Just to follow up on my post on here asking about fork caster/trail, I've now finished it and given it a short test ride.
I think it was Dave that said the curved forks would make very little difference to the handling, and I'm delighted to say he's dead right.
It's still very sharp and positive, but not twitchy, which I was afraid of. I can still steer one handed when adjusting the assist level etc..
I have to say I'm very pleased with it, and quite surprised with how good it is. That little q100 front wheel motor certainly packs a punch, even at 36 volts. The difference that the 290rpm makes is really noticeable, comparing the performance with other 20" wheel bikes I've had, that were presumably lower rpm.
I tried it for a couple of miles with my Garmin GPS watch and the speed graph is shown below, max speed 17.7mph and average 13.5mph. The only issue is that my old simple ku65 controller and 790 display seems to just give one level of assist (max), no matter what setting I use.
I may treat it to a new BMS SO6S sinewave controller and 5 level PAS panel. That would give me throttle startiup as well.
The new wider (100mm dropout) forks don't affect the folding at all, and are about the same weight, so the bike is still compact and light when the battery is removed.
I put the controller in a Maplin alluminium box like on my Giant Trance, to tidy the leads and increase the effective heatsink area. The 36v 10ah battery is in the pannier again, secured with an internal velcro strap.
So it started out as a "use up my spare parts" project, but it may well be my most useful ebike !!
I think it was Dave that said the curved forks would make very little difference to the handling, and I'm delighted to say he's dead right.
It's still very sharp and positive, but not twitchy, which I was afraid of. I can still steer one handed when adjusting the assist level etc..
I have to say I'm very pleased with it, and quite surprised with how good it is. That little q100 front wheel motor certainly packs a punch, even at 36 volts. The difference that the 290rpm makes is really noticeable, comparing the performance with other 20" wheel bikes I've had, that were presumably lower rpm.
I tried it for a couple of miles with my Garmin GPS watch and the speed graph is shown below, max speed 17.7mph and average 13.5mph. The only issue is that my old simple ku65 controller and 790 display seems to just give one level of assist (max), no matter what setting I use.
I may treat it to a new BMS SO6S sinewave controller and 5 level PAS panel. That would give me throttle startiup as well.
The new wider (100mm dropout) forks don't affect the folding at all, and are about the same weight, so the bike is still compact and light when the battery is removed.
I put the controller in a Maplin alluminium box like on my Giant Trance, to tidy the leads and increase the effective heatsink area. The 36v 10ah battery is in the pannier again, secured with an internal velcro strap.
So it started out as a "use up my spare parts" project, but it may well be my most useful ebike !!
