Ideal Bike for Those Steep Uphill Climbs (Never Get off Your Bike and Walk Again)
09-22-11, 09:54 AM
#1
OldSchool
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Ideal Bike for Those Steep Uphill Climbs (Never Get off Your Bike and Walk Again)
09-22-11, 08:28 PM
#3
Freewheel Medic
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What they fail to tell you is how heavy the bike becomes with the lead-acid battery pack and the electric hub motor.
I built something similar for my wife using a kit and a Specialized Hard Rock aluminum MTB bike. Altogether the bike probably weighs about 60lbs. Add the rider and a steep hill and you will find yourself dead in the water less than half way up the climb. It just can't pull that much weight.
I built something similar for my wife using a kit and a Specialized Hard Rock aluminum MTB bike. Altogether the bike probably weighs about 60lbs. Add the rider and a steep hill and you will find yourself dead in the water less than half way up the climb. It just can't pull that much weight.
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Bob
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09-23-11, 12:08 AM
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09-23-11, 05:27 AM
#7
Freewheel Medic
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When the batteries are new and the rider weighs less than 100lbs.
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Bob
Enjoying the GA coast all year long!
Thanks for visiting my website: www.freewheelspa.com
Bob
Enjoying the GA coast all year long!
Thanks for visiting my website: www.freewheelspa.com
09-23-11, 06:11 AM
#8
Thrifty Bill
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Built by "Lee Liacocca's" company. Got to love it.
I find every bike I own can make it up ANY hill, no matter how steep. Its just the rider that can't make it. So that's where I need the improvement. Apparently, there is nothing wrong with my bike(s). But that old guy mounted on it, he has problems.
I find every bike I own can make it up ANY hill, no matter how steep. Its just the rider that can't make it. So that's where I need the improvement. Apparently, there is nothing wrong with my bike(s). But that old guy mounted on it, he has problems.
09-23-11, 08:06 AM
#10
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Don't scoff. Electric bicycles are becoming seriously useful. They're not for me, and they're not for everyone, but they're catching on, after many false starts.
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09-23-11, 08:10 AM
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I can agree to that. I'm sure they will improve in leaps and bounds over the next decade. I have no interest in them now at age 28... but who knows what the future holds.
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09-23-11, 08:12 AM
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That picture is so seriously funny to me. It looks like the drivetrain is backwards to me, with a freewheel the size of a crank and a crank the size of a freewheel. I love that you did that... only if to prove that you could.
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09-23-11, 08:13 AM
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09-23-11, 08:22 AM
#14
Senior Member
I opened this thread expecting to see some thoughtful discussion of gearing, bike weight, wheel/tire diameter and maybe even crank length.
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09-23-11, 08:39 AM
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26/38? Hahaha! Incidentally, I can shift the 50/38 too...that was a requirement as I didn't want to have any chance of a bad combo.
Here's the gearing as it sits:
And what the heck, with the 26T granny thrown in and a slight update for tire size:
Hahaha!
Last edited by khatfull; 09-23-11 at 08:47 AM.
09-23-11, 01:56 PM
#18
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09-23-11, 02:35 PM
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Blah.....the old Solex motors hung on a front wheel will leave those E-hubs in the dust....well in a cloud of blue smoke anyway.
09-23-11, 02:41 PM
#20
OldSchool
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Colonel, sorry to disappoint! I have to say, more than anyone else on this forum, sometimes you just crack me up with your humor! Always highly entertaining!
09-23-11, 03:40 PM
#21
aka Tom Reingold
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
09-23-11, 04:03 PM
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now that I have a 34/32, I don't think there are too many hills I'll be tempted to walk up. The rider of lower quality e-bikes like in the OP may not even be able to push them up some of the hills I can ride up.
09-23-11, 04:20 PM
#23
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Maybe you can swap for an MTB crankset and gear it even lower - though you'll probably start stripping cog teeth by then.
-Kurt
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