I finally took my ebike for a test ride.

[PCeBiker]

Not at all how it works...

I think it is, and I shall try to prove it with some empirical data.

And why you're concerned about rpm has me baffled.

It all stems from my motorcycle days.
I remember a kid on an RM 80 that didn't know the motorcycle had more than one gear (or how to shift for that matter)

He just hammered the gas, dumped the clutch, and revved the Living Snot out of it, leaving a Huge blue cloud of two-stroke smoke behind him.

My dirtbike didn't have a tach but I knew how to shift gears and to not bog the engine.

My street bike 🏍 did have a tach and I really did need it.
I couldn't tell for listening when I was near redline.
I would rev it out just listening for what I thought was red line (10,000 rpms) and check my tach and I was barely over 5,000 rpms.

The damn thing was just Fricken Screaming at 10,000 rpms but I knew it was safe because I had a tachometer.
(I used to get it up over 80 kph in second gear, then tap it all the way into 6th gear in one shift)

My car was the same.
I Always looked at my tach.

I drove it very conservatively and rarely went over 3,500 rpms.

Ever month or so, I'd get it fully warmed up, then run it up to redline (6,500 rpm) in first and second gear to blow out the cats and give it a good cardiovascular workout.

I Hated hearing it scream.
I had to stare at my tach and trust it.
It sure sounded like it was gunna Fricken Blow up !!



I suppose a gutless electric ebike motor is different, but I don't know why the motors rpm appears to be proprietary information?

You want efficiency... Stay in the lowest gear possible.

I guess that's easy enough.

It's not like I can over-rev it and blow it up ?
It is voltage limited.

But who know?
I'm sure I can blow it up if I put my mind to it.

 

[PedalUma]

A guy had a motor that was shuddering and had almost no power. I told him he needs a new motor. I installed it today. A Bafang hub. The final step was turning off the battery and connecting the motor. It wouldn't connect. I checked the new pins. Perfect. Nadda. What it was, was that a pin had broken inside the female side. Which reminds me of a joke. That connector arrives tomorrow and I will solder it in.
Here is the joke: A leper visited a street walker. When he was done he said. Keep the tip.

 

[PCeBiker]

A guy had a motor that was shuddering and had almost no power. I told him he needs a new motor. I installed it today. A Bafang hub. The final step was turning off the battery and connecting the motor. It wouldn't connect. I checked the new pins. Perfect. Nadda. What it was, was that a pin had broken inside the female side. Which reminds me of a joke. That connector arrives tomorrow and I will solder it in.
Here is the joke: A leper visited a street walker. When he was done he said. Keep the tip.

So did you sell him a new motor when the problem was a broken pin making intermittent contact?

Here's a tip,..

Keep the old motor.
It's probably fine.
Just needs a new cable.

 

[Gionnirocket]

You can not over rev' an electric motor in this application... But you can bog it down.
The latter should be your only concern

 

[PCeBiker]

You can not over rev' an electric motor in this application... But you can bog it down.
The latter should be your only concern

OK, I'm done exploring that 🕳


I won't be bogging my motor.
I have lots of gears to choose from, and with a 20 mph speed limit, I should be able to stay off my 11t sprocket, especially with my 52t chain wheel.

In a way, I will be bogging my motor starting from a stop with 1 amp, but it's only an amp, and I'm sure the motor will shut me down if it is putting out power but the motor isn't rotating.

My hub motor monitors the speed magnets in the motor housing to make sure the motor rotates.
I get about 3 seconds of power before the motor shuts down due to lack of rotation.

I'm sure the BBS02B has a similar function inside the motor.


I still want to check my chain wheel RPMs with a fully charged battery and a discharged battery for curiosities sake.

Easy enough to do the test.

 

[PedalUma]

So did you sell him a new motor when the problem was a broken pin making intermittent contact?

Here's a tip,..

Keep the old motor.
It's probably fine.
Just needs a new cable.

He purchased the new motor. All the symptoms said, new motor. We couldn't even see the pin issue when brightly lit and took a zoom image. He will keep the old motor as a reserve spare. I could totally splice a pigtail. What is funny is the big beautiful eBike shop downtown does not have a multi-meter, or own a soldering iron. I just noticed that in my second sentence I used two words next to each other one normally would not associate together, Lit and Bright.

 

[PCeBiker]

I had a Lite-Brite when I was a kid,..

 

[PedalUma]

A woman, Tera, called late yesterday with 20x4 fat bike flat with two questions after being turned away everywhere else. How fast and how much? I gave the get a burger and a shake and come back and it will be ready line. 15 for the tube 35 for labor on a rear hub wheel. When she got here I had her sit at a comfortable table in a leather chair and had her use AI to look up a review of FlatOut. It will last the life of the tire and we are headed into thorn season. "$20 and ten minutes." I had it done in five minutes. Then she gave me a $10 tip and five-star review. $30x6 is $180 per hour. Each five-star review is worth $50, so that's $230 for $2 of material and five minutes.

 

[PCeBiker]

I was out for a ride today.
The wind was gusting over 20 mph, so it was a real challenge to ride no-hands, and A Lot of Fun !!


I did some further speed, power, and gear testing on the mid-drive.

My first few PAS modes were pretty much useless, and I needed to get to PAS 5 before I any real power or speed, so I'm gunna turn up the amps a bit faster.
I'm still going to start at 1 amp though to hopefully prevent any "clacking" of my freewheel.


I've realized that I want to have my throttle always active, even in PAS 0 because I don't want to be screwing up and forgetting to put it in PAS 0

So I'm just gunna get used to checking that my throttles are both off, and always having a finger on a brake lever.


PAS 7 got me going 36.7 kph using 6.0 amps and no help from the hub-drive (except to monitor the speed).

In PAS 9 with 18 amps available, I had it going 42.2 kph on the 11t rear sprocket, but it was only drawing 4.0 amps.

Then it got going 43.5 kph and the current dropped further to 2 amps,..

So I think I was at my maximum revolutions per volt thing, because the motor stopped drawing power?



I've decided to hook up my speed sensor and set my speed limit to 32 kph, because going 43.5 kph was Way Too Much FUN !!

And of course it took both hands and both eyes to take speedometer pictures, so there's that too.
And the 20 mph crosswinds.

 

[PCeBiker]

I decided to weigh my ebike.

So, it looks like I've finally reached my Hundred Pound goal !!??

I always wanted to impress PedalUma and Stephan with a hundred pound ebike.



And my speed sensor is almost fully installed.
Just gotta connect the cable,..

I also managed to NOT Try to use first gear during my test ride yesterday.

I'm pretty sure I'd have a Serious Problem if I tried to force the chain into first gear with the chain being too short?

 

[PedalUma]

I had to add four inches (10 cm) to a 122 link chain this week. It was not that it had a wide range cassette. It was only a 13-28 freewheel, but the frame was long at the stays.

I need to fabricate a special mount for a speed sensor on a extra narrow chainstay bike today. Otherwise there is no room for the magnet. I have had the bike for three months awaiting the wheels. They just arrived with White Industries tandem, extra-duty, hubs and super strong rims. I will show it later. It can be lifted with two fingers. I will also show the weight. I mostly work on crap bikes but every once in a while nice stuff comes in. The titanium freehub is made it Petaluma, two blocks away.

 

[stompandgo]

My favorite brand of hub. Bulletproof, but if you need support, they are always there. They are local to you, so you can probably just stop by.

 

[PedalUma]

The guy last week was in the shop that was building the wheels asking about how they are progressing when the owner of White Industries approached and spoke up, 'Yes those tandem hubs are ready'. He was there for a Vado update. The bike has given its owner lots of stories and connections. Since stopping riding his bike he has gained some weight. Hence the extra strong rims and hubs. Having some assistance will get him out more. It is a handmade Ti bike by Tom Kellogg, who you mentioned that you knew. It has been sitting here without wheels for three months. The wheel builder took them home to lace in peace and quiet with total focus. The shop always has too much going on.

 

[PedalUma]

@Frank/Delaware, This is her review:

Tara Spitalnyopen_in_new
3 reviews • 0 photos
starstarstarstarstar 20 hours ago
Quick. Friendly. Fair price.

PedalUma eBikes

 

[PedalUma]

I cannot find my scale. The Campy shifter won't click. I don't know if it is broken or if I somehow threaded it wrong. It went from a Campy shifter to a converter for Shimano. I have never worked with 1990's Campagnolo before and maybe in over my head. The rear hub sounds so nice and just keeps rolling when in the stand.

 

[PCeBiker]

And my speed sensor is almost fully installed.
Just gotta connect the cable,..

Ahh Crap !! The damn cable is too short !!
So I installed the sensor on the other side,..

Had to move the sensor and magnet further up the swingarm (or chainstay as you guys call it) to get them close enough together.


I'm still outta spec, but it is working,..

The whole thing looks like crap, and it looks Way Too percariously perched.
If I ever drop my chain, I'll probably take out the sensor?

I'm gunna try it, then probably extend the wire and swap it back to the other side.
What a PITA.

I can at least move it to the other side and further up the swingarm without extending the wire, but I liked how the sensor was tucked away nicely beside the rotor.

 

[PCeBiker]

You can not over rev' an electric motor in this application...

So I think I was at my maximum revolutions per volt thing, because the motor stopped drawing power?

I did another speed test yesterday, and managed to go 49.8 kph in high gear and PAS mode 9 (and a 10 mph tailwind)

This time it was drawing the full 18 amps continuous, and power was kinda cutting in and out.
I think it's some kinda "safe mode" the motor goes into when there's no speed data?


I just spun up my wheel to full speed, and didn't get error code 21
It said I was going 0.4 kph, so it's a little out of adjustment.