Electric Bike Thread

[grinch]

Agree on iwm2$. Im going to revisit a few of his posts to let it sink in to my pea brain.
Im also interested in this light hook up. Just read about that yesterday. I guess yt has a light coming out for the decoy but its behind schedule. The wire/receptical is already in the battery compartment apparently. Someone mentioned some diy options. Havent heard of anyone doing it yet though. Fall is coming so hope to see/hear more soon. Ill post a link if i hear something. Sounds pretty slick

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[Iwantmy2dollars]

Thanks guys. Apologies for getting a little snarky. We're talking about tripling the life expectancy of a very expensive battery with almost no effort and zero cost. Why would you NOT want to explore this??

I don't understand why some people seem to take pride in being ignorant - uninformed these days.
And feel free to hurl insults, look down on people that value learning and science....WTF (i keep asking myself almost everyday)

[jm2e]

Charge only about every 4th or 5th ride.

Don't forget to store both of yours fully charged over the winter

Draining battery to 10-20% most rides now.
Not stopping for the winter. Probably ride Ebike more in winter because park season over and doing more trail building. This things gonna be awesome for exploring and hauling tools.


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[Shredhead]

I appreciate the battery info. I’m sure that’s why mine is losing capacity.

[sb]

Kewl new offering from the RAD power bike folks.

https://www.radpowerbikes.com/pages/radrunner

[toast2266]

Anyone got any slick setups for charging while camping? That was a limiting factor for the wife's bike this weekend. Running a generator just to charge the bike seems excessive.

[Iwantmy2dollars]

Anyone got any slick setups for charging while camping? That was a limiting factor for the wife's bike this weekend. Running a generator just to charge the bike seems excessive.

What kind of camping, and where?

[toast2266]

What kind of camping, and where?

Camping that doesn't have any electricity. Could be anywhere that has worthwhile biking - this weekend is fernie.

[Iwantmy2dollars]

Camping that doesn't have any electricity. Could be anywhere that has worthwhile biking - this weekend is fernie.

I ask because there are 2 ways I know to approach this. I'm off for a ride and can discuss later but basically you have 2 options I can think of. One is solar the other is Genny or AC power.

The issue with running the genny is you need only about 250 watts of power but you need it for 3 to 5 hours. Running the Genny for that long sucks. How big is your wife's battery? If it's 4 or 500 Wh, you can carry a lead acid or LiFe battery and run the bike charger with a 400 watt inverter. You'll also need a 20, 30, or 40 amp car battery charger. That'll let you charge her battery in peace and quiet using the inverter. Then you replace that energy in the 12v car battery with the high current charger relatively quickly. Or slowly if solar is an option.

I did this when we lost power for 4 days from hurricane Sandy. I realized we didn't have near enough fuel for the 6000 watt generator I had laid away for emergencies. It gulped fuel like crazy, 1 gallon an hour. Got thru it by only running the Genny a couple hours a day and using the battery at night to drive a 6 watt LED lamp and a small led TV. I ran the charger the next morning when I ran the Genny to cool the fridge and run our well pump. Worked great

[grinch]

"The wifes bike" sure buddy [emoji849]

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[Mustonen]

It’d seem one of those quiet little camping generators that run 10 hours on a gallon of gas would be the ticket....

[sb]

The proper inverter hooked to your vehicle or a quite generator would be your options.

[toast2266]

Thanks 2$ - seems like a deep cycle battery + inverter might be the ticket. And maybe a solar setup to recharge the big battery (slowly).

I've spent enough time in my life bitching about the dick bags at campsites that run generators for hours on end that I don't think I can bring myself to use a geny. Even the quiet ones aren't that quiet.

And grinch, thus far, I have a strict "only for trailwork" e-policy (speaking only for myself; the wife has no such policy). An e-commuter might be in my near future, but that doesn't count because pavement.

[grinch]

I kind of figured. Theres always hope but to each their own. Mainly i couldnt resist the ribbin because ribbin

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[toast2266]

I kind of figured. Theres always hope but to each their own. Mainly i couldnt resist the ribbin because ribbin

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For sure. I expect nothing less. After all, the internet's primary purpose is semi-anonymous shit talking.

[grinch]

Id have to do some serious training to empty 3 batteries 3 days in a row. Impressive stuff. What an adventure. Im inspired



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[gravitylover]

I think my 6k generator runs 13 hours on 5 gallons but it's super noisy. I like that my e-folder has a USB port so we can charge our phones and lights when the power is out.

[babybear]

Anyone got any slick setups for charging while camping? That was a limiting factor for the wife's bike this weekend. Running a generator just to charge the bike seems excessive.

we have 2 solar panels up on top of our van and they work well

[Name Redacted]

Picked one of these up for the wife today as a commuter. Been rolling around on it all afternoon. So fun, smiles all around. Came with a front rack as well and panniers. I hauled her (125lbs) sitting on the back rack, which has a built in seat, up a steep hill in the neighborhood without working hard enough to break a sweat. Pretty crazy.

[Iwantmy2dollars]

I think my 6k generator runs 13 hours on 5 gallons but it's super noisy. I like that my e-folder has a USB port so we can charge our phones and lights when the power is out.

Cool bike. We got a couple regular foldies for the shoulder season when the ski box is still on the car.
Amazing how nice they pedal.

I like your comment. When I first got our Yamaha bike, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to figure a way to tap that battery to replicate what I did during Sandy. Regular car batteries really aren't a good idea indoors...... Anyway, I wound up bricking the battery because the battery management system in the Yamaha battery didn't appreciate my mucking around. Cost me 400 bucks.... The End

[Iwantmy2dollars]

Thanks 2$ - seems like a deep cycle battery + inverter might be the ticket. And maybe a solar setup to recharge the big battery (slowly).

Toast, one of the reasons I asked where is because around here if you leave a ground based solar charging setup unattended, it'll probably disappear. So you either have to ride in the dark of hire a guard while your out on the trails......
I did lay in a system here when solar panels dropped in price and these solar generators started showing up. We also needed a way to keep a portable freezer running when we camp and travel. We are really happy with ours.

The name solar generator is misleading. They are really power stations with the solar charge controller, a battery, and an inverter in an enclosure. The big ones aren't cheap but they are silent and can serve many uses where you want easy access to power.

Because they have a big Li battery system, they should be brought back up to 60 or 70 pct charge as soon as practical and not left to sit fully charged when not in use. Same rules that apply to any Li battery tech really at this point in time.

Attached a couple links. We have a Kodiak so I can answer your questions in that. The other one is a newer system. It's heavier 39 lbs vs 25 but it's got a lot more capacity and it's cheaper - and this guy Will Prowse really likes it. Prowse has a great u tube site where you can learn everything about solar power and battery systems. If your a tinkerer, his instructions on building prismatic cells and solar charging are pretty cool.

https://youtu.be/KEb2Kt82YpA

https://youtu.be/c0zWFa_H02c

[Iwantmy2dollars]

Figured I'd share a couple images from my backyard
It ain't the Tetons but it's got it's own charm

15 miles today, 900 feet climbing on 10 percent battery

[gravitylover]

Picked one of these up for the wife today as a commuter. Been rolling around on it all afternoon. So fun, smiles all around. Came with a front rack as well and panniers. I hauled her (125lbs) sitting on the back rack, which has a built in seat, up a steep hill in the neighborhood without working hard enough to break a sweat. Pretty crazy.

I'm looking forward to a solid review on that. I sell those, well sorta. I'm the Serfas rep for upstate NY but nobody has felt the need to buy and stock them yet Serfas is the US distributor for Benno Bikes. They sure do seem like nice bikes. Too bad I don't have a need for one at the moment.

Cool bike. We got a couple regular foldies for the shoulder season when the ski box is still on the car.
Amazing how nice they pedal.

I like your comment. When I first got our Yamaha bike, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to figure a way to tap that battery to replicate what I did during Sandy. Regular car batteries really aren't a good idea indoors...... Anyway, I wound up bricking the battery because the battery management system in the Yamaha battery didn't appreciate my mucking around. Cost me 400 bucks.... The End

Yeah right, the good ones are a lot nicer than people think. This brand has everything from budget to lightweight rippers and a couple of e models. I like that the battery is internal in the top tube and the motor is small enough that it hides behind the cassette so when I pass the local PD that patrols the rail trail I don't get a hard time. There are a couple of nice features to it too, like the USB port and that the weight is mid 30's so it's easy to move around. I'm not entirely sold on the way the e-power is delivered though. I can get up to speed then just turn the pedals at like 5rpm and the motor stays fully engaged so the bike will roll along at 15mph with ZERO input. The more expensive model has a throttle and front and rear lights. Where do you live? Those pics look familiar and the Sandy references sound similar to what we experienced where I am.

[Iwantmy2dollars]

Gravity,
I'm in North Jersey. Not far from Harriman or Waywayonda
Where you?

[sb]

Picked one of these up for the wife today as a commuter. Been rolling around on it all afternoon. So fun, smiles all around. Came with a front rack as well and panniers. I hauled her (125lbs) sitting on the back rack, which has a built in seat, up a steep hill in the neighborhood without working hard enough to break a sweat. Pretty crazy.

Pretty kewl looking bike, lettuce know how that mid drive works for a commuter set up. If you do not mind me asking how much? website?