What Do You Do With Your Old Unused Conventional Bikes?

[PCeBiker]

The British decided motorbikes should be registered.

When I was a kid, our bicycles had to be licensed and tagged.
There was a tamper-proof metal plate crimped onto the frame.

 

[Chazmo]

You guys have got me thinking that I should electrify my Titanium Merlin Iliad MTB. Funny concept to do that as back when I built this the idea was to keep the weight down… But, I might have a better time riding it with electric assist...

 

[Chargeride]

You know your handlebars are too high when you cant see over them.

 

[Chazmo]

You know your handlebars are too high when you cant see over them.

I recently had to use my MTB while my ebike was down. I then remembered why I’d stopped riding it in the first place. I tried raising the handlebar about 7-8” to try to make the MTB frame more comfortable for me to ride, but even like that it's not as good as my ebike. Maybe with some pedal assist I could spend more time on the MTB.

 

[Chargeride]

I just have few nostalgia bikes, 14yr old me first bike with tubs and chromo frame and a nice retro GT.
Not going to electricate them..new word, pass it around...

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. I tried raising the handlebar about 7-8” to try to make the MTB frame more comfortable for me to ride,

I adjusted my handlebars so that I don't have to lean forward at all to grab the grips.

My posture is exactly the same whether I'm holding the grips, or riding no-hands.

,.. But, I might have a better time riding it with electric assist...

I'm having a great time riding my electrically assisted bicycle.
I offer no assistance myself though, and wouldn't bother riding if I had to.


I still have a Blast riding this old piece of crap,..

I rode it to the grocery store today through 6 inches of fresh snow.
I loaded the box with 70 pounds of groceries and rode it home with legs sticking out as outriggers the whole way.
It was sliding around and wobbling all over the road.
What a Hoot.


I don't ride this one anymore, but only because it ain't got no power,..

It's still a Great Bike with it's customized frame geometry (hacksaw, blow torch, sledge hammer) refurbished seat (duct tape) and new handlebars (found them in the garbage).

I just have few nostalgia bikes, 14yr old me first bike with tubs and chromo frame and a nice retro GT.
Not going to electricate them..new word, pass it around...

I had one of these for a while in grade 5 or 6.
Complete with the banana seat, sissy bars, and three speed shifter.

It was The Cats Ass at the time !!

I should gets me another one and electricate the hell out of it?
All I'd probably need besides a motor, battery, and throttle, is a longer seat post?

(I used your new word in a sentence, but my spell check was pretty Pissed Off about it.
I had to retype it three times. )

 

[Chazmo]

I had one of these for a while in grade 5 or 6.
Complete with the banana seat, sissy bars, and three speed shifter.

I had a Raleigh Chopper in the 1970s. I agree, these bikes would’ve been a riot to electrify (electricate). Heck, that Sturmey-Archer shifter could be replaced with one of those 5-speed Bafang hubs we were talking about elsewhere! The shifter could be hooked to a controller to vary pedal assist!

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. that Sturmey-Archer shifter could be replaced with one of those 5-speed Bafang hubs we were talking about

Actually the 5-speed Bafang hubs turned out to be just hubs, so they would have to be a mid-drive setup, but the two speed auto rear hub motor might work ?

EDIT: The bike already is a 3-speed IGH, so all you need to do is add a mid-drive or bottom bracket motor.
Then both the rider and the motor can take advantage of the IGH.

IIRC, you had to pedal backwards while shifting gears, so you could hook up a cadence sensor to idle the motor while you're shifting and pedaling backwards.

 

[Chazmo]

The bike already is a 3-speed IGH, so all you need to do is add a mid-drive or bottom bracket motor.

Hah! Perhaps you didn’t have a lot of experience with those ‘60s-‘70s Sturmey-Archer hubs…

 

[kevinmccune]

I'm not sure why the "acoustic" moniker caught on. Typing four extra characters to make it "conventional" isn't much extra effort.

Maybe we could invent a shorter reference word, like a "bagel" or a "pizza" (Two of my favorites anyway)

how about "RR" for "rarely ridden"?

 

[kevinmccune]

View attachment 187470

If I had acted as "bratty" as Greta,I would have been pounded in the ground or "snubbed" out of existence.

 

[rob feature]

I still ride my analog bikes, but when I run out of space for one, it's usually gifted to a friend or someone in need. Sometimes they get parted out. Frames make great wall art - as do full builds if the parts can't be re-used. I've never actually sold a bicycle.

 

[Taylor57]

I adjusted my handlebars so that I don't have to lean forward at all to grab the grips.

My posture is exactly the same whether I'm holding the grips, or riding no-hands.


View attachment 189423




I'm having a great time riding my electrically assisted bicycle.
I offer no assistance myself though, and wouldn't bother riding if I had to.


I still have a Blast riding this old piece of crap,..

View attachment 189425

I rode it to the grocery store today through 6 inches of fresh snow.
I loaded the box with 70 pounds of groceries and rode it home with legs sticking out as outriggers the whole way.
It was sliding around and wobbling all over the road.
What a Hoot.


I don't ride this one anymore, but only because it ain't got no power,..


View attachment 189426

It's still a Great Bike with it's customized frame geometry (hacksaw, blow torch, sledge hammer) refurbished seat (duct tape) and new handlebars (found them in the garbage).





I had one of these for a while in grade 5 or 6.
Complete with the banana seat, sissy bars, and three speed shifter.

View attachment 189427

It was The Cats Ass at the time !!

I should gets me another one and electricate the hell out of it?
All I'd probably need besides a motor, battery, and throttle, is a longer seat post?

(I used your new word in a sentence, but my spell check was pretty Pissed Off about it.
I had to retype it three times. )

Just got a flashback to my Schwinn Lemon Peeler!

 

[kevinmccune]

either given away or if its junk,put in the scrap pile/the market for used ebikes is not great around here,if you can recover 40% on an almost used ebikes you are doing good,building ebikes was fun for awhile,then after the expense mounted I lost interest( in most cases its better to buy new these days.)

 

[gromike]

The price of building an ebike yourself isn't all that bad, providing you can build or procure a motor wheel, battery, and know how to solder and crimp. Plus, all the usual bicycle stuff, because if you build on a used bike it's best to rebuild it before you motorize it.
And you might end up with a very capable ebike. Just don't try to sell it and expect a price commensurate with the time and expense you invested.

 

[PCeBiker]

The price of building an ebike yourself isn't all that bad, providing you can build or procure a motor wheel, battery, and know how to solder and crimp.

They have complete kits too that are almost plug and play that can electrificate almost any bicycle to a "mid-drive" (bottom bracket) or hub drive,..

And you can get a "bricked" hub drive ebike for almost free, then bring it back to life with a new controller and display, without too much cutting and soldering. (Hub motors are all basically the same with 3 phase wires, 3 color matched Hal sensor wires, a speed sensor wire, + 5V and ground. (Some rare hub motors have a temperature sensor wire as well.)

You might need a new battery if the original battery is "bricked" and proprietary.


It shouldn't be too hard or expensive to save a dead e-bike from going to the landfill.

 

[PCeBiker]

Hah! Perhaps you didn’t have a lot of experience with those ‘60s-‘70s Sturmey-Archer hubs…

No, I didn't actually.
I remember messing around with the speed shifter adjustment when it wasn't shifting properly. (Or I just wanted to mess with it to see what it did. )
I didn't have the bike long before I got a silver CCM Pursuit-10, and don't remember much about the 3-speed.

I assume you're comment means the ‘60s-‘70s Sturmey-Archer hubs were problematic?
(I didn't even know what it was called.)

If that's the case then the 5-speed Bafang hub might work better if the dropout spacing is right?

Or probably any IGH for that matter?
A Rohloff might give the bike a touch of class?



I still think Bafang should make a 5-speed IGH hub motor.
They use hub motors to make mid motor rides all the time.
Why not make a five speed hub motor?

I was thinking of sending them an email, (or fax it. ) but here's what Grin ebikes has to say about inventive ideas,..

I'm disclosing the idea to everyone.
If You Build One, I Will Buy One.

Am I seriously the only person that thinks this is a good idea and would buy one if it was available?
What about a Grin All Axle with a built-in gearbox?

And,.. putting the weight of both the IGH and the motor low and in the middle where it can but sprung weight, makes sense too.
You'd have a single driveline (sprockets or pulleys, chain or belt) with the motor and gears protected inside the motor case.

 

[kevinmccune]

They have complete kits too that are almost plug and play that can electrificate almost any bicycle to a "mid-drive" (bottom bracket) or hub drive,..

View attachment 189447


And you can get a "bricked" hub drive ebike for almost free, then bring it back to life with a new controller and display, without too much cutting and soldering. (Hub motors are all basically the same with 3 phase wires, 3 color matched Hal sensor wires, a speed sensor wire, + 5V and ground. (Some rare hub motors have a temperature sensor wire as well.)


View attachment 189448


You might need a new battery if the original battery is "bricked" and proprietary.


It shouldn't be too hard or expensive to save a dead e-bike from going to the landfill.

and there are many capable ebikes listing for about $1000 these days, one thing I found out I was never able to get the wires into places those nimble Chinese workers could.

 

[Chazmo]

I assume you're comment means the ‘60s-‘70s Sturmey-Archer hubs were problematic?

I just meant that they were likely not up to the task.

 

[PCeBiker]

I just meant that they were likely not up to the task.

Yeah, adding 80 N.m to a 12 yr old kid might too much for it.
Especially if the 12 yr old rides it like any normal 12 yr old kid.