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  1. J

    Bosch's War on Self Repair

    The difference is that local, nearby repair shops or services exist near me for all those things. The nearest e-bike mechanic is over fifty miles away, and for a lot of people in the US I think that's the norm. And with proprietary systems like what Bosch is doing, you not only need an e-bike...
  2. J

    Converting

    I'm assuming it's a front hub motor of some kind (hard to see it clearly). The motor is probably fine with higher voltage. The battery will probably need to be replaced (not sure if you could use a converter - I'm not an electronics expert). The unknown is the other electronics - you'll need...
  3. J

    Feel like your bike frame lettering is like a giant billboard?

    My bike is DIY, but this bugs me regardless of bike type, and mechanical bikes are almost as bad about it. I hate having stuff scream brands at everyone around me. I like my bikes (electric and regular) to appear understated and unassuming, and hiding the brand can make it less tempting a...
  4. J

    Why do we ebike?

    Because I don't drive for medical reasons that are too personal to get into (and the same reasons apply to motorcycles / mopeds, so those are out). I already liked cycling, but electric gives me far greater range and mobility, especially in very hot or very cold weather, need to get somewhere...
  5. J

    Cadence on an eBike

    Interesting! I'd only ever heard the 80+rpm number before, and always felt that was far too high for me. I didn't realize it was known that mountain bikers prefer a lower cadence - I always ride mountain or hybrid style bikes (never road bikes), and the 60-70rpm cadence has always felt much...
  6. J

    Is 1200w too much power for a front hub...

    Isn't spinning out more a factor of too much torque at too low of a load rather than max power? I.e. so long as the torque was ramped up smoothly, I don't see it being an issue with the power level. You might still have issues with traction on slick surfaces but that's true of any front hub I'd...
  7. J

    How steep is your hill?

    My city is flat-ish, but I live right at the base where plains transition to mountains so all the grades are on the climb up just outside the city. The roads have to accommodate cars so they don't go past 10-12% for the most part, but they go on for miles and miles at 8-12%. There are other...
  8. J

    Is there a term for this?

    I've heard it called clown pedaling, and that's what it feels like. I hate it personally. To me if you're not pedaling to actually assist (whatever the reason), that's what throttles are for, and a big part of why I feel bikes should have both a throttle and PAS.
  9. J

    Mid drive torque sensor

    Personally I think a torque sensor, while not essential, is a significant upgrade over cadence-only, though it must be said that not all cadence-only sensors are created equal. A high quality immediate engagement cadence setup is a vast improvement over the laggy, jerky setups that are more...
  10. J

    Can we change the culture?

    I'm really glad I have the ability to hit 30mph on my DIY bike, even though 95% of the time I'm staying right at 20mph. You never know when you really want that burst of speed, usually due to someone else being stupid (be it biker, car, or pedestrian).
  11. J

    An old wives tale ???

    While a sufficiently well-made chain shouldn't be breaking even under motorized stress, I've had plenty of maintenance issues with my regular bike drivetrains - gear teeth wear out, chains stretch, crank bolt works loose, derailleur catching, etc. Particularly as I ride in all weather. In fact...
  12. J

    What's your range ?

    Rider: 180lbs (bike is ~60lbs, so 240-250lbs total) Bike: 1980s 26" chromoly Diamondback MTB with MX3006 hub + Phaserunner kit from Grin Tech Battery: 52v 6Ah Mighty Mini from Luna Cycles (30Q cells) Power: usually 50-300 watts typically, though I can go up to 1000w (capped to 20A for battery...
  13. J

    Cycle Analyst

    I realize I'm a bit late to this, but as someone who has no background in electronics I found the CAv3 to be relatively easy to setup (using it with one of Grin's own kits). Highly recommend using the USB programming cable and the provided software to configure it. There's little tooltips that...
  14. J

    Mid drives vs Hub drives ???

    I built my DIY bike using a Grin Tech kit and I have to agree - phaserunner + CAv3 + mx3006, and it feels amazing to ride - the only bike I demo'd that even came close to feeling this smooth and responsive was the Stromer line. It's almost eerily silent too. It handles hills surprisingly well -...
  15. J

    Mid drives vs Hub drives ???

    In my many years of riding regular bikes, I've had more issues with chain/crank/gears out on the road than I have nasty flats. Thick tires/tubes + sealant do wonders. Most of my flats are slow or the result of me screwing up the install (i.e. pinch), and happen at home not on the road. The tiny...
  16. J

    PAS (Pedal Assist System) Redux. As the late Al Davis almost said "Just Pedal, Baby!"

    I'm still waiting on the parts for my build, but I've test ridden a bunch of bikes and briefly owned an e-bike several years back. Of all of them, I'd say the Stromer (ST1) I tried was easily the closest to feeling like a normal bike, so much so that I could easily forget it was electric aside...
  17. J

    Is e-Biking Cheating?

    If e-bikes are "cheating", I hate to think what that makes cars. I think the problem is that some people (especially here in the States) seem to be stuck with this mindset that cycling is a recreational fitness activity, or worse, that it's only for racing and adventuring, instead of as a...
  18. J

    Mid drives vs Hub drives ???

    I'm in the midst of planning my first DIY build, and this was my conclusion as well. All of the DIY mid-drives I found had pretty significant shortcomings, not least of which was the lack of torque sensing which I consider essential. For me though, it has to be DIY because that means I can...
  19. J

    Trying to decide between DIY and Juiced CrossCurrent S

    The black 19Ah model was finally (briefly) in stock earlier today, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on it! I still plan to do a DIY eventually for fun, but now that will be a hobby project I can take lots of time on, while the CCS should work reliably right out of the box for years...
  20. J

    Trying to decide between DIY and Juiced CrossCurrent S

    The more enthusiast kits (especially Grin's) I was looking at seemed pretty solid to me, but those kits used higher end components and ended up being about the same price or higher than turn-key offerings. I'm still drawn to the idea, because it lets me choose what trade-offs I want, but it's...
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