| Owner | Warren Berger | ||||
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| Owner's Other EVs | Pedal assist electric recumbent cargo bike 2017 Chevy Bolt LT | ||||
| Location | Virginia United States map | ||||
| Web/Email | WebPage | ||||
| Vehicle | Late model (1991-2001) "Iowa built" Linear LWB Started life as a 622/406, USS, LWB recumbent. Has been rebuilt as many things, including a rowbike. Now a dual 26" wheel, above-seat-steered, mid-drive, human/electric hybrid. | ||||
| Motor | MAC 350 watt, front motor, w/disc mount Brushless DC WebPage Emissions Free is no longer offering the 350 watt MAC front motor as a bare motor, only in a kit. A great motor, it has worked flawlessly for over 7K miles at its rated power. | ||||
| Drivetrain | 350 watt continuous, 500 watt peak, MAC geared front hub motor, mounted as a mid-drive. A 52T oval chainring drives the hub shell, acting as a passive jackshaft, from the left side, until the throttle is opened, and the motor and 5:1 planetary gear engage the roller bearing clutch. There is a 15T fixed sprocket bolted on either side of the hub shell. The rear chain, on the right, goes to a 12-34, 8 speed cassette. There is no freewheel between the cranks, and the motor, by design. I am a 160 pound, 65 year old, life-time bicyclist. No motor-only riding needed, or desired. | ||||
| Controller | 6 fet 4110, 36-72V Infineon sensorless controller WebPage Run WOT, except from a stop. Pulling 5-15 amps, it remains barely warm. | ||||
| Batteries | Ping 36V 30AH V2.5 LiFePO4 Battery Pack, 36.00 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate WebPage target="_blank">WebPage /> shrink wrapped rectangular twin-pack, 25# weighed 40.4v at BMS red LED cut-off (where I normally stop) 44.4v max. charge w/charger, and LED's cycling on-off (this "surface charge" will get me an extra 4 miles with this super-efficient system) 39.5v-38.5v, under load, down to 80% DOD | ||||
| System Voltage | 36 Volts | ||||
| Charger | Satiator Running two, at 5 amps each, in parallel. Best chargers made! WebPage | ||||
| Heater | 70 and above...shorts and tee shirt 65-70...shorts, tee, windbreaker 50-65...long pants, sweatshirt, earmuffs,light gloves, windbreaker 45-50...long johns, long pants, plastic bags over socks, sweatshirt, fiberfill vest, windbreaker, balaclava, ski gloves below 45...ride my roadbike, way less windchill | ||||
| Instrumentation | WebPage Cycle Analyst, stand-alone, earlier small screen version Can't imagine an e-bike without one. | ||||
| Top Speed | 28 MPH (45 KPH) In top gear, level ground, no wind, at my preferred cadence, about 90 rpm. Above about 32 mph, down hill and WOT, my motor is no longer keeping up with the drivetrain. The roller clutch drops out, and the motor and planetary gear set are spinning for nothing. At this point the freewheeling motor is pulling about 50 watts. When I am going down a long hill, and see the watts dropping to 100, I close the throttle. At that point half of the energy is going just to turn the motor and gears. Why bother? Single digit downhills and tailwinds, reduce my load, and allow spinning comfortably to 120 rpm, about 38 mph. Above that speed I coast and watch for deer, and wild turkeys. | ||||
| Acceleration | At a stoplight, keeping the CA readout between 350-500 watts, shifting every few pedal revolutions, I can give dump trucks a run for their money, across the intersection. | ||||
| Range | 100 Miles (160 Kilometers) 80-100 miles There are a number of variables with this system. For example, charging until the charger and BMS LED's are cycling on-off adds 4 miles, but I typically don't charge that high to extend battery life. I can run out a full 30 amp hours, after 18 months riding, but typically stop at 24 amp hours, to extend battery life. Temperature, wind, how peppy I am feeling, and how hard I push the motor, all effect range. It is mostly smooth, rolling, single-digit grade, asphalt here, with some short 10-15% grades thrown in. I range between 9-12 Wh/mile. In our rolling terrain, the motor runs about two thirds of the time. My average speed for a ride is between 18-25 mph. | ||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 11 Wh/Mile Over 7,500 miles, my overall average has been 11 Wh/mile, and 20 mph. | ||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 1 adult | ||||
| Curb Weight | 72 Pounds (32 Kilograms) Started out at 73.5 pounds, but lost 2 pounds going from bottom bracket drive to mid-drive configuration. | ||||
| Tires | 26 x 1.125 (599-28 ISO) high pressure slicks | ||||
| Conversion Time | Several weeks initially. Spent about a year making refinements. | ||||
| Conversion Cost | About $1,800, including $500, years earlier, for the used bike. Another, approximately, $200 was spent on "learning experience." | ||||
| Additional Features | The 15 tooth fixed cogs, from VeloSolo, made this design possible with a normal size chainring. WebPage Love the PP45 AMP connectors. WebPage My battery resides in one of my 40 year old (REI?) panniers. It fit like it was made for it! Stan's Tire Sealant works. I run it in the Schrader valve tubes on this bike. They go soft (~40 psi)when punctured, but don't deflate. WebPage /> Quart-P51.aspx | ||||
| 07-18-18 Rear wheel freehub seized up at 30,125 miles. 01-01-18 Cold December hurt mileage. 12-12-15 62 mile lunch ride, 75 degrees today. Heard Bing Crosby singing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" on the patio of the cafe. 07-14-15 46 months, 20,000 miles, three inner tubes, four shifter cables, six sets of tires, six sets of chains, 255 kWh from the wall. $10 tubes $12 cables $34 electricity $210 tires $210 chains $476 total=$0.0238 per mile 07-07-15 Replaced fourth shifter cable. This one lasted 7365 miles. 05-22-15 Found broken throttle wire. Flexed cable. Works fine over 800 miles so far. 04-25-15 1,416 miles since getting back on the bike. Throttle died on yesterday's ride at mid-point of 89 mile ride. Jumped throttle connector with metal twist-tie, and used brake kill switch to cut throttle. Worked fine for low power e-bike. 12-31-14 First ride since I broke my collarbone, and shoulder blade in a dog encounter on my pedal roadbike in mid-October. Lost at least a thousand miles for the year. :-( 09-07-14 Three years on the road, as of today. Still going strong. 08-16-14 Just back from a great three day ride. See page 8. WebPage /> sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php? f=28&t=23259 06-30-14 Was off the bike for a month. Good to be back. Loving my new GrinTech Satiator charger. Combines the functions of the Kill-A-Watt, and two old paralleled chargers into one water resistant, vibration resistant, carry along unit! 05-21-14 Repacked wheel bearings. Used synthetic moly/lithium grease. 04-05-14 Overcast, cold winter. Only rode 19 times, 1047 miles from the first day of winter to the first day of spring. Will be installing my 5th set of tires and chains, in another 330 miles. 12-31-13 Lost 7 weeks waiting for sheet metal shop to shear and bend up new battery box. Old one was cracked for six months, finally failed. This one much sturdier design. 09-13-13 Been getting in some longer rides since gaining the security of the sensorless controller. Longest so far was 114.8 miles. 08-21-13 103 miles on my new sensorless controller. No more worries about fragile hall sensors. 07-19-13 Opened it up. No condensation. Everything appears like new. Thinking of going to a sensorless controller. 07-04-13 Turns out the short in the Hall sensor was caused by condensation. Back to running fine, without replacing anything. 05-25-13 Down for repairs. A motor Hall sensor finally failed. 04-09-13 It appears we have gone to binary seasons in Virginia...the cold/damp/windy season, and the hot/dry/windy season. 03-24-13 Took the first ride of spring yesterday. Appears it will be the last for over a week. The scientists were right. WebPage /> cfm?id=extended- forecast-next-winter-extreme 02-28-13 January, February were pretty bad for riding...cold, rainy, windy. Only 254 miles. Replaced 52T elliptical chainring with 50 T round. I had to re-tension the spokes several times in the first 100 miles, as I would do on any other bike. I have always been a very cautious rider, avoiding potholes, and slowing to a walk over railroad crossings. And I run good quality components (at least 105, or Deore level, butted DT spokes, brass nipples, eyeleted double wall rims). But I am impressed at how well the wheels have held up, given the weight and speed of this rig. I have settled into replacing tires, and chains about ever 3,500 miles. They could probably go 50% further, but that would incur wear on other costly parts, and lead to possible breakdowns along the road. I am often 50 miles from home, and as a mechanically inclined guy, I don't want to have to call my wife to pick me up. So far I have replaced a derailleur cable, several chain quick-links, and fixed three flats out on rides with this bike. The cable fatigued because, initially, I was shifting more than I normally would on a bike, trying to keep it right at 350 watts. As I gained more confidence in the system, I went back to my normal riding style. The quick-links broke because I was downshifting at WOT. I now close the throttle while I downshift. I still upshift at WOT, as dropping the chain onto smaller sprockets is much less stressful on the chain. The three flats were all on the same rear tire. It should have been one flat, but I didn't boot the tire, after the first flint put a big hole in the casing. Of course, other stuff found their way into that hole. After the third flat, I put in the boot, which I carry with me for just such flats...Duh! The tire went 2000 more miles with no further problems. I fully expect this rig to run 5-10 years without major repairs...if I don't get run over first. I want to say that Li Ping at Ping Battery, Paul at Emissions Free, and Justin Lemore of Grin Technologies, are all great guys to deal with. They made a scary, first time venture into e-bikes a real pleasure. | |||||
Electric assist recumbent pedal bike
Last Updated 07-18-2018
Copyright © 1997-2024 by Mike Chancey