e-not-bikes
- Thread starter Clyde
- Start date
That's certainly worth something, but customer service from Kickbikes, Cruissis, and Gravity has been really outstanding so far. And it's encouraging that Gravity sells replacement frames, decks, and other parts on their website.
Now THAT is how you write a thread intro! Well done, sir! I am captivated and my 10-yr-old is a scootering fanatic with a BMX bike he rides on occasion best of all worlds!
sed6
Active Member
Update? I found this thread fascinating and just picked up a kick scooter that I'm going to convert. I found several 16 & 20 inch hub motors. Which did you get?
It's coming along nicely! 26" front wheel with a Schwalbe Rapid Rob 2.1" and the Bafang 500w front hub motor in a 20" wheel arrived last week, and the Vee Tires Flow 20x2.4 fits nicely in the rear. Slapped on some discs and mounted the wheels, and it's now an acoustic with a very heavy rear hub.
Battery is in production over at Electro Bike World (Thanks, Vinh!) and I expect it in the next couple of weeks. Was planning on using the same Honeywell cash box as I'd considered for my e-bike build to house the battery and motor controller, but was messing around with a paper mock-up battery yesterday and it looks pretty tight. Ordered up a semi-hard case that's a little larger and intended to mount to the handlebars and head tube via velcro straps that I'll probably end up using instead. Should be able to mount it on the bars, as intended, reversed on the bars with the bag on the downtube, or down where the downtube meets the deck.
Pretty excited to get it tested and running, and I'll upload progress pics in a bit. Thanks for your interest!
Battery is in production over at Electro Bike World (Thanks, Vinh!) and I expect it in the next couple of weeks. Was planning on using the same Honeywell cash box as I'd considered for my e-bike build to house the battery and motor controller, but was messing around with a paper mock-up battery yesterday and it looks pretty tight. Ordered up a semi-hard case that's a little larger and intended to mount to the handlebars and head tube via velcro straps that I'll probably end up using instead. Should be able to mount it on the bars, as intended, reversed on the bars with the bag on the downtube, or down where the downtube meets the deck.
Pretty excited to get it tested and running, and I'll upload progress pics in a bit. Thanks for your interest!
A couple of progress photos.
Rear (front) hub motor installed:
Was going to use a locking steel cash box to hold the battery and motor controller, but found this scooter bag designed to hang from the bars and in front of the head tube that's a perfect fit, and should have enough space.
Just waiting on the battery to install the e-brake cutoffs, display, throttle, and run cable to the rear wheel!
Rear (front) hub motor installed:
Was going to use a locking steel cash box to hold the battery and motor controller, but found this scooter bag designed to hang from the bars and in front of the head tube that's a perfect fit, and should have enough space.
Just waiting on the battery to install the e-brake cutoffs, display, throttle, and run cable to the rear wheel!
Iridebikez
Member
Congrats on getting it together! This whole thread is just the best.
I saw that urban mushing thing and initially thought, 'that's a recumbent quad!' Then realized, nope, no pedals! lol I'd guess the motor is preferred in the front because the wiring is shorter/easier. But you are absolutely right that donut-ability is much more desirable.
I saw that urban mushing thing and initially thought, 'that's a recumbent quad!' Then realized, nope, no pedals! lol I'd guess the motor is preferred in the front because the wiring is shorter/easier. But you are absolutely right that donut-ability is much more desirable.
This project is nearing completion, too. Battery arrived yesterday, and fits really nicely into that case. I'd hoped the case would accommodate the motor controller, too, but alas. So the new plan is to mount the motor controller in a typical controller box on the downtube above the battery.
And there's the rub. The 1 to 4 wiring harness is 41" long as far as I can tell, and I need less than a foot. Anyone know of a source for a shorter one? Trying to adapt the stock one looks like a nightmare.
TIA
And there's the rub. The 1 to 4 wiring harness is 41" long as far as I can tell, and I need less than a foot. Anyone know of a source for a shorter one? Trying to adapt the stock one looks like a nightmare.
TIA
And it's done!
We got it all assembled on Friday and headed out for a test on the local trails, then over to the golf course. Headed down a long hill on a paved path with a bridge over a little creek at the bottom. #1 Son got moving pretty good, waited too long to brake, failed to look where he wanted to go, then locked up the front wheel and had his first endo into the creek. Glad I got him a full-face helmet!
He and the bike were fine, but the little Velcro strap holding the battery case to the downtube gave way, as it was just sewn to the case. We reinforced the whole thing with machine screws, brackets, and washers, and added a strap under the deck to keep the case from bouncing, and it's much sturdier now.
Had a 10+ mile run yesterday, and probably 5 on Friday, and even though it's throttle only the battery still reads 90%. Can't wait for our next ride!
Thanks for the support and suggestions on this one, too. I'll post again when my human bride consents to me building her something.
We got it all assembled on Friday and headed out for a test on the local trails, then over to the golf course. Headed down a long hill on a paved path with a bridge over a little creek at the bottom. #1 Son got moving pretty good, waited too long to brake, failed to look where he wanted to go, then locked up the front wheel and had his first endo into the creek. Glad I got him a full-face helmet!
He and the bike were fine, but the little Velcro strap holding the battery case to the downtube gave way, as it was just sewn to the case. We reinforced the whole thing with machine screws, brackets, and washers, and added a strap under the deck to keep the case from bouncing, and it's much sturdier now.
Had a 10+ mile run yesterday, and probably 5 on Friday, and even though it's throttle only the battery still reads 90%. Can't wait for our next ride!
Thanks for the support and suggestions on this one, too. I'll post again when my human bride consents to me building her something.
Attachments
GypsyTreker
Well-Known Member
Very cool. I looked at these but was amazed at how pricy they were. You did a great job bringing "cool" to your kick bike.
It actually wasn't too bad. A guy in California was going to ship me a Cruissis for $615, and the Gravity without the wheelset was a little more than that shipped from Spain. This unit looks pretty cool! https://globe3t.com/produit/evo-race-descente/
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GypsyTreker
Well-Known Member
We
Amazing how developed this nitche market seems to be. Electrified they are basically, to my way of thinking, scooters with "real" wheels. I imagine they steer much slower than a razor style scoot with small diameter tires.
Amazing how developed this nitche market seems to be. Electrified they are basically, to my way of thinking, scooters with "real" wheels. I imagine they steer much slower than a razor style scoot with small diameter tires.
john peck
Well-Known Member
Well made,....what´s to break?
At my age, any unicycle is not really a well thought out choice. My virginity is long gone, & chastity is no longer optional.
Yeah. It behaves much more like a bike. Given Americans' love for biking and dogs I'm stunned that scooter mushing hasn't caught on here yet.
dodahman
Active Member
I have a 3 wheeled wheelchair, called freedom chair. It uses levers and chains back to each rear axle which is basically a single speed bike apparatus on each side. I steer with the front wheel. The 9 inch(may be room for 10) front wheel might be electric motorizable? How small a wheel can have a hub motor? I get exercise with the chair and like doing so, but the idea of a little assistance at times is intriguing. I appreciate any pointers in the right direction.So, yeah... Haven't even finished my first ebike build, and really ought to be concentrating on that, but late nights on the web and YouTube can result in all kinds of madness. So as I'm looking at the 'basketball that transforms into an e-unicycle' and various hideously ugly enclosed-cabin trikes what pops up but a weird-looking megascooter with a 26" front wheel and a 20" rear, and a hub motor up front(?).
'Okay, WTH is that?', I wondered, and dug in for some research.
So it turns out that's a kickbike.
View attachment 58903
Apparently the Amish use(d) them because a drivetrain makes the Babyjesus cry or something. Don't know how they feel about disc brakes. But that got me wondering, 'what's it for'?
I'll tell you what it's for.
Back in the late 1970s my dad came home one day with a German Shorthaired Pointer, who we named Waylon Jennings of Radiant Aroda (he was a purebred dog, but they'd cropped his tail too short so he couldn't show, and was sent to a pet store!). Well once Waylon and I got to know each other a bit, and he grew to his full 70 lbs, he and I used to go out for 'walks'. I'd tie his leash to my handlebar, or hold it while I skated or rode a skateboard, and we'd haul butt down the promenade by the Boating Chanel in SW DC. Turns out we'd invented something called 'Bikejoring' or 'Scooter Mushing'.
View attachment 58904
Given Americans' love for dogs and bikes, I'm amazed that the scene here is so tiny, but over in Yurp you can't enter the supermarket without tripping over a kickbike, it seems. Just go to Amazon.de and search for them. Dozens of models from multiple manufacturers, all looking well-built and up to the task. In Scandinavia it seems they forego the dog and just race them around a track.
View attachment 58905
Apparently they work for Downhill, too.
View attachment 58906
So, okay. A vehicle suited to being externally powered, with nice anchors and a lightweight, minimal frame. Stands to reason someone would electrify one. And they have.
View attachment 58907
But weirdly, IMVHO. Why a front hub motor rather than the rear? And 'ugh' to yet another ugly plastic lozenge battery case.
But it did get me thinking about other things that are dog-powered, like the green 'urban mushing' cart I posted in another thread.
View attachment 58908
Sacco | Premium Dogcarts for Urban Mushing
Explore Sacco Dogcarts, the leading brand for urban mushing enthusiasts. Our premium carts are designed for those who value quality and performance. Made in Norway, our dog carts offer durability and precision engineering.saccodogcart.com
Born for a series of hub motors if anything ever was, eh? Shame about the $5k pricetag...
So I started looking around and the two best/only candidates for a build both come from kickbikesus.com, which is the US distributor for Kickbike Worldwide. There's a fat-tire version that screams, 'overpower me!' at about a grand, and two 'cross' models with nice brakes. They've got 26" wheels up front, and 20" at the rear that run just under $600. Not bad!
Got to talking with The Boy, who politely tolerates my endless babbling about batteries and such, and has stated that he has no interest in an e-bike, and the instant he saw the scooter he was all in. Damned Gen Z kids... Practically Amish! He's 12, and just over 5', though, and I think a full-sized model would likely be cumbersome for him, and be tough to store.
So then I came across this: https://8-elephants.com/collections/off-road/products/yedoo-runrun-mezeq-disc
View attachment 58913
Mechanical disc brakes, and a 20" up front with a 16" out back on a 100mm axle: perfect for a little 500w geared hub kit, no? I was thinking I'd forego the PAS (obviously), and even the display if possible, and just run the ebrake cutoffs and a throttle, and let him carry the battery and motor controller in a backpack for stealth and security (all the expensive bits aside from the rear wheel go where he goes, and sit in a locker during school, leaving an apparently nice but acoustic scooter behind).
So any holes in my marvelous plan?
Any other ideas for stuff to electric-motorize? Some of the Fat Tad recumbent trikes look like fun, but not as much fun as a half-suspension Norwegian dog cart. Bring it!
