Need ebike stealthyness ideas

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
hello all,

Before I had my brompton battery on the front bag:



Comments were: "wow, is it an electric bike??" "where is the motor? I can't believe you pedal so fast"


Now it is on the frame:


and the comments are: "look, an electric bike?" "ohh a folded electric bike" "how much does it cost?"

It became incredibly OBVIOUS to everyone the bike is electric.


I'm so ****ed off! I was so happy with the better handling with the battery on the frame... but now, I'm screaming to everyone I'm on an electric biiike :(


Any idea how to make it more stealthy???
 
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patpatbut

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 25, 2012
859
79
If you have pannier rack, maybe you can put the battery in brompton pannier bag.

I have this bag and it is very spacious inside

Pat
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
If you have pannier rack, maybe you can put the battery in brompton pannier bag.

I have this bag and it is very spacious inside

Pat
I moved it out of the bag for better handling. Bike is much more stable now, especially when I go a bit faster. I really don't want to move it back to the brompton front bag.
 

patpatbut

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 25, 2012
859
79
Maybe you can split the battery into 2 or 3 pieces?
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
splitting it is no problem.

Problem is where do these pieces fit on the bike?
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
I'd like to find idea maybe to wrap it clean?

I'm using vinyl carbon fiber for the battery box, but for the triangle part (with controller and 12V adapter) I'd need some sort of cover.

Carbon fiber would be too weak on this area... anything to cover this part without having it torned down on any scratch?
 

jerrysimon

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 27, 2009
3,292
112
Cambridge, UK
There is no getting over that its a BIG battery :eek:

At 30mph I am amazed they even see it as you whiz past though ;)

Ps do you have two Bromptons or is the silver one the black one repainted ?

Jerry
 
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aaannndddyyy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 7, 2007
304
9
62
Norwich Norfolk
All my current ebikes are stealthy, I use 5800amp 22s lipo`s (90v hot off the charger) from hk in a shoulder bag for short distances around 15 miles with my Crystalyte 5304.
But you need to no how to look after them as you don't wont a thermal runaway event on your back.
you also have the option of using bungee straps, strapping the shoulder bag to the rack or handle bars.
 
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Leccy

Pedelecer
Nov 2, 2013
137
24
The battery on the frame does look pretty ugly in my honest opinion.

Such a shame as the Brompton is one of the coolest looking bikes around if you ask me.
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
Jerry yes I have 2 brompton. 1 with mini-DD and other one with the mac. But mac motor is down so I'm using my spare brompton

I do not want to always have a backpack, it would be really annoying. :/

And yes, many people told me it wasn't so pretty on the frame.... and prefered the version on the front bag.

But handling is really better. It's about 6kg mass to stick somewhere on the bike. On the front bag it wasn't that nice and started to be bulky
 

Gdread

Pedelecer
Sep 9, 2012
91
1
Staffordshire
How about putting it into a triangle shaped black nylon bag ahead of the chain wheel if there's room, hanging it off the frame tube. Alternatively disguise as a parcel!
 

MikeyBikey

Pedelecer
Mar 5, 2013
237
23
Fantastic build, you're v.brave, kudos (oops:)
2 thoughts, 1: make battery box curved to match frame curve, if possible, and
2: paint or wrap bike gloss white and battery black, waterproof cloth so it doesnt reflect, but merges with background better if it looks dark, soft and no corners / edges (easy said, I know!)
Mikey
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
How about putting it into a triangle shaped black nylon bag ahead of the chain wheel if there's room, hanging it off the frame tube. Alternatively disguise as a parcel!
not sure how it would work. It's a folding bike so anything on the rear would become a hindrance to the fold
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
Fantastic build, you're v.brave, kudos (oops:)
2 thoughts, 1: make battery box curved to match frame curve, if possible, and
2: paint or wrap bike gloss white and battery black, waterproof cloth so it doesnt reflect, but merges with background better if it looks dark, soft and no corners / edges (easy said, I know!)
Mikey
yes, I'd like to do that but to match frame curve I'd need to do some molding. I'll have to think about it but not sure it'll be a solution.

for the secobd point, can you give example of waterproof cloth? something like 600D fabric?
 

Leccy

Pedelecer
Nov 2, 2013
137
24
Showed the picture to my other half and she thought it was some kind of missile launcher you've got on the bike.