to by front juddering under braking and the unsprung weight of the motor.
The biggest radical change has been the movement of the hub motor from the front wheel to the rear. A number of weight-reducing measures have also taken place, resulting in a bike that has much improved hill-climbing ability. Speed freaks beware though, as performance on the flat has not changed dramatically!
Following is an excerpt from the detailed project report on Flecc's personal site with links to the full articles.
Project T bike, the Torq Radical
Having completed my Q bike which provided for all of my cycling needs, I was left with the question of what to do with my Torq. As a completely legal machine, the one thing the Q bike couldn't do was high speeds, and since that was a strength of the Torq, the answer for me was to build on that strength to make an uncompromising fast bike and at the same time, deal with the known problems, the same philosophy that I followed with the Q bike.
First, those issues, all of which are well known. The one that was most important for me was insufficient steep hill ability, since I live in a very hilly area, and I wanted at least a couple of percent improvement in gradient handling to make a 14% that I found difficult more like a 12%. Those who've changed the gearing on their torqs have discovered that it's chain line is compromised, being lined up only in top gear despite the chainwheel being very close to the battery. Another thing that troubles somewhat when poor roads are ridden is the discomfort due to the high unsprung weight of the front motor sending shocks up through the bars, and then there's the issues of front brake judder and the weak rear roller brake.
There was a single simple (?) answer to the latter three, I put the front wheel in the back and the back wheel in the front of the bike. Well, I did warn you that it was radical, but don't worry, no cause for alarm, I still face the same way when I'm riding!
No more shocks up through the bars, a front brake that works without judder, no more rear roller brake, and a motor that's tamed by rider and battery weight.
That's just the beginning though, there are far more changes, some items in the photo are no longer fitted, some changes which you'll notice in the photograph at the top of the page, but others not so evident even though you can see them without realising they are there.
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