Big Man, What and When to Buy

Im 6'3 300lbs I just purchased the Montague Paratrooper Pro folding bike. Its a strong bike. From my research, including reading this thread, I decided to go with a Crystalyte HS35 rear hub motor, using a 48v 40amp Controller and a 48V 20amh battery pack. Running full throttle, the controller will allow the motor to pull 1920W, which will drain my pack in 30 minutes, being that it only has 960wH to give. With this motor, 1920W would move a 170lb person 35Mph. So... full throttle, no peddling, that guy would only make it 17 miles on my battery. But, if he peddled more or went slower, he could make it 35 miles+.

I'm not sure what that means for a person twice his size, and I wont know until the battery makes it here. I think I should have gotten the HT(high torque) instead of the HS(High Speed) motor. But, that will be a experiment for another day.

At $600 the battery back was not cheap, but it was built using high quality cells, so its only 9lbs and is 6x4x6 in. Which means I maybe able to fit two in a nice removable box. I'm building this myself, because Im a nerd.
But they sell an older Paratrooper bike already converted for $2800 at http://www.electricrider.com

Electric Rider is where I got all of my parts. Not an endorsement though, I my system isnt ready yet.

$1040 for Paratrooper pro bike and seat
$871 for 48v Crystalyte motor kit
$700 for a 48v 20amph battery & smart charger kit

Puts me at $2,611, $189 cheaper and I got a newer bike, and better battery.Plus I have a project to nerd out on. (rant, I had to make my self feel better lol)

Anyway, I will keep you posted on the range and performance... hopefully soon. Ill test this at 500w, 1000w and 1920w. Ill, even throw on a some extra weights to help the bigger guys out.
 
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I am Dave's size and I just bought an Izip Express last month. OK, I am slightly bigger and over 55. Yes, the first month was a bit sore, but, it is good now. I also realize that I may face some spoke challenges in the future after reading this, but, I am loving to bike so far. It doesn't have a full electric mode, so, no cheating and it has a huge battery. The battery was a conscious choice, as I thought I would be more battery dependent starting out than I am. From the start I was cruising on the flats at 22 mph, which considering I actually started out over 400, isn't bad. I bought it to eventually ride back and forth to work, but, home has 550 feet of elevation on work and it is all at one mile long stretch (10% grade for a mile.) I be on it soon. For now I ride at lunch and am not really denting the battery capacity. Just need fewer rainy days up here in the Pacific Northwet!

They made the Express for the LA Police and when it arrived I did all the required statements to my wife quoting Dan Aykroyd from Blues Brothers, .. "its got cop tires, cop brakes ..." Time will tell if it was a good choice for my weight, but, they were just giving them away after Christmas. Every review I read talked about their great hill climbing ability and thinking of my big hill, when the price dropped, I jumped.

I did have to change a few things though, for a big man, let's just say the seat needed to go, go far away and leave it at that. Big wide real seat later and much happier. I have also had to add a raiser to the steering and add a speedometer. That leaves me with an idiot light for a voltage level set well underneath your line of sight. I hate not knowing the voltage and I could not find a digital gauge, so, I modeled a housing on Shapeways and am having it 3D printed for a gauge and a step down regulator I found on eBay. Should have it in a couple of weeks. I wanted LCD for that subtle information on voltage and I got bright red LED's ... I will know in a couple of weeks if I am still looking for a volt gauge, LOL

My wife has been watching me get in better shape and now she is inspired, so, we are going shopping for her soon as well. So that is an absolute great turn of events! A bicycle wasn't fun for me and this ebike is, I am very happy so far.
 
geon said:
Hi All!

I just read Dave's thread with interest because my situation is somewhat like his, in terms of size & weight.

But I am amazed at how reticent you all seem to be to discuss the costs of your suggested ebikes.

When recommending a car to someone I could wax poetic over Bentleys and Aston Martins and Lamborghinis and Porsches but what good would those suggestions be without mentioning the price tags associated with those vehicles?

The typical electric bicycle today seems close to what I paid for a brand new Fiat 128 2dr Sedan off the showroom floor in 1973. ($2995)

On the other hand I recently saw an e-bikes online which looked intriguing.

X-Treme NEW 2016 Alpine Trails Electric Mountain Bicycle

Price: $549 & Free Shipping

Weight limit: 350 Lbs.

http://www.amazon.com/X-Treme-Alpine-Electric-Mountain-Bicycle/dp/B0112P6186/ref=sr_1_13?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1439259253&sr=1-13&keywords=electric+bikes&refinements=p_36:1253559011

Due diligence is in order here, but it looks closer to what Dave was looking for and the price is certainly reasonable.

Another one which looked very interesting was the Wave.

The Fastest and Most Affordable Electric Bike EVER! Priced Only $599 for a LIMITED TIME!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wave-electric-28-mph-bike?gclid=CP-ZpOn6n8cCFUuTfgod32sDBw#/story


These are the kinds of suggestions a newcomer can best use. Not fantasy ebike names and features and benefits with the prices left out because they are so damned expensive!

Nice to meet you all.

LOL

Geon
Click to expand...

Most Ebikes depreciate 50% the first year and lots of new owners find out they really don't like riding that much. I bought my eflow nitro for about half price and it looked new with very low milage. You have to be patient and check adds every day and you probably will not get exactly what you would if you buy new.
 
@Day looking forward to how the Paratrooper works out for you. It's a very rugged design for a full size folding bike and was the frame chosen by the military when Wavecrest Labs first designed and built the TidalForce ebikes.

As a resource on other ebike options for the larger rider, take a look a Court's new Guide for Big and Tall riders.
 
He really should add the rest of the cargo bikes to that guide...they're all high capacity bikes. Side note: haven't figured out why the Faraday bikes are in the cargo bike section. Sure you can put a rack on the back, but that's true of any bike. Head-scratcher.
 
TenBlinkers said:
He really should add the rest of the cargo bikes to that guide...they're all high capacity bikes. Side note: haven't figured out why the Faraday bikes are in the cargo bike section. Sure you can put a rack on the back, but that's true of any bike. Head-scratcher.
Click to expand...
Faraday is likely on the list due to the frame being chromoly steel. Aluminum being brittle can suffer from stress fractures where chromoly will not. In addition Faraday offers an extremely large frame mounted front cargo rack, that doesn't affect steering, allowing greater carrying capacity.
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
 
I will readily admit that I am new to ebikes, but, after reading many threads I am left with this conclusion. Geared hubs should be avoided by the heavier rider because of the need for more torque thus strain on the internal gears. The plastic gear parts I have seen on these threads do seem to be a weak link and if you are near or over the design limits, it is going to be a weak point. I ask the more experienced if my assumption is correct?
 
Yep, stick to a low speed high torque direct drive hub motor, and you will enjoy years of reliable riding, assuming you don't overtax it going up hills.

What you'll find is that going 25 mph is plenty fast on a normal bike, and the high torque is a lot of fun for acceleration.
 
NormL1 said:
I will readily admit that I am new to ebikes, but, after reading many threads I am left with this conclusion. Geared hubs should be avoided by the heavier rider because of the need for more torque thus strain on the internal gears. The plastic gear parts I have seen on these threads do seem to be a weak link and if you are near or over the design limits, it is going to be a weak point. I ask the more experienced if my assumption is correct?
Click to expand...

The geared hubs use a composite gear and they are much more robust than Nylon gears found in mid-drives.
I have heard this from Paul @ Em3ev who sells a ton of MAC motors. So, you should be ok. Again, it depends on how heavy you're talking about and the motor itself.
 
I was speaking in generalities as I have a Izip Express and it isn't really any of the above. At 400 lb I was thinking it is something that I should have considered. I do have a completely unrelated question though. I have been riding the bike and my comfortable pace has been 21 mph. I just placed a pivot riser on and moved the bar a significant amount up and back and my comfortable pace dropped 3 mph. I am having trouble rationalizing that
 
NormL1 said:
I was speaking in generalities as I have a Izip Express and it isn't really any of the above. At 400 lb I was thinking it is something that I should have considered. I do have a completely unrelated question though. I have been riding the bike and my comfortable pace has been 21 mph. I just placed a pivot riser on and moved the bar a significant amount up and back and my comfortable pace dropped 3 mph. I am having trouble rationalizing that
Click to expand...

I am just speculating here but it could be the wind resistance (which increases exponentially with speed) and relaxed riding position may cause unequal weight distribution on the wheels and also increase air drag.
 
OK, the rear weight bias makes sense. With all of the other forces, I have trouble believing that wind is significant at 20. I do think you hit it on bias, the very reason I did it was to get the weight off my hands. Numb hands is not worth 3 mph,..... yet
 
OK, I have had a chance to look at it and the bias is the issue. When I was on the stock bike my weight was more evenly separated between the two ends, now is is very rear biased and you can see it on the shape of the footprint of the tire. Obviously I have gone over some magic weight threshold and warped the foot print too much. Really flexing the sidewalls takes energy, which translates to speed. My guess is that it is also terribly bad on the sidewalls of the tire. I would have to go borrow the corner scales we used to set up my track car for actual numerical data, but, my guess is at least a thirty pound shift. I have already lost 20lb since I bought the bike, so, a little more weight loss and the issue takes care of itself. Sidewall separation yields blowouts, so, I am changing back.

I discounted wind resistance as if I remember physics correctly resistance increases as the cube of speed differential and my long term memory remembers that 20mph was really nothing when I was doing aero calcs for a car
 
NormL1 said:
OK, I have had a chance to look at it and the bias is the issue. When I was on the stock bike my weight was more evenly separated between the two ends, now is is very rear biased and you can see it on the shape of the footprint of the tire. Obviously I have gone over some magic weight threshold and warped the foot print too much. Really flexing the sidewalls takes energy, which translates to speed. My guess is that it is also terribly bad on the sidewalls of the tire. I would have to go borrow the corner scales we used to set up my track car for actual numerical data, but, my guess is at least a thirty pound shift. I have already lost 20lb since I bought the bike, so, a little more weight loss and the issue takes care of itself. Sidewall separation yields blowouts, so, I am changing back.

I discounted wind resistance as if I remember physics correctly resistance increases as the cube of speed differential and my long term memory remembers that 20mph was really nothing when I was doing aero calcs for a car
Click to expand...

I ride my single speed bike with a group and can tell you that pedaling 20 mph in a group is a whole lot easier than 20 mph solo.. There are websites that can tell you the watts needed at different speeds and different riding positions, for wind resistance and road friction. Aero matters even at low speed on a bike

The most important thing about riding a bike is comfort.. If a certain position gives you pain it doesn't really matter if it is more efficient..

What you can do is bias the tire pressure.. Max out on the rear tire and run about 20% less on the front tire. The idea is to give equal footprints.. There are websites that help you figure out what the bias should be..

I switched from drop handle bars to bull bars and it made a huge difference to me, even though it was slightly less aero.. So personal preference is all that matters imo.
 
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