Search results

You can use aluminum forks without worry if you add a torque arm to each side of the fork. There really aren't any good steel drop out suspension forks available and the ones that are have very thin drop outs. The concern isn't the material but whether they will spread open or simply break off.

My friend owns two of these bikes, they are beautifully put together and ride nice. His are about 3000 watts with 17 amp hr pack. They are a bit pricey but use the best of everything. :thumbsup:

Your vision for the bike is a good compromise of new/old styling. When you wire in series the voltage goes up but the amp hours stay the same, when you wire in parallel the voltage stays the same but the amp hours increase. You will either have 48 volt, 12 ah or 12 volt, 48 ah. Both do not...

As your batteries are in series to give you 48 volt, you have 12 ah worth of battery 'pack'. If you parallel them back to 12 volt, you will go slow but have 48 ah... makes sense? Total wattage of your system is calculated by voltage x amperage drawn by the controller (peak). I'm guessing 48 volt...

Good to see it up and running, your e-bike grin must be pretty wide. Sounds like you must have those batteries in series (48 volt, 12 amp) and are likely topping out at 30 mph which is plenty fast with a horseshoe front brake. :soapbox:

Beautiful build, I'm glad you painted the rims to match the frame and changed to different whitewalls. The original girder was cool but the custom forks are way more complimentary to the (curved) lines of the bike. :thumbsup:

I can't help but sing this song to myself while I ride!

In case you didn't see the update elsewhere, Sc!ence! has a new pair of shoes: 19" DOT moped rims and adapter nipples from Holmes Hobbies, custom 13/14g butted spokes, 2.75" 4 ply motorcycle tires. No more worry about folding a rim when hitting a pothole (it happened, scary :whew: ) and little...

Yes, (quality) batteries are usually the most expensive part of an e-bike build making it harder for someone unfamiliar to take that financial plunge. SLA's are cheap but don't last many charge cycles before they begin to deteriorate (charge cycle basically means if you use 33% of battery total...

Unfortunately you'd increase the current draw on the driving motor pushing the load of the generator hub if it puts out enough to add charge to the battery. You can use regenerative braking with the driven hub which does what you describe when braking, it's good for about 10% greater distance...

Upgraded the wheels and tires! Made the move to 19" aluminum moped rims and 2.75" wide motorcycle tires. The ride is very smooth, with improved traction and braking control. When you're riding a 30 mph, 100 lb bike, you don't want to leave things to chance.

http://www.goldenmotor.ca This is basically the same kit without the lead acid battery charger. You can order it in front or rear versions and sizes from 20" to 700c, these are also disc brake compatible which is a good idea if you're going to start riding around town at 30mph.

That's often the problem with e-bikes, people are intimidated because all the costs are up front, followed by 1000s of miles where maintenance and operating costs are next to nothing. Best bet is still to put a kit on a bike you already like.:cool2:

There are pros and cons to FWD especially if you intend to go over 500 watts. There is a lot of torque and front drop outs can spread or worse snap off aluminum forks if you don't use torque arms. When going uphill especially with sandy/wet/dusty terrain you can have wheel spin, plus it's a lot...

Don't worry, you'll have a blast once it's up and running. According to their website the Phoenix has a crytalyte motor, those things can run up to 5000 watts and more without trouble. I hope you're limiting it to about 1000 watts @ 48 volts or you may snap your forks. I'll be waiting for pics...

No reason to not use what you already have! At least your finished product will look a heck of a lot more stylish than my first attempt and with your hub motor up front, it'll help to balance the weight. I'm assuming that's the controller on the seat post and 2 x 12 volt batteries either side of...

There are lots of commercially available triangular bags made to hold cells, you could buy batteries and build your own pack. Headway and some other Lifepo4 cells can be screwed together without special tools or spot welding in whatever configuration/shape you need. Other than that you're likely...

Thanks, it's really great when the weather is crappy, you can just tuck your feet inside and stay much drier than when I ride one of the regular e-bikes to work. The battery packs have slide off mounts that fit 2 of my other bikes. Just takes a few seconds to change from one to the other...

Here's a link to the build. 3000 watt 80 amp controller, 2 x 48 volt 10 amp batteries, 54.6 km/hr top speed, aprox 40 km per charge.

In January I changed work sites and although there is a nice bike room to park in, Simply Red turned out to be longer than the bike room was wide! Knowing I wasn't making many friends due to the space it took up (totally didn't fit in the wall racks) I decided to try a few new things. I knew it...