Hi from Pedaluma

[PedalUma]

I have been making bikes electric for four years while working in the industry in Northern California. Because I touch so many bikes daily and have done online sales support for about nine brands, I have developed a feel for what I like and do not like. I like lithe and lovely bikes that are amplified or acoustic/electric and not electric motorcycles. I do not like illegal bikes or ones that lag, surge and lurch. I like bikes with feel. I also understand that everyone has different tastes and starter electric bikes are a beginning that gets people into the game. The industry trend is toward lighter bikes with smaller motors and batteries. Soon printed stators will vastly reduce weight. Another trend is away from bundles of messy wires.
The photo is of a bike I made electric this Christmas. These rim brakes will lock up because they have twice the normal surface area. Does it look messy or heavy to you?

 

[Bigal1463]

Welcome PedalUma, it definitely does not look heavy or messy. From what I see is, it looks more like a non electric bicycle. A very nice looking bike, and I take what looks to be a water bottle is actually the battery. Very nice job.

 

[McCorby]

Welcome aboard! What motor are you using on the bike posted above?

 

[Helaine]

It looks very good.

 

[indianajo]

Like the style. Looks like my Austrian WT Grant 3 speed "racer".
How do the rim brakes work after running through a puddle? Oh, I forgot, it doesn't rain in California.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The battery as a water bottle is indeed a nice concept!

 

[PedalUma]

Welcome PedalUma, it definitely does not look heavy or messy. From what I see is, it looks more like a non electric bicycle. A very nice looking bike, and I take what looks to be a water bottle is actually the battery. Very nice job.

I am about to run and urban errand on a steel three-speed, coaster brake bike. It has 80Nm of torque. I like lighter batteries. If you carried a keg of beer up a mountain you would get very thirsty on the way up. I used to think that bigger is better, but why carry 100% of the weight 100% of the time if you only uses that extra capacity .05% of the time?

 

[PedalUma]

Like the style. Looks like my Austrian WT Grant 3 speed "racer".
How do the rim brakes work after running through a puddle? Oh, I forgot, it doesn't rain in California.

That bike is a Public Bikes V7i in British Racing Green. Seven is for #of gears, 'i' is for internal. Up in the coastal wine country of California it does rain in the Winter and Spring. Here you can see the muck on a bike that has rim brakes. These are 945mm long. Yes water needs to sluff off the rim before the pads can make good contact.

 

[PedalUma]

The battery as a water bottle is indeed a nice concept!

Thank you, Stefan. I typically set friends up with two batteries and two chargers. That can double the range if needed. Or cut the weight in half. Or cut the total charge time in half. Pick any two.

 

[PedalUma]

Welcome aboard! What motor are you using on the bike posted above?

That Public V7i is a friends. I made his wife the Mixite version the M7i so he wanted one too. I am riding this bike today and currently have three eBikes, down from six in December.

 

[PedalUma]

It looks very good.

This one is a favorite to ride with internal routing. It was a regular mountain bike. I will also include a photo of handlebar spaghetti management on a different bike. See the small display on the left handlebar in the second photo?

 

[McCorby]

That Public V7i is a friends. I made his wife the Mixite version the M7i so he wanted one too. I am riding this bike today and currently have three eBikes, down from six in December.

Who makes the motor?

 

[Taylor57]

I have been making bikes electric for four years while working in the industry in Northern California. Because I touch so many bikes daily and have done online sales support for about nine brands, I have developed a feel for what I like and do not like. I like lithe and lovely bikes that are amplified or acoustic/electric and not electric motorcycles. I do not like illegal bikes or ones that lag, surge and lurch. I like bikes with feel. I also understand that everyone has different tastes and starter electric bikes are a beginning that gets people into the game. The industry trend is toward lighter bikes with smaller motors and batteries. Soon printed stators will vastly reduce weight. Another trend is away from bundles of messy wires.
The photo is of a bike I made electric this Christmas. These rim brakes will lock up because they have twice the normal surface area. Does it look messy or heavy to you?

Sleek and light, how nice. I'm guessing mid-drive with the battery the black water bottle?

 

[PedalUma]

Who makes the motor?

Thank you for asking. I have done four Bafangs BBS01, BBS02 and HD but, over the years I have come to appreciate the lighter torque sensor TSDZ2. I modify them, removing unnecessary bits which impede performance and feel. And I drill the housings to reroute wires for a clean build. In my opinion these are superior motors. They also have a secondary support on the chainstays.

 

[PedalUma]

Sleek and light, how nice. I'm guessing mid-drive with the battery the black water bottle?

These smaller water bottle cage mount batteries come in several permutations of Ah, shape and weight. The first photo is a 1983 Stumpjumper.

 

[Taylor57]

I have been making bikes electric for four years while working in the industry in Northern California. Because I touch so many bikes daily and have done online sales support for about nine brands, I have developed a feel for what I like and do not like. I like lithe and lovely bikes that are amplified or acoustic/electric and not electric motorcycles. I do not like illegal bikes or ones that lag, surge and lurch. I like bikes with feel. I also understand that everyone has different tastes and starter electric bikes are a beginning that gets people into the game. The industry trend is toward lighter bikes with smaller motors and batteries. Soon printed stators will vastly reduce weight. Another trend is away from bundles of messy wires.
The photo is of a bike I made electric this Christmas. These rim brakes will lock up because they have twice the normal surface area. Does it look messy or heavy to you?

How much does this beauty weigh?

 

[PedalUma]

Great question, Taylor! Net 10. Weight is (almost) everything.
Some parts come off the original acoustic bike and others go on to make it acoustic/electric. The net difference is about 10lbs. This bike has a Nexus hub of gears. Bike packers traversing continents prefer internal gears, even though they are heavier than cassettes with derailleurs, they are lower maintenance. Who wants to order parts from the side of a trail in the Andes? This bike is also chromoly steel. A good steel frame such as a Surly could ad 1/2 pound over some other materials, but the payoff is in comfort. You will want to ride more miles. Aluminum will not bend or if it does it is broken. Al is bone jarring right to your fillings. Steel frames spring and glide and they last a lifetime. That said, I need to buy a scale. And that said, it is more about the feel than the specifications. I could give the measurements of a violin and you wouldn't know how it feels or sounds.

 

[Taylor57]

Great question, Taylor! Net 10. Weight is (almost) everything.
Some parts come off the original acoustic bike and others go on to make it acoustic/electric. The net difference is about 10lbs. This bike has a Nexus hub of gears. Bike packers traversing continents prefer internal gears, even though they are heavier than cassettes with derailleurs, they are lower maintenance. Who wants to order parts from the side of a trail in the Andes? This bike is also chromoly steel. A good steel frame such as a Surly could ad 1/2 pound over some other materials, but the payoff is in comfort. You will want to ride more miles. Aluminum will not bend or if it does it is broken. Al is bone jarring right to your fillings. Steel frames spring and glide and they last a lifetime. That said, I need to buy a scale. And that said, it is more about the feel than the specifications. I could give the measurements of a violin and you wouldn't know how it feels or sounds.

So it weighs 10 pounds?

 

[PedalUma]

So it weighs 10 pounds?

With the battery it (the system) adds 10 pounds to a bike.

 

[Taylor57]

so overall weight is 40 lbs?