Recent content by climo

I'm considering buying a Bafang, Tongsheng or Sunstar to go on a recumbent trike. Ideally a torque sensing motor so that probably counts the Bafang out. My wife is concerned about noise levels especially given that the mounting position is directly in front of you. I know that the Sunstar is...

I've had rohloffs for 10 years and you're right. However, for me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. On a 'bent trike there's not a problem. If you misgear you just stop, select the gear and go, No balancing, no lifting the rear wheel.

Thanks for the succinct explanation. I'll almost certainly leave the Tongsheng as is and therefore effectively have a larger battery.

I know that 48v is more powerful than 36v, though no idea why (I'm no electrician). What effect does that have on the battery range - does it do less miles for a given Ah battery? How many hours does a battery take to charge?

I'm seriously impressed at your speeds. 26" trikes are faster than 20" and your Azub is lighter than my HP Velotechnik but that's still very impressive. Sounds like, with a motor, you should get a 60t

You're right and experiment with different chainrings. Using the motor on low setting how many gears do you increase when using the same rider input. What I mean is, if in a given situation you were in gear 6 are you now in gear 8? Conversely when the motor is off how much resistance are you...

That's a relief, Whoosh & Kiwi. I was doubting my reasoning (and my sanity). If I keep the max gi below 95 then I'll be ok then it puts the Tongsheng back in the running. On the flat with that load I'm using the top 3 gears on a 50/17 without a motor at about 13-14mph which isn't bad for an old...

Apart from the Tongsheng what other drives are there that are both torque sensing and take a double chainring

You're right of course but's relative to wheel size. I would think that Tongsheng figures are for a 26" (or similar) wheel which using 42t front and 11 rear you get 97 gear inches, same gears on my 20" wheel get 81gi. If Tongsheng are happy at 97gi then there's no reason I can't use a 50t which...

Are you saying don't use a larger chainring than 42t? Would the spindle size affect the choice of low gears?

Not surprised you're not spinning out as that's 111gi! Smallest chainring on a 110BCD is 34T. With a 17T rear sprocket on the Rohloff that makes 11.16gi lowest. Putting a 50t and the 17t makes 86gi top. Sure, I'll spin out around 20mph but that's high enough with a load for me. I have choice of...

Ah that explains the plastic. I guess on a long european tour it's best to carry a spare. It'll be going on a 20in trike so does the 42T chainring rule still hold? Compared to a 26in wheel I "lose" 23 gear inches (with a 17T single rear sprocket on the Rohloff) which makes the top gear too low...

Thanks flecc. afaik they stopped production as most motors were being built into bikes, the retrofit market is small and they couldn't compete with chinese units. Sunstars main business is motorcycle gears so I think that they couldn't be bothered making a niche (for them) product. Are they...

Thinking of buying a Sunstar SO3, 250w 36v mid drive motor. They look well built. Leaving the price out of the equation what do people think of them? I'm aware that they've ceased production & future service may be difficult. It'll be going on a recumbent trike with a Rohloff IGH which I'll be...