also no real hit on battery weight with that rig
After spending hours on Grinās website I think a front hub motor from them makes a lot of sense. They do a 135mm qr for the fatbike fork I have on there, a basic kit comes with PAS sensors and if I want torque sensing I can always add that later. Their V3 slow wind hub sounds like the right choice for my uses, from there itās just picking a controller and trying to do the calculus on how much battery I can afford, how much range I reasonably would like, and where best to mount it. I added everything up and it was just shy of $1800 with a wheel built by them. So I know what to start saving towards!
If anyone thinks front motor is stupid please tell me now. Or in 6 months when Iāll still be dithering.
they are very good at answering questions by email. not so much on the phone. reach out and see if there is a way for you to run a rear motor in reverse on the front so you have options. then you can experiment and rearrange things if you change your mind
How does it do torque sensing on the front?
1 Like
Torque sensing bottom bracket Iād assume. My wifeās REI bike has a rear hub motor and a BB torque sensor
The Phaserunner/Baserunner software allows the motor rotation direction to be flipped during tuning so that part should be fine. Reaching out to them would still be a good idea if you want to use a rear motor in the front in case thereās something else that might be an issue.
What voltage were you thinking of using for the battery?
IMO as long as youāre dithering itās probably worth looking at what $1800 would get you from Upway in a cargo bike ready to ride on day 1.
Or if you really want to dither and DIY, possibly a standard ebike that you could swap your extracycle onto.
4 Likes
36v 19ah, mostly out of cost, but I really donāt have a sense for how long that will take me. Iām not worried about speed at all, would prefer to cruise around at 15ish mph.
Well this really does give me pause. I love having a funky weird mish mash franken bike, but do I really like all the little problems that go along with it? I have never built any ebikes or wrenched on them, so itās a bit daunting to DIY it.
Maybe Iām dumb but why would a rear motor need to spin the opposite way on the front? Unless you want a reverse gear?
Because I did a bad job of manipulating the wheel in my head. You are absolutely correct
Have you used their motor simulator yet? If you havenāt, itās a pretty handy tool to get some idea about range, speed, etc, for various setups. Iām guessing on system weight and tire size, and picking the closest battery in the list, it looks like a slow wind with that battery size could do a theoretical 51 miles on a full charge.
There are some tutorial videos and documentation about the tool if you scroll down.
Looks like $1900 gets you a class 1 Benno Boost right now off upway, thatās pretty solid
Yeah I was about to say, unless you are super duper in love with a bike you already have and/or got super cheap, itās usually better to buy a complete bike since they are so cheap now. We got my wifeās REI bike during the super sale and that whole bike was cheaper than the kit I put on my Dummy.
Putting the free radical on a spesh turbo or something might actually be the best of both worlds. I just like the xtracycle cargo set up more than most other off the shelf cargo bikes.
2 Likes
Iāve spent the last two weeks in deep dither and decided to go with a Bafang bbs02 mid drive, Iāve got a good idea of how much everything will cost so now Iāve just saving up and watching a ton of videos on various installs and tips and tricks.
The big takeaway is my god do most ebike folks, even the ones who build custom ebikes for other people, not have a goddamn clue how to wrench on a bike. Iām watching a video on installing a shift sensor and the guy pulls the cable completely out of the shifter so he can trim the housing, then immediately puts it back into the shifter. And he does a shit job of cutting the housing.
7 Likes
I think itās because a big portion of ebike enthusiasts are people who want a motorcycle but wonāt get one for whatever reason. There is no love for the bicycle
5 Likes
Now that I can finally almost ride again, itās starting to get dark sooner. So time to get the ebike light upgrade project back on track
Also I have a bunch of 2-pin m8 julet pairs if anyone needs any gratis. Product listing didnāt say itād come with 5, and I only needed one. My local ebike shop didnāt have these!
3 Likes
Halp!
Friendās omnium with a cycmotor took a dip into the harbour last night. WWTD to give everything the best chance of survival?
Battery not with me, itās somewhere else safe in case of 
and reportedly had some black water drain out of it.
Iāve pulled down as much of the frame as I can to get it airing out and will hit the internals with lanolin next.
B&M lights were fishbowls, have the heatsink off the headlight and itās sitting in the sun airing out, will give it a 50C bake later.
Iād like to get the motor / controller off - whatās the verdict on a demineralised water rinse before a low temp oven dry? The water is a estuary, so itās brackish/saline. CYCmotor state IP66 which is water jet proof, not immersion proof.
4 Likes
Got any 90% isopropyl alcohol? Iād open up the electronics, wash everything off or spray it down with isopropyl, let it air dry (or low temp oven dry, like summer afternoon temps), then bench test. That should get rid of any mineral or salt build up.