jawnn

I would like to hear from people with e-bikes :
What kind of power system you use.
What gear reduction you use and the steepness of the grade.
The weight and speed you are able to climb hills with.

And if your going to build an e-trike, read this https://commutercycling.blogspot.com/...id-design.html

Trikin'

I have a Catrike Trail....although I didn't power the trike, I powered a BOB trailer (single wheel). I wanted the added assist when pulling a load on the trailer (camping gear etc) but to be able to ride the trike without the additional weight of the battery and hub. I can't believe the torque, the hub is laced into a 16" wheel, the hill assist is way beyond my expectations and I only have the 36V-9.6A lithyium-Ion battery...............Also I have the Scram DualDrive and had to config the hookup differently....works just fine

Sangesf

The reason for the torque is because of the size of the wheel..
Putting a motor on a smaller wheel, gives more torque than a much larger wheel.
My 24v 250w 20" rear wheel/motor has waayyy more torque than my 36v 350w 26" front motor/wheel.

jawnn

I have finnaly decided that hub motors are a waste of money because of the lack of torque at slow legal speeds....how ever there is hope for a Polyphase AC induction hub motor. I don't know who is developing it, but if I find it I will put it here.

Trikin'

Hi ...just got back from a local ride, there's a great set of trails near home. I brought my trailer this time and at slower speeds the torque on the 16" wheel works very well for me, even on the dirt trails. jawnn.....what slow legal speeds are you referring to?

Sangesf

I think he wants to do some burnouts...
20" 250w on 36v gets me to 22 mph easily, and I'm sure on 16" it could do it even faster.

Sangesf

The problem with Polyphase AC induction hub motors is that they generate much more heat then DC brushless motors do.. They're larger, heavier, but they do have the benefit of full torque at slower speeds and their efficiency is ~85% at any speed as opposed to DC brushless motors whose efficiencies are only at a certain speed range.

Trikin'

Thanks Sangest....maybe you can tell me, is regen good for braking?? Is it necessary to have it hooked up to a brake or can it be just a switch....?? thankyou

Sangesf

What kind of motor are you talking about.

Mabman

You can activate regen with a switch. The trick is to have a controller that allows for varying the amount of regen. I have a setup similar to yours and cannot use the regen because it locks up the wheel because there is not any real weight on it.

Trikin'

Thanks Mabman...I wondered about the weight factor, even with the batt attached to the trailer bed, it's probably still to light........Sangest, I have a Crystalyte 406 (i was told a 250-500W) with a Infenion 25A Controller....

Sangesf

Regen and stopping power on a push trailer are things I don't have experience with..
I would think it would be the same or close..

jawnn

the kind of speed I am looking for is 20mph with about 4-5 hundred lbs ( total combined weight)... like crossing a mountian pass, kind of hill.

https://www.x-tremescooters.com/techd...regulation.pdf

chvid

I've got an Actionbent T1 non-suspended tadpole 26"rear/20"front trike with a rear Nine-Continent 2606 brushless hub motor from ebikes.ca. I had to file down the axle shoulder to 131 mm, from 135 mm, in order to get the motor in the rear dropout, along with the spacer washers, with just a bit of frame spread (3 mm - it is an alloy frame). I set up dual torque arms on each side of the wheel (those on each side opposing each other) to fully immobilize the axle, in the dropout (which is perhaps a bit soft, due to being alloy). I have a 12 Fet BMSBattery "universal" pedal first controller with a hand throttle on the trike left handlebar (45 dollars), and a CycleAnalyst on the boom. With a 48volt 15Ahr ping battery in one rear pannier - with the possibility of running dual packs. Presently with the amount of pedalling I do, which is considerable although easy, I am averaging around 15 watt hours per mile, which is quite good given my average speed around 25 mph, with bursts to 35 miles per hour on long flats, or downhill. The bike is lit up like a Christmas tree with a custom flag from purplesky.com, and a Cree flashlight from dealextreme, on a Minoura space grip attached to the front of the boom. I was getting a bit of shimmy on the trike with the lower tire pressures I prefer to run, and had to put a rubber o-ring around the headset bearing, inside the cap, to eliminate it. I'm not sure WHAT the previous poster who derided hub motors was talking about, given the excellent torque and speed of the motor - with two packs I could easily cruise safely at 35 mph, with great stopping power from the disk brakes on the front. And I can carry a lot of cargo - the trike is rated at 265 lbs - I'm 165 + a 15 lb battery which leaves lots of room for camping gear. Or I could attach my Bob trailer. The pedal first works very well, and will actually start up the wheel with no pedalling at all, with no Hall sensors (it can use those if desired). This is an excellent controller - I getting up to 1300 watts out of it as registered on the CycleAnalyst. Of course on local bike trails I stick to 20mph and ride carefully, but around town on normal roads it is nice to cruise with regular traffic, in my top gear which is around 120 gear inches. I can still assist up to 35 mph with that gearing. Clipping in is mandatory at those speeds for safety I think. So far I am extremely happy with the bike, even though they sent me the alloy version by mistake - I had ordered the cromolly version. 1200 dollars for the trike, to Victoria BC, landed in my living room in about one week from Redmond Washington. It took a bit of fiddling with the toe-in to get it just right - I've got a Big Apple on the back at lowish pressure to protect the motor/spokes from impact shocks, and dual Primo Comets on the front. I found that Big Apples on the front drastically increased the shimmy problem before I solved it with the o-ring inside the headset. You want your headset tight, with lots of friction to reduce shimmy tendency. I've had the trike on about 15 longish thirty mile rides around Victoria with no issues so far, other than the 9C spokes needing a bit of tightening. Truing the hub motor wheel perfectly is less of an issue I find with the front disk brakes than on a V-brake bike using the motor wheel rim. These tadpole trikes are a riot - and there's nothing wrong with a beefy quiet direct drive hub motor, good at all speeds! I think a Catrike Expedition would probably be a very similar experience.

Trikin'

Hi chvid...you've no doubt you've seen my posts above, the whole idea for me was to have hill assist especially while touring.But this motor has been so much more, I can get through intersections quicker and safer, while pedaling and using the gears, I can travel at good speeds on the street. I've thought about putting the hub on the rear wheel of the trike but I still want to ride the trike (light) without the extra weight....park the trailer and race the trike around.....
How about some pic's of your set-up?

chvid

Hi Trikin....that's a nice idea to make the Bob into an e-pusher...I also have a Bob trailer and did that as well with an old brushed motor I have, which worked very well on the bike I tried it on. I would definitely consider that again for cross-continent scale touring, with the extra weight on the pusher, but around town I prefer not to have a trailer for most of my routine applications, just using an Axiom Dutch shopper double pannier, with an Arkel Tailpack. I found that unless the Bob was loaded the traction suffered a bit on uphills, which is where there is a more torque produced on the e-wheel. I'll put up a couple of snaps of the bike in a couple of days. I guess I'm spoiled (or old) - I only like to ride electric now, while pedalling, at higher speeds...I think on a cross country trip I might probably take the original trike wheel along on the trailer, although any old MTB 9 speed wheel would do in a pinch.

Trikin'

I'd been thinking of a motorized trike since my 1st trike 5 yrs ago. You-Tube has 100's of vid's of home-made pusher trailers, gas and electric, I had plenty of idea's. I bought the BoB for my tour last summer and used it twice, it was the second time riding down the SunShine coast I realized I needed assist on the hills if I was going to continue touring.....

chvid

Nice country the Sunshine coast. but some pretty arduous sections, probably get up that way next year (summer kayaking expediton to Desolation). I've been up to Alberni and back on my e-recumbent to see my brother, and it was a great trip - had to stop in Coombs for a couple of hours to pick up charge for the Mt Arrowsmith hump, and to watch the goats. I don't think there is a better way of being retired, cruising around on e-trikes. Almost there, retired that is.

Sangesf

Chivd,

What's the w/h per mile with no pedaling?
Just curious.

chvid

Well Sangsf, I'm a moderately decent peddler, 56 years old with no physical issues other than a little shoulder tendonitis. I haven't collected stats on unassisted pedalling. I imagine I would be closer to 30 watt hours per mile if I restricted my speed to 20mph. I wouldn't get the endorphin rush then though! I imagine most of those unassisted types are closet smokers...