clanky

Last day of summer, a beautiful morning and an ebike in the garage. What more could I ask for? Here's this mornings ride in pictures.

Hi TinKitten, Good thread, I'd never heard of Strava or Trail Centres before, now I know and I love to learn new stuff . I don't think Strava is for me though.

I've been reading up on various posts on google, here and endless sphere and it does seem that LiPo is the best bet for my reserve battery. My plan, so far, is to use two 6S 20C 5Ah Lipo packs each with a separate low voltage alarm, I'm fairly sure my controller shuts off at 37v but it's best to be safe. As it's only a reserve battery I'm planning to charge each pack separately with a Turnigy 6s Balancer / charger - I've got a steel cabinet to charge them in too.

Thanks d8veh, that's really useful advice. I'm just starting to get my head round all the battery technologies - batteries seem to be the key area to study. I'm going to go down the lipo route as it seems the best option. I'm planning to use two 6S 20C 5000mAh packs in series. http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__9176__Turnigy_5000mAh_6S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html Is there anything I should look out for?

Sounds like an interesting project, I'll be really interested to see how you get on because I'm looking at building a 5ah 48v "reserve" battery for my bike with 16 18650's in series complete with a BMS. Do you know how to tell the discharge rate of the cells is - I wasn't sure whether it's related to the ah? It looks like you can get 18650 cells quite cheaply with high ah but they all seem to be for flashlights so I assume they don't have the discharge rate capacity for a bike.

I've not had a puncture on the ebike yet - I use downhill tyres at a faily low pressure. I do get a few on my commuter bike that I have 60psi road tyres on - I'm going to get some of the slime gels to see how they go.

Just realised! punctures, punctures, punctures......

It's sometimes better when the hedgerows aren't cut back as it's punchers, punchers and more punchers!

Anyone been out and about in this fine whether? Before the weather turns rubbish tomorrow I thought I'd sneak out for an afternoon ride along the tracks by the fenland ditches (my wife thinks I went out to get something for dinner). It was great fun other than one thing - I was wearing shorts and there were loads of stingers!!! My shins are all of a tingle now!

Hi Kinninvie, your experience is similar to mine, from 15 Ah I get an hour of trail riding with a bit of pedal input - the surface conditions make a big difference though. It was beautiful riding conditions in the woods first thing this morning! I guess for velodrome riding you could design a bike for a quick battery swap over. How do you find the steering on your bike? I considered getting a front drive like yours but worried it would affect the steering to much.

Hi George, The bike I built is not far off your spec and price range (1000W with a 15 amp hour battery), have a look at my post and you'll see some pictures. I think if I put slick & high pressure road tyres on my spec'd bike you could get around 40 mph with a fair bit of peddle assist (if you have the fitness). The big downside of a mountain bike frame is that the wind resistance is massive, when I ride off-road I really feel the difference when I put myself in low position. I went for a budget build using Chinese parts, it's holding up well so far after several trail rides but I can't imagine it will be as good as the higher end gear long term. As for front wheel drive, I don't think it will be a problem for you as you won't be worried about quick steering. Front wheel kits are cheaper too. I guess if you built it and didn't get on with it there would be plenty of people happy to buy the used parts. If you need a battery PM me and I let you now the supplier I used in China. Clanky

I know what you mean about getting confused with the motorbike, I had to swap my twist throttle for a thumb throttle as I nearly took my little finger off turning right round an obstacle. I also get confused about not having a neutral gear and clutch. I'm getting used to it now though. My motorbike goes next week too but I haven't ridden it since getting the ebike. Have you seen the Adam Mercier ebike videos on youtube yet?

Hi TinKitten, thanks for looking! The bike is very fun to ride indeed, probably no where near as refined as your KTM but it's quick and has a good range. I very rarely take it out of medium speed when I'm trail riding on rough ground. A full suspension bike would be better off road but the bike is good enough provided you stand on the pedals and don't sit down too much. Have you been out on yours much in this fine weather?

I've now built my bike, see link http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums/uk-off-road-s-pedelecs-overseas.43/

Hi all, I thought I'd post before and after pics of the trail bike I've just finished building.. Before... After... The donor bike was an aluminium framed Giant Sedona that I bought about 15 years ago and was worn out. The hub motor is 1000W brushless and the Battery is 15AH 48V which I bought direct from China. I fitted some Suntour XCM forks with 100mm travel for good measure. The motor / disc brake kit was £200 including delivery, the battery was £211 delivered ($359) direct from China and the cycle parts were about £100. I've been out trail riding five times now for 1hr trips and it uses about half the battery life. It's fast enough but not sure how fast as I don't want a speedo as I'd rather go as fast as is fun an comfortable and I also wanted a clean and uncluttered look. I've got a few mods to do such as a thumb throttle and quality pedals. I think a thumb throttle is essential for safety as it is easy to accidently twist the throttle.