Cy-Glide

damcard

100 W
Joined
Feb 2, 2009
Messages
237
Location
San Antonio, TX
Greetings, my name is David McArdle. I am a software developer in San Antonio, Texas. I have always enjoyed building things, although I have not been at it lately. That is all changing with my growing interest in e-bikes. Currently, I have very little in way of tools. I did not let it stop me though. I finally have something to show. I put a cyclone 1000 watt kit on my old Trek Y-Glide. I am calling it the Cy-Glide.
1st ebike 015.jpg

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Basically its a Cyclone 1000 watt kit. I used 4 12ah SLA batteries in series. I fashioned the battery rack from angle aluminum, conduit brackets, threaded rod, and zip ties. It is solid but a little wide and makes it difficult to pedal. But that doesn't really matter because the Cyclone spins the freewheel bottom bracket way faster than my cadence. I really don't push this bike too hard because it is 10 years old except the wheels.

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The motor sprocket is very loud. I will attach some video soon. The freewheel is very loud too. I will replace it soon. I didn't want to use the very long bottom bracket spindle that kit came with to clear the motor. I put the motor up closer to the front wheel so my feet will clear it. I still had to get a longer spindle to allow the right side crank to clear the rear fork. I have a pivot point between the motor and the bottom bracket too so the extra length in the chain I gained by moving the motor forward help solve that problem. I used the tensioner that came with the kit but replaced the arm with a longer piece of aluminum. It has not come off once yet. As you can see, I have no kind of water proofing, but I don't plan to run this one in the rain.

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I put a 35 amp fuse inline on the pack as well as a switch to split the packs. I only have a 24 volt charger so I split the pack and charge one at a time.

1st ebike 002.jpg

I love this bike but am anxious to do my next one. Once I can get a two stage drive unit from Matt (recumpence), I want to mate it to a brand new full suspension mountain bike. From what I learned with the Cy-Glide, I will have it drive a freewheel bottom bracket, but I want to alter the freewheel to rotate freely in both directions. In other words, I don't want to pedals to turn the rear wheel. Instead I will have the left side of the crank turn a small generator to charge the batteries. That way I can pedal at a comfortable cadence no matter what speed I am going. Also, it gets me around the Texas e-bike law that states an e-bike cannot attain a speed faster than 20 without human assistance. I can govern it easily based on if voltage is read on the generator.

Overall, with the help of this site I am pleased with the Cyclone kit's motor and controller. The other pieces could be of better quality. More as I get it. -damcard
 
Welcome to the Sphere, David. As a software engineer you will find plenty here to interest/engage you here. As for your plans for a series hybrid you might want to take a look at this:
http://www.hupi.org/HPeJ/0015/0015.html
PS. Next time, less lead and lower :wink:
 
paultrafalgar said:
Welcome to the Sphere, David. As a software engineer you will find plenty here to interest/engage you here. As for your plans for a series hybrid you might want to take a look at this:
http://www.hupi.org/HPeJ/0015/0015.html
PS. Next time, less lead and lower :wink:

Thanks for the link. I had every intention of using a better battery chemistry. Once I mounted the kit however, I decided to save the money for a better setup. The SLA's are heavy and not very powerful, but they got me on the road right away. :)
 
hi David,

I saw your build for battery holder is very impressived.Myself have tested on 4x 12v x 12hr battery it couldn't last me acceptable range. So what happens i add another battery 5x 12v x 12hr battery SLA. It works fine and it gives me a range isn't too impressive say about 20km+. that is 5 SLA batteries!! so after i had a considering i upgrade my batteries a lifepo4. (I personally against anyone to buy from vpower batteries, got issue, battery cells too many= too many connection is too many problems) luckily my battery pack last me very well until now. You can vist my flickr.com/photos/kentlim26 i used my cyclone to run 43km (1000watts kit) range with a wonderful speed, nice wind sound at high speed!! Go fast is safe for the controller, Don't go too slow. The motor is build to run fast at least 2000rpm. now i am using the other kit 900watts cyclone motor.. the range is better (at least above 55km), further, troque is higher, and it can cadence your pedal speed, can say very silent to run the motor as it used plantary gears. You can buy the motor 900watts ~1200watts if you like to change them. The 48v controller can work with 900watts kit. (can consider please!!) you will see your range is further much much more. I am using a lousy end lifepo4 battery. Kelly controller can also match with cyclone 1000watts motor too, incase if you like to do a upgrade, as for the wiring i am not too sure.

As for the spokes (how old is your bike??) is your chain is very old - how many kilometers you have run ? This one you got to watch out, never used a super old chain, must changed them when is too old. as for me, i think i will change them every 6months for using or you feel it was wore off. the spokes thing, my broke off few times, make me shocked !!. There are thicker spokes for 26inch wheel, use the thicker stainless steel ones (was my recent discovery). it sure can accept 60km/h speed without breaking them. Nevermind, the shop owner recommend me spokeless rim i used it. I think they are a good match for cyclone motors. i bought it at SG$145.00 only. name teny rim. used a thicker spokes, it will solve all the problems. If you are using a very old spokes, please checked them every few trips of hi- speed. * some information about bicycle chain - KMC chain can accept 1200kg of tension*, so i think other nice branded bicycle can do that too. some are rustless type

I know the range you are getting for 4 SLA batteries... - the voltage seem to finished very fast right ? I had even thought cyclone motor are power eater flat my batteries within mins. the answer wasn't exactly correct. It is the SLA batteries inside got nothing much give out, except some peanuts current for the cyclone motor. It cannot match with the cyclone motor for a acceptable range. Now i am using my lifepo4 - i have felt myself like bird free from a cage. I can go to my dream stalls and eat my favourite food ( singapore got plenty of food stalls thousands of food varieties) i never worry about my range.

please visit my thread. you also need to build a soft connection. Using a 300k 5watt or 10watts to connection the power + to + the controller .. Switch on 1st, then 2seconds later... Switch on the main one + to +. use a double switches.

best regards
kentlim26
 
Hi David - Nice test of concept. Just a quick FYI - I use 2 12v SLAs in series to power my 24 v motor, and I charge with a 12 v charger (similar situation to your 4-12s/24v charger). I made a couple of simple pigtail connections to reconnect my batteries in parallel for charging. It saves having to disconnect/reconnect twice for each charge - jd
 
kentlim26,
Thanks, I read your thread a few times and it helped me a lot. I just eyeballed and cut the battery holder. It is pretty strong. At the moment, range isn't so much an issue for me. I will slowly improve this one but I don't want to spend too much more so I can focus on my next build. When I find the right deal or have a second hand pack available from another bike, Ill use it. That said, I have considered a Kelly controller, 10s10p A123, White Industries freewheel on the crank connected to a 90 tooth #25 chain sprocket with a 15 tooth on the motor. Would the chain be strong enough? Can I make it so the freewheel will freely rotate in both directions and remove the clicking? Then run a 20 tooth chain ring. I have one just need to put it on. Maybe that will quiet it down a bit and the small chain ring should help the torque and efficiency a bit I think. I get a lot of frame resonance too right now.

The spokes are 4 or 5 years old. They have held up on some pretty abusive trails though. Once I get everything worked out, I was going to get the whole thing tuned by a shop. I have looked at some of the metal and composite mag wheels. I would like a set one day. I have to keep the bike under 100 lbs so weight is a concern for me. I will put some new chains on.

I will look into the soft connection. Maybe even something to insulate the connections so I don't shock myself! Thanks.

jdcburg,
I've been been real cheap. I just use a couple alligator clips at the moment.

IMG_0674.jpg
 
cyclone has two version for chain tensior, the gear one I have tested and it drop the chain several times, so i understand this one cannot match and will not work , so i used the other type of chain tensior. it work and hold the chain very well, never drop since i have changed it.

cyclone sell one or 2dollars for the roller.
don't worry, change the roller it will works fine.!!

kentlim
 

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Oh bugger..just noticed the date on this thread after typing up my post as below..so chances are you may have already done what I am suggesting if you have even still go this same bike.



Nice build, weight nice and central...but I could not help wonder about putting the batteries a little lower, say under,the top bar, just above the motor.

Would have to change the chemistry to LiPo to pack them in, but 4 of any of the packs below would give you the same voltage, with either equal capacity or 16Ah if you went with the 8Ah packs.

And you would get a massive weight reduction. I have just looked at the spec of 4 different 12v 12Ah SLA' batteries, and they all come in at between 3.8 to 4.1 kilo per bat. so you must have upwards of 15 kilo or 33 lbs of batteries there.

4 of the heaviest packs I linked to would come in at a little over 10lb for all 4 packs

Nano Tech 6Ah USA warehouse $77 (167 x 59 x 45mm)
Nano Tech 8Ah USA warehouse $106 (195 x 50 x 55mm)
Zippy 8Ah USA warehouse $88 (169 x 65 x 52mm)

Even at the same 12 Ah capacity they would give better performance and range than the SLA's

As for space saving.well each of those packs you have now must be about 150mm x 100 x 100. SO 4 of the biggest Zippy packs, would fit in slightly less space than two of the current SLA's

OH BTW, good luck getting your money back or a product swap on those Meanwells from Sure
 
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