Where do you 'mount' your battery

[LEBC Tom]

A cheeky title but whilst with 2 customers outside the shop today a guy rode past on a mountain bike, front hub motor conversion with 2 bottle batteries strapped to either side of the front forks. Not sure what motorists must have thought seeing this guy, they were keeping well back behind him.

I've seen batteries mounted in ruck sacks, held by the rider and on the handle bars but this position for me is the most amusing...anyone trump that?

 

[johnc461165]

I just bought one of the frame batteries that mount in the water bottle position and the weight distribution makes the bike so much nicer to ride, I am considering re configuring my old battery to fit under the down tube to get the weight even lower.

 

[flecc]

One that attracted much amusement and cynicism was the seatpost mounted in-frame "phallic" battery mounting that Wisper introduced for their Daahub kit.

Here it is mounted on one of former member EddieO's bikes:

 

[trex]

Not a very advantageous placement nor a pretty one.

 

[trex]

batteries are ugly, messy things. Best place for them is hidden away inside seat post, inside frames or inside rear triangle.

 

[flecc]

We had the same problem with many of the i.c. cycle motors of yesteryear, as the photo below of a BSA Winged Wheel kit's rear-rack petrol tank shows.

It's the bicycle that's the problem, nowhere to put such things while fully keeping the bicycle appearance. Giant tried with their twin slim pannier mount batteries to get an acceptable bike like mounting, but that got limited acceptance.

 

[selrahc1992]

We had the same problem with many of the i.c. cycle motors of yesteryear, as the photo below of a BSA Winged Wheel kit's rear-rack petrol tank shows.

It's the bicycle that's the problem, nowhere to put such things while fully keeping the bicycle appearance. Giant tried with their twin slim pannier mount batteries to get an acceptable bike like mounting, but that got limited acceptance.

that is a very, very, ver cool looking bit of steampunk, too bad it would be noisy and require registration

 

[flecc]

And not just the noise, the vibration had to be experienced to be believed, shaking the whole bike.

Today's e-bikes are infinitely better in almost every way.
.

 

[selrahc1992]

And not just the noise, the vibration had to be experienced to be believed, shaking the whole bike.

Today's e-bikes are infinitely better in almost every way.
.

I'm sure youre right ( i had a single cylinder offroader that used to leave me vibrating at least half an hour after i managed to get off). However, do ebikes look that cool? I'm no marketting type, but if someone produced something that looked that stunning and retro instead of the frequent numbing collection of plastic, it would be great.

 

[flecc]

I think a rear hub motor kit like a BPM/CST with a rack battery-integrated controller, all added to a similar traditional diamond frame bike would look about as good.
.

 

[LEBC Tom]

I'm not sure that it matters anymore that the battery is seen by most people. I'm finding less people worry about an electric bike looking like an electric bike and there is definitely far less snobbery towards them then there was 2-3 years ago. It's also a matter being practical, a lot of customers need to be able to remove the batteries to charge rather then it being stuck hidden on the frame. Its a nice idea though, a neat solution like our Secret has would possibly encourage more people to adopt e-bikes.

 

[trex]

a hidden place for the battery will be less attractive to thieves, not rained on and saves also a little bit of weight.

you can have the battery hidden and still lockable and easily removable.
Like this one on the zephyr-B:

 

[mike killay]

And not just the noise, the vibration had to be experienced to be believed, shaking the whole bike.

Today's e-bikes are infinitely better in almost every way.
.

You forgot to mention the dreadful brakes!
Took me back awhile, it sure looks good, but was rather awful to ride.
Even so, I did thousands of miles on them.