Dolphin freewheel/gearset change

[Emankcin]

We got a Dolphin and a Volador earlier this year, and whilst the lady in my life seems happy with the gearing on her Volador, I rarely changed out of top gear, and spent a lot of my time on the bike with pedals rotating like a pinwheel.

So, I looked around this forum and discovered Drift Maniac Freewheel 7 Speeds 11-28 teeth.

The local bike shop installed it for $25, and having ridden around for a few miles, I'm delighted with it.

 

[jpa2825]

Interesting. Was the original gearing a problem regardless of amount of assist you were using?

Researching the Volador and Dolphin for my son and his GF in the Bay Area as a commuter they will share when the other has the 1 car. (They are considering selling the other car to get more green and save $.) Given the topography in SF (he will be going to USF and commuting from Oakland via Bart with the folding bike; her commute is shorter toward Berkeley), leaning strongly toward the Dolphin because of the battery.

 

[Emankcin]

Hi harry,

For me, the overall gearing (both Volador and Dolphin, they use the same gear set) was just way too low, even without any assist at all.

Using the default assist setting (3), there wasn't any hill that required me to use any other than 7th gear, and we're in San Diego, not quite as steep hills as San Francisco, but still. Oh, and I'm 72 years old.

The new gearset has the same lowest gearing as factory supplied, but the 11 tooth highest gear is about 20% higher than stock. What this means is less flailing when going down hills and a much nicer 'pace' when on the flat.

Cheap swap. If you don't like it, you may always swap the original gearset back again.

 

[Tinker]

I also swapped out the gearset following the lead of Goldconch.

Controller Modification for more speed?

I have a 20" model and I really like it , it has really really good range given the size of battery it has. however i think the fact that it has a sine-wave controller, it doesnt seem to "use" as much power even on assist level 5. i have a similarly powered bike and that one, is not sine-wave...

electricbikereview.com

I also went for the 53 tooth lite-pro chainring but I'm not sure if you'd want to do this in a hilly area as it'd change the lowest gear. I actually damaged my cranks so I just ordered 56 tooth to see if it might fit and if not I'm only out a few bucks for what I would have spent on the cranks alone.

 

[Emankcin]

Let us know how it works out.