Recent content by Andy Day

Cheaper camera For much less spondulics you could try the "flycamone2", used by us model aeroplane people attached to flying models to take aerial stills or video. See this: ACME FlyCamOne2 & Available Accessories

Hmmm! I don't think it is as simple as that, I would imagine:- We know the speed controller needs to see the wheel with the motor in turning before it will apply power to the motor. This is probably acheived by what we call hall effect sensors, which are semiconductors which can be turned on...

Well I would imagine the majority of the electronics is the PCB in the box behind the headstock of the bike, this is what I would call the speed controller, but it must also include the hall effect sensors in the motor, the sensor at the bottom bracket if you have a "pedelec" feature on your...

As an electronics engineer but not a Powabyke expert I'd be highly surprised if you haven't killed the speed controller, if you reversed the power supply polarity. It is possible to build protection into these units but is either costly or saps power a little.. I would reckon you won't fix it...

I've always had a bike. As a kid in 1960 ish it was bits put together from various tips - there was a good one at the back of where Woolworths now is in Watford, we even had a a 350 AJS out of there! Nicking I suppose, but we didn't see it that way as 13 year olds, it was scrap anyway! A bike...

Hi Folks, I've been offered a freebee "Raleigh Select" by a mate, he has used it for retrieving free flight model planes at meetings around Britain, but the batteries have died and he has bought a new machine. A quick search on the internet shows it may be a museum piece, but I can't find...

Caused offence? None meant! Of course I didn't mean to cause offence Conal, and apologies to Moon if I did. I'm glad, Conal, your experience of brake wear is different from mine. I've been running ebikes for 4 years now, and have lost count of the number of times I've had to both adjust...

Routine maintenance Oh dear! Of course the brake cables are not coming loose! The brake blocks are wearing because the higher speed and weight of an electric bike imposes higher loads. I'm sorry Moon, but welcome to the world of people who need to know one end of a spanner from another...

Powabyke suspension forks geometry Hi, I've just got some suspension forks on my ally Powabyke commuter as I couldn't tolerate the pummeling my hands got from the rigid forks. I tend to suffer from arthritis and found my knuckles on both hands swelling. I suppose these suspension forks are...

Compare our worrys to this offering! Seen currently for sale on an internet auction site. It obviously would need to conform to the construction and use regulations, which it clearly doesn't, be registered, taxed and insured as a motor vehicle. I asked how I could register it and received...

I think the safety requirements of ebiking are a subset - or perhaps even a superset of those required for motorcycling. Firstly observation, awareness of the surface you are riding on, which constantly changes. Gravel, leaves in autumn, sunken drains and potholes can all catch you out. even...

Roller brakes? I'mm sorry, but are they roller brakes? Look like disk brakes to me! Roller brakes are / were the old rod operated things on grandads ride to work Hercules! Am I out of touch?

Hi. Dependant on the grade stainless can be brittle and subject to sudden breakage in shear, exactly the stress present at the spoke bend where it goes through the hub. It's fine in tension and compression. A few years ago there was a huge scandal when a manufacturer of stainless classic motor...

Don't talk about falling off bikes! It's a funny thing, but you do get used to it! I hadn't fallen off a push bike since 1964 (and I was 18 and drunk) until I came to ebikes 4 years ago. Since then I've been down 4 times, three on the canal towpath. Just getting the front wheel cross-threaded...

Ah yes, windings, that is the most likely solution. Model Airplane motors come with differing windings to give different RPM for the same applied voltage, the lower rpm per volt motors giving more torque and turning larger props at lower revs. Same as the Tongxin does for larger diameter wheels...