Electric Bikes - Winter e-biking

So now i'm curious, since winter has well arrived up here in the foothills of the rockies. Do any of you take to winter cycling? winter e-biking? Any particular tricks or strategies you employ to make it work?

I'd be curious to find out who does it, and what they use. Last year I completed a winter using a Crystalyte 408 and a lithium battery pack, but the pack is now worn out and winter is here again, so for the moment i'm just using my unpowered mountain bike.

I've made it my personal goal to commute at least 50% of the time to work (24 miles round trip) this winter. Because of my bad knees, I put a Bionx 350 Li on my old Specialized Rockhopper. Only 396 miles to date, but so far so good. I also occasionally commute with a Marin hybrid (no motor) with Nokian 700c x 35 W106's.

I plan on putting Nokians W106 (26 x 1.9) on the e bike as well...interesting journey...I need to lose about 25 pounds...I'll keep you posted...

Woo

Abneycat,

How did the Crystallite work? Do you need to pedal? Or is it power-assisted like the Bionx?

Woo

The Crystalyte works quite well in winter. Crystalyte kits don't come with pedal-assist as a standard feature, they're typically throttle only and you simply have the choice on your own accord as to whether you want to pedal or not.

The one thing to realize on either one, is that while the exterior of the Crystalyte is well finished, and the BionX has an aluminum shell, they both have steel components internally. Normally, using them generates enough heat to evaporate the moisture that gets inside, but when stored they should be left indoors so as to avoid condensation within the hub motor itself.

I'd be interested to hear about how you do with the BionX for sure! I might not end up getting the Crystalyte a new battery for winter, but riding a normal bike never killed.. okay.. nevermind. it has. but electrics probably have too :)

It is only the beginning of December now - we only reach 32 or 33 at night but I find that it is very useful to store the bike inside in a heated place while charging - or at least the battery. I have a SLA battery. If it reaches the outdoor temp range seems to be cut about 20% and the overall performance is sluggish. Of course, you need to consider protective gear to keep the knees and hands warm

I try to bike everyday. It got to 16 degrees with the wind chill here and I went out. Still haven't got the right combination of gloves for the hands to keep it warm. I tried a heat pack and that seemed to work good. I use the Wilderness hub and I noticed a decrease in battery charge in the winter.

I bike 48 kms a day to work and back on my ebike. After a car accident I could no longer do that on a regular bike.

Winter has come early to Toronto and there is already mountains of snow everywhere. Since the City doesn't clear bike paths (or even bike lanes), I've had to cut back considerably. I bike to a subway station with my ebike ( I have a choice of stations from 1 to 5 kms away from my house. I have a beater bike at the end station where I bike another 4 or 5 kms.

I do this each week day except when it snows or is below -25C (including wind chill).

For me winter is the reason for an ebike, to keep summer commute times.

I commute 12 months a year on an old steel road bike. But i'm fixing up my mountain bike into an Ebike (the motor is being shipped now).

Oh, i forgot to mention that i live in South Florida. Last week it dipped down into the mid 70's.

jim................

Kats,
Just got the Phoenix Racer on a 700C front wheel, 4840 controller and the Eonyx EV 48 volt LiFePO4 Battery. Installed on an old Ross cross bike. Does about 35mph flat out, but I think I smoked the controller last night - Check this:
I Did my 44 mile round trip commute to work yesterday. Snow on the ground, about 20F when I started, battery died at about 12 miles because I had not charged it enough. Charged it at work but still not enought, died about 1/2 way home. Unplugged the front motor to make it spin easily and peadled the rest of the way home.

When I got home I was checking voltages and the controller started to smoke, that burning electrical smell many of us know. Probably killed it somehow, maybe some melting snow got in it. Waiting to hear back form e-rider with good replacement warranty news.

Will keep you updated.

god0, you unplugged the motor but the controller still had a large electrical load on it? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so the snow option seems more likely. Either that, or a defective controller could be a pretty likely reason as well.

At any rate, when you get the next one, you can silicone the edges of the controller and the wiring exits, helps greatly to keep the gunk out. The same can be done for the motor as well.

So now i'm curious, since winter has well arrived up here in the foothills of the rockies. Do any of you take to winter cycling? winter e-biking? Any particular tricks or strategies you employ to make it work?

I'd be curious to find out who does it, and what they use. Last year I completed a winter using a Crystalyte 408 and a lithium battery pack, but the pack is now worn out and winter is here again, so for the moment i'm just using my unpowered mountain bike.

I've found being able to take the feet off the pedals on ice and put the feet out to maintain balance is an added safety benefit.