JRA
Well-Known Member
An industry friend got some rims, tires and frames made for a wheel size he was considering for his company. The rim he designated as 750d because that is the diameter in mm. With a 40c tire the overall diameter is 29.5"es which makes it over an inch more than a comparable 700c wheel. However it is roughly on par with a 700c rim with a 2.5 tire on it although substantially narrower and less sidewall height. This all happened just before Covid hit and so the project got put on hold ultimately and at this time it seems like it may stay that way.
My buddy knows I am into e assist so he sent me a kit to build up and I got right on it a few years ago. Took my Grin All-Axle hub and laced it into the new rim and built up a new rear wheel. Basically I swapped the rest of the parts over from my silver 700c bike but had other ideas in regards to the controller/battery placement. However by the time I had the bike ridable and ready for those parts Covid hit and stopped my progress cold. A longer story than I am going to put down here.
Bottom line is that life went on and I rode my TSDZ2 eMTB and even made up another one in the meantime. Then I got a Luna Z1 late last fall and have been enjoying that as it is a bit more adaptable to the terrain I have to ride out the door where I can mix single track with roads at will. With this bike, as with the silver one before it, I will still be able to ride logging roads as long as they aren't too chunky but will always have a flat repair kit with me.....plus going from plush FS to rigid is always going to be a change and single track is pretty much out of the equation.
My FS bike went down so the closest to operable bike I had was this one and I was able to use an older Dolphin battery I had been saving for another project and used the old controller from the silver bike as well as the CA3, throttle body, regen button and wattage selector. I was pretty pleased when the lights went on and took it for a test spin before finishing it off. It is now done enough to enjoy and get me back on a bike here but still have plans to get it where I originally envisioned it.
Fully realize that hub motors and throttles are not what the cool kids are into but for me the system of a front hub and throttle controlled cruise control works the best for primarily road use. I have a Schlumpf High Speed Drive crank on the bike that gives me a really good range of gearing via it's 1:1 to 2.25:1 OD. So even though it has a 27t chainring while in OD it is equivalent to a 60t chainring so pedaling at speeds up to 35mph input is very effective while the motor provides a consistent wattage of momentum. Setup is silent and the most natural pedal feel of any eBike I've ridden with no gear changing issues other than what conventional common practices dictates. Climbs anything I have put in front of it also but you have to take care to not push it too hard. I am never in a hurry though and it still will climb twice as fast as I can manually.
Every once in awhile on the forum you see someone that wants to create an AWD bicycle and they focus on having a front and rear hub motor, although it would also be possible with a mid drive and front hub. It is my experience that this type of setup also more than provides two wheel drive because with my pedal input I can easily feel what the rear needs to help out the front on loose terrain or sand and even the few times I have used it in snow. Makes for a lighter overall bike, I would estimate this bike is under 45 lbs as it sits.
Another feature that is talked about on the forum is regenerative braking. Because the hub on my bike is a direct drive I have that feature readily available and use it as the first thing I implement when I want to start slowing down. I don't really miss having it on my mid drive eMTB but when it's there it is pretty nice although it doesn't really do much to add mileage to a ride it does save on brake pad wear.
My buddy knows I am into e assist so he sent me a kit to build up and I got right on it a few years ago. Took my Grin All-Axle hub and laced it into the new rim and built up a new rear wheel. Basically I swapped the rest of the parts over from my silver 700c bike but had other ideas in regards to the controller/battery placement. However by the time I had the bike ridable and ready for those parts Covid hit and stopped my progress cold. A longer story than I am going to put down here.
Bottom line is that life went on and I rode my TSDZ2 eMTB and even made up another one in the meantime. Then I got a Luna Z1 late last fall and have been enjoying that as it is a bit more adaptable to the terrain I have to ride out the door where I can mix single track with roads at will. With this bike, as with the silver one before it, I will still be able to ride logging roads as long as they aren't too chunky but will always have a flat repair kit with me.....plus going from plush FS to rigid is always going to be a change and single track is pretty much out of the equation.
My FS bike went down so the closest to operable bike I had was this one and I was able to use an older Dolphin battery I had been saving for another project and used the old controller from the silver bike as well as the CA3, throttle body, regen button and wattage selector. I was pretty pleased when the lights went on and took it for a test spin before finishing it off. It is now done enough to enjoy and get me back on a bike here but still have plans to get it where I originally envisioned it.
Fully realize that hub motors and throttles are not what the cool kids are into but for me the system of a front hub and throttle controlled cruise control works the best for primarily road use. I have a Schlumpf High Speed Drive crank on the bike that gives me a really good range of gearing via it's 1:1 to 2.25:1 OD. So even though it has a 27t chainring while in OD it is equivalent to a 60t chainring so pedaling at speeds up to 35mph input is very effective while the motor provides a consistent wattage of momentum. Setup is silent and the most natural pedal feel of any eBike I've ridden with no gear changing issues other than what conventional common practices dictates. Climbs anything I have put in front of it also but you have to take care to not push it too hard. I am never in a hurry though and it still will climb twice as fast as I can manually.
Every once in awhile on the forum you see someone that wants to create an AWD bicycle and they focus on having a front and rear hub motor, although it would also be possible with a mid drive and front hub. It is my experience that this type of setup also more than provides two wheel drive because with my pedal input I can easily feel what the rear needs to help out the front on loose terrain or sand and even the few times I have used it in snow. Makes for a lighter overall bike, I would estimate this bike is under 45 lbs as it sits.
Another feature that is talked about on the forum is regenerative braking. Because the hub on my bike is a direct drive I have that feature readily available and use it as the first thing I implement when I want to start slowing down. I don't really miss having it on my mid drive eMTB but when it's there it is pretty nice although it doesn't really do much to add mileage to a ride it does save on brake pad wear.
