corkscrew

I wonder about that sometimes.

Good times with the trike lately. Had to catch a ride home yesterday AND today due to flats on the rear tire. I just now got a kit put together to remove the rear tire tonight. I replaced the rim tape with some wider cloth stuff I had in the garage. I couldn't find anything in the tire yesterday or today, and it ate two tubes so I'm hoping that fixes things.

Got a 700x50 Big Apple tire today, which doesn't fit.

Next on the list is wiring up the 12V side of things. I need some light! I almost ended up under the bumper of a GMC today. =/

Also, I must say this. The amount of people that talk to me at random about my bike has quadrupled in the last week. I'm not sure I like that part lol.

rscamp

Too bad the BA doesn't fit. In addition to providing a smoother ride for you it provides a smoother ride for your hub motor. The bigger tire also looks good with the heavier wheel with its large hub.

With regard to comments, I get a lot too - especially in subdivisions or when traveling slow through a park or similar with pedestrians. In my case, the hub is quite a bit smaller and most of the electrics are hidden so most people have no idea it is electric. With a trike it is so easy to stop and chat...

corkscrew

Yeah, I failed to account for how much taller the tire would be. It fits width wise, but hits the center of the rear forks with a mm or three to go before it's in the dropouts. O'well - I'm sure I can return it or flip it on ebay, 700x50 Big apples aren't very common. In the meantime, I have the 700x35 Vittoria Randonneur running at 60psi. It didn't flat on the way to work today, so I'm thinking the new rim tape solved the problem.

Yeah, here at work, I'm getting people who I've never spoken too before, let alone SEEN, coming up to me to talk to me about my trike.

rscamp

I took this afternoon off. The weather is just gorgeous today.

Here's some info on my ride which was about 40km...

corkscrew

Well thought I'd give a bit of an update!

Had some issues during the first week of commuting with it, but now have over 200 miles on it according to my CA.

Issues:
Spokes worked themselves so loose that the rim was wobbling enough to hit my chainstays! Had to get another ride home after the bike shop I hobbled too told me they couldn't tension the wheel until 3 days later.

Trying to lock down a section of power-side chain tube. It slipped forward earlier this week and allowed the chain to chew up half of my balance wires!

I have lights installed now! A 35watt auxillary driving light up front and a 7 LED trailer light on the rear rack. The 12V fuse panel is installed in a radioshack project box mounted on my right handlebar. It's also serving as a switch box for the two light switches.

Thoughts on it now:

I want more voltage and a bit more range. Mainly want more speed off the line, and maybe 3 more mph on flat land (to max out @ 35mph, no pedaling). I say range because my 20 mile round trip commute is leaving me with about 35% left in the battery pack at the end of the day (although the CA reports 45ish volts?). I'd like to be able to run some more errands during the day, so I don't end up discharging past that! Currently plotting an 18S setup, but we'll see, as I'd have to change how I charge, and buy a different DC-DC converter for my lights. Not to mention modding my controller to handle 72V! Thank jeebus for brothers who are electrical engineers!

Then again, it might be more cost effective to buy 4 more batteries and bump up to a 30AH pack. That way I can keep the voltage from dropping from 49.9 to 45.x by the end of the day! Not to mention putting me up to nearly 1500watt hours... Currently I'm averaging about 2 miles per Ah, so I think I'd safely have a 40 mile range with a 30AH pack without pushing the pack too hard.