Lowest gear?

[CameraDealer]

Following some good advice from this forum a few days ago I bought an eZee Liv, which was delivered today. The idea is to evaluate it and if it's successful buy a second one for me or my wife.

The Liv only has three gears which, according to the web site are 46/62/85.

It was a toss up between the Liv and one of the Powacycle models, Windsor, Salisbury or Cambridge and I've started with the Liv.

We've just given it a whirl and the quite steep hill leading to my house was a bit of a strain for my wife. To be fair she managed it, whereas with an unpowered bike she would most certainly have got off and walked!

I now have a bit of a dilemma. I really like the Liv but I'm wondering if I should keep that for me and buy a Powacycle for my wife.

Will the six-speed Powacycle models have much lower gears than the Liv? I can't find the gear ratios listed for the Powacycles and to be honest, they don't mean a lot to me anyway!

You've told me the pros and cons of the NiMh and the Lithium batteries but I'd still be happy to buy a Powacycle lithium model if that gave a bit more power and made hills easier for her.

A test report on the Liv rated it a bit higher than Powacycle, but did mention the three gear drawback, but it didn't tell me how the ratios compare.

Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to answer this rather long post!

 

[flecc]

Not a long post at all CameraDealer, please feel free to ask as necessary.

This one is a bit of a conundrum. The gears on the Powacycle Windsor and Salisbury models are 37" to 73", so a somewhat lower bottom gear, but the motor is less powerful, giving some self-cancelling of that advantage. It also means you'd lose some of the upper speed too, the power tending to peter out from about 13 mph upwards and all over by 15 mph, where as you will have found, the eZee Liv will run on a bit further.

Testing the NiMh model, A to B reported the Windsor "climbs hills surprisingly well, needing only light pedal assistance to keep up a steady 8-10mph on moderate inclines". They further say about the gear ratios "- that's not bad, but it would be nice to have lower first when stuck with a flat battery in hilly country". But of course moderate incline is not how you describe your hill.

The Li-ion version will have about 10% more power though, and that could make all the difference. The best thing possible is if you could get a test ride on a Windsor/Salisbury to make sure, if you have a nearby dealer, and you could contact Powacycle and ask about that.

This restricted gear thing is a perennial problem with bottom of the range models, even the start of the old Giant Twist range being a 46" bottom gear on an £869 bike.
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[flecc]

Further to my above post, there is a solution for the Powacycle. The supplying cycle dealer or a local dealer could change the 6 speed sprocket set and rear mechanism for you, and that could add just £25 plus the fitting charge. That fitting charge should be quite small if the bike wasn't ridden first so was as new, and if the dealer was supplying the Powacycle, I'd expect the fitting to be cheaper and possibly even free of charge.

Here's the sprocket set to fit:

It's called a megarange, and you can see that it has a much larger rear sprocket of 34 teeth, and that would probably give you a low gear of about 34", so climbing would be no problem. The existing rear mechanism couldn't operate on that large sprocket and would need to be changed, the one below being Megarange compatible:

Both those are Shimano components, the Shimano Cadet Megarange 13 to 34 tooth sprocket as little as £9.99, the mechanism being the Shimano Acera Smartcage priced as little as £14.99. You'd then have both high and low speed capabilities with components of a quality as good as the existing ones.

P.S. I use these components on two of my bikes and can vouch for them. Scroll down on this page to see them on a small wheel bike of mine.

P.P.S. The dealer would have to be capable of disconnecting the motor cables, so it's best to check that capability first. Some cycle dealers are scared of anything electrical.
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[CameraDealer]

Thank you Flecc. You're incredibly helpful. Doing a bit of lateral thinking, can a similar measure be employed on the eZee Liv? I realise that replacing the rear cog (is that the right word?) with a slightly larger one will reduce all of the ratios but ease is more important than speed for us.

Thanks for the dealer tip. I'd assumed that Powacycle is a direct supplier and didn't know that the company has dealers. I've found one fairly close although he doesn't actually list the models that I'm interested in, but it's a start.

 

[flecc]

Happy to be of help. Yes, the rear sprocket can be changed on the Liv for around £6 for the sprocket plus fitting. There's no electrics involved so it's an easier job to do that. Depending on which chain is used on that model, sprockets are available up to 21 or 24 teeth. It's probably 1/8" chain with 24 tooth sprocket availability.

If you count up the number of teeth on the Liv rear sprocket, you can work out what you want. Just divide the present low gear inches by the larger number of the proposed sprocket and multiply by the smaller number of teeth of the existing sprocket to get the new lower gear inches.

The top gear is determined in the same way. To assess the new top speed with the larger rear sprocket, do that same division and multiplication on the existing top assisted speed.
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[frank9755]

I've been planning to put a megarange on my wife's Powacycle - as Flecc describes above.

I put off doing this as I wasn't particularly confident about disconnecting the electronics, but a quick call to Powacycle told me what to, and that it was easy. So I am intending to give it go. I'll be able to put the Marathon Plus tyre that I've bought for it too so it will be a useful exercise.

One question that someone may have an opinion on. When I change the freewheel, do I need to fit a new chain? The bike is 6 weeks old and has done about 400 miles. If so, how does one change a chain? Never done it; is it an easy job or does it need a specialist tool (or skill) that would require me to find a local dealer who is up for it?

Views welcome!

Frank

 

[Jennykins]

cameradealer,

Valley Scooters in Bolton definitely had the Windsor in last Weekend. I had a ride on it.

(They had the Salisbury and Milan 2 as well)

Jen.

 

[flecc]

To Frank:

Even after just a few hundred miles a chain changes enough to run roughly on a new sprocket, so both are best changed together. The chain you need is called an 8 speed, as it's suited for up to that, the 9 speed one being a slightly different size and not suitable for smaller gear clusters.

Any competent cycle dealer can fit a new chain in minutes, or you can do it yourself using a chain removal tool which you can buy from good dealers. These have positions for driving out chain rivets, driving them back in, and freeing up the driven in joint.

After shortening it to length, it's easier to join the chain on the bike using an SRAM powerlink. You can see one and get them here.

You'll need a freewheel removal tool anyway to get off the old freewheel, also from good dealers, so you might as well get both. From the same source as the powerlinks, here's a suitable chain tool and freewheel removal tool.
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[frank9755]

Thanks, Flecc, That's extremely helpful. There is a bit more to it than I had thought but it doesn't sound impossible!

Frank

 

[flecc]

I'm sure you'll do it ok Frank, but just ask away for any help, or PM/email me for fuller details of anything you're not sure of.
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