Recent content by Geoff Sleath

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    Cyclotricity weather resistance

    There's not a lot can go wrong with brushless motors normally. My wife and I both have similar Cyclotricity systems as do several of our friends. I'd love to have a look inside our hubs to examine the gearing and the motor but as they're working OK I'm leaving well alone. The main potential...
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    Worried about leaving battery on bike?

    My wife used to go to the gym on her bike. She came home one day complaining of intermittent operation and when I checked the rear rack battery housing was cracked and the connector pins were loosened. Obviously someone had attempted to wrest the battery from its rear rack mount. When I...
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    Just a silly question how do manage to ride a trike/ recumbant

    I've done a lot of miles on a conventional racing/touring trike purely human powered. I always used to say that they're great for constipation on fast corners :) Mine was a 1956 Higgins with a differential but my wife's Ultralight Higgins was one wheel drive and on icy climbs I'd follow her...
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    Dutch ebike Guardian article

    I'm quite surprised in a way that ebikes are so popular in the Netherlands. because the riding is so easy. I suppose they help in a headwind. We've cycled quite a bit in the Low Countries and a couple of years ago we went on a CTC tour based on a barge which meant each day our 'hotel' room...
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    more of this please

    I hate cycle tracks which don't have the same priority as the roads they follow. I object to being required to give priority to car park exits, side roads etc when I'm following a main road. I've done many miles in the Netherlands and Flanders where cycle tracks have equal priority and that's...
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    New hydraulic disc brakes

    I bought a Trek FX3 hybrid a few weeks ago which I've converted to FWD electric motor. It has Shimano M315 hydraulic discs which I find both powerful and controllable. I would certainly recommend them. I would certainly avoid second hand - even new they're not expensive and I've paid a lot...
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    Old cyclist needing a little help on hills :)

    Thanks, Colin. With the very unseasonable (ie warm) weather we had last week I knocked up about 100 miles. The longest ride was 45 miles with my wife (also electrically aided). I avoid using the 'help' all I can and still had 4 bars showing on the battery when we got home. Admittedly the...
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    Newbie brake advice please

    I can vouch for the hydraulic Magura calipers. We have one on the front of our Canondale tandem (no electrical assistance - my wife provides the extra urge :) ) Geof
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    Newbie brake advice please

    I used to ride a racing trike a lot (one with 3 x 700c wheels) and it was always standard practice just to brake the front wheel. There was a calliper brake and a cantilever operated independently by conventional handlebar levers. I've found on both trikes and especially tandem bicycles that...
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    Old cyclist needing a little help on hills :)

    Thanks. I'm hoping to gain a little knowledge and possibly even contribute something useful. I am of a technical bent both mechanically and electrically but this is new stuff for me. Never the less, because of my electronic engineering background my cycling friends tend to think...
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    Chargers and battery technology

    Great, that's what I was suspecting but it's good to get confirmation. My fancy LiPo etc chargers are only rated for 8S packs anyway so wouldn't be much use with the 10S (or 12S) used on eBikes. Though I do charge at 1C which can be up to 6amps on my bigger packs. Some people charge faster...
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    Chargers and battery technology

    Thanks vfr400, that's reassuring. I've not checked the polarity but centre positive and outer shell negative is the most likely. Geoff
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    Chargers and battery technology

    Thanks, Andy I know the Lithium Poly (and presumably Lithium Ion) charge regime is a constant current voltage limited one and on the LiPos I use a lot of (I'm charging a load right now for my model aeroplanes) the fully charged voltage is 4.2v. I guess the voltage for Lithium Ion is similar...
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    Old cyclist needing a little help on hills :)

    My wife and I have been cyclists for many years - utility (ie commuting/shopping); touring (cycle camping/ CTC tours/ Audax etc); racing the odd time trial. We've ridden tandems (I edited the Tandem Club Journal for a few years in the late 80s/early 90s), trikes (we still have a couple of...
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    Throttles allowed?

    The Cyclotricity front wheel 250 watt conversion kits come with a throttle. I've converted 4 bikes over the past 18 months or so for me, my wife and a couple of friends and all come with a throttle. My wife uses hers just to set off; I never used mine except as an experiment. We're all ageing...