e-assist on older bikes (60's-90's), what bikes to design around?
Assuming that i'm wanting to make either a stout e-assist or even a system capable of just coasting at the desired speed...
Assuming i'm hoping to homebrew as much as possible due to issues of expense primarily... (may or may not even be a proper hub motor, trying to figure out where I can save money... the high crime areas I have to park in I expect this to all be stolen at some point so don't really want to dump $1000 on it :-/ )
Assuming i'm not terribly concerned about weight. (except my own, I can drop 20lbs more easy than the bike can for the money, by just cycling more :P ) A steel frame is strong and repairable anywhere, even if it wont look pretty afterwards. Reliability and long life matter more.
Assuming I need a decent amount of cargo (like 50lbs of college books, plus potentially a long range 40mi of battery assist pack... plus my large heavy frame pushing probably 280lbs right now until I get that down though some of that is muscle and not going anywhere... so really going for bike strength here more than lightness)
What kind of bike features, specifications, and similar would I want to be designing my system around? The bike isn't picked yet, the potentials for e-assist engineering are going to drive the bike. For instance I read somewhere that i'd want a 36 spoke wheel if I ever plan to use a hub motor - because all hub motors are 36 spoke wheels. So an older bike would need that, or have to be converted to that. I'd like to try to adapt a front disc brake from a newer department store mountain bike parts bike if possible without excessive reengineering in the future due to weight, speed, downhill coasting concerns - not sure how well normal calipers stop from 20mph with extra weight. Factoids like that is what i'm looking for to keep in mind at this early early before even pre-alpha stage of the process as I research possible directions for this future project.