It happened today! I was 2/10 of a mile from the office and I couldn't believe what I saw... an eScooter!
It took me a minute to understand what I was seeing, but as soon as I saw it I knew it was different. This guy was on a Razor-style scooter, he was an adult wearing a helmet, and he was coasting uphill. Uphill? Then I saw how thick the deck was on the thing. No way! An eScooter!
I was lost for words, here I was in the middle of an intersection less than 20 feet from the guy and all I could say was "wow, cool, your "E"". His reply was "I see your fat hub motor too". We continued our separate ways like two ships passing. Will this ever happen again? Will I ever see another "E"? Perhaps this is just the begining, and maybe I will start to see more? I hope so.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
June 21 - Ride Home
A little chilly this morning. I made the trip in 35 minutes. I cranked up the last hill with no problem. I read somewhere the hub motor smooths the hills, well it does.
I am starting to think of how I would design an eBike if I were given a blank sheet of paper. The two criteria I think are most important are 1) light weight, and 2) bomb-proof. More on this later.
Why don't more people ride eBikes?
I am starting to think of how I would design an eBike if I were given a blank sheet of paper. The two criteria I think are most important are 1) light weight, and 2) bomb-proof. More on this later.
Why don't more people ride eBikes?
Monday, June 20, 2005
June 20 - Ride to work.
With the batteries newly charged and a mindset to peddle as much as possible in as high a gear as possible, I made the trip in 30 minutes include one stop at the post office. I am confident that I will make it home on a single charge so I left the charger at home (it saves weight and I found out the "hard" watt that it is fragile).
I need to focus on the front wheel. It sounds like the spokes aren't tight enough - probably sloppy construction - I suspect the wheel was machine laced, not hand-built. I also need to tighten up the brakes.
It is amazing how heavy the bike has become with the motor and batteries. I notice the handling doesn't suffer, but the ride is harder. My plan still includes swapping the rear wheel with a 26" tandem wheel with beefier spokes. I should also swap from knobby tires to high pressure slicks.
I want to lower the battery weight and I think mounting them in panniers would be better than having them on top of the rear rack. However, 36 volts is 3-12 volt batteries or 6-6 volt batteries. The 6-6 volts will be too much weight, and the 3-12 volts will cause an imbalance, so I think 48 volts (4-12 volts, 2 in each pannier) is the way to go, but now I need to start thinking about a new controller and charger ($$$$$). I may be better off just buying a new Tidalforce S-750 X and spend more time riding and less time tinkering.
I need to focus on the front wheel. It sounds like the spokes aren't tight enough - probably sloppy construction - I suspect the wheel was machine laced, not hand-built. I also need to tighten up the brakes.
It is amazing how heavy the bike has become with the motor and batteries. I notice the handling doesn't suffer, but the ride is harder. My plan still includes swapping the rear wheel with a 26" tandem wheel with beefier spokes. I should also swap from knobby tires to high pressure slicks.
I want to lower the battery weight and I think mounting them in panniers would be better than having them on top of the rear rack. However, 36 volts is 3-12 volt batteries or 6-6 volt batteries. The 6-6 volts will be too much weight, and the 3-12 volts will cause an imbalance, so I think 48 volts (4-12 volts, 2 in each pannier) is the way to go, but now I need to start thinking about a new controller and charger ($$$$$). I may be better off just buying a new Tidalforce S-750 X and spend more time riding and less time tinkering.
Last Week
Last week the new charger arrived from Wilderness Energy. I was on-call so I had the Company truck all week so it really didn't matter much. Two days were above 105 with bad ozone so I didn't attempt to ride. One day I was in New York City first thing for a meeting, another day I reported to a service center too far away to ride (40 miles) to for a 7:00 AM presentation, and then one day I pulled an all-nighter cleaning up an oil spill from a lightening strike that took out an oil filled pole-mount transformer (what a mess).
There was little time for riding until Friday. I used the e-bike to run errands Friday afternoon. I hooked the Burley trailer to the e-bike to haul the groceries. The trip was under 4 miles so I motored most of the way.
Saturday, the girls had their softball championship playoff game (they won - undefeated all season) and due to some logistical issues I ended up riding my 7 year old to the game in the trailer. Most of the trip was downhill but the motor helped on the uphills. I don't think it took us any longer to go the 3 miles on the e-bike as it would have by car because we pretty much paced traffic the whole way. After the game we went to Dudley's, a local bar with some o.k. food on a pier in the harbor - the fries are good for feeding the seagulls. After a "barge burger" and a pitcher of beer I peddled home - mostly uphill. The motor really helped here, but I did notice the batteries were not putting out as much by the time we got home. I figure round trip was 7 miles and the total weight with me, bike w/motor and batter, and trailer with 7 year old was about 400+ pounds. So, considering the amount of uphill, less than sober condition of me, all the weight, and the amount of throttle I used, 7 miles is not too bad a range for the 12 Amp Hr 36 volt battery pack.
There was little time for riding until Friday. I used the e-bike to run errands Friday afternoon. I hooked the Burley trailer to the e-bike to haul the groceries. The trip was under 4 miles so I motored most of the way.
Saturday, the girls had their softball championship playoff game (they won - undefeated all season) and due to some logistical issues I ended up riding my 7 year old to the game in the trailer. Most of the trip was downhill but the motor helped on the uphills. I don't think it took us any longer to go the 3 miles on the e-bike as it would have by car because we pretty much paced traffic the whole way. After the game we went to Dudley's, a local bar with some o.k. food on a pier in the harbor - the fries are good for feeding the seagulls. After a "barge burger" and a pitcher of beer I peddled home - mostly uphill. The motor really helped here, but I did notice the batteries were not putting out as much by the time we got home. I figure round trip was 7 miles and the total weight with me, bike w/motor and batter, and trailer with 7 year old was about 400+ pounds. So, considering the amount of uphill, less than sober condition of me, all the weight, and the amount of throttle I used, 7 miles is not too bad a range for the 12 Amp Hr 36 volt battery pack.
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