Solcar
10 kW
Fingers crossed that the vpower holds up!
Amberwolf's DayGlo Avenger, MkII
- Thread starter amberwolf
- Start date
Me too. 
I went ahead and unboxed it, taped the two halves together with a strap on each side, and put it vertically in the pod. Now there is *just barely* room for my work stuff, so as long as the pack behaves, this should go fine.
I should take the CA off CB2 for now and put it on DGA to test with. I might if there's time before I leave today, but otherwise I'm still using the TWM2 and a paper/pen to note the results of each leg.
I wish I had something like the celllogs, so I could monitor realtime cell group behaviors. But the closest thing I have is a Venom multicell charger, that theoretically can log to USB on a laptop. Can't fit all that on DGA, though. Would have to use CB2 to do that, with it's second pod dedicated just to the laptop and charger. Assuming I can even get the logging to work, whcih I haven't yet.
Also, the Venom will only monitor I think 6 cell groups at a time, and ideally I'd want to monitor all 16 groups at once.
I went ahead and unboxed it, taped the two halves together with a strap on each side, and put it vertically in the pod. Now there is *just barely* room for my work stuff, so as long as the pack behaves, this should go fine.
I should take the CA off CB2 for now and put it on DGA to test with. I might if there's time before I leave today, but otherwise I'm still using the TWM2 and a paper/pen to note the results of each leg.
I wish I had something like the celllogs, so I could monitor realtime cell group behaviors. But the closest thing I have is a Venom multicell charger, that theoretically can log to USB on a laptop. Can't fit all that on DGA, though. Would have to use CB2 to do that, with it's second pod dedicated just to the laptop and charger. Assuming I can even get the logging to work, whcih I haven't yet.
Also, the Venom will only monitor I think 6 cell groups at a time, and ideally I'd want to monitor all 16 groups at once.
I went ahead and moved the CA to DGA for now.
View attachment 4
It's a bit awkward, glancing all the way across the bars from the mirror to read it, rather than down in the center, but it wouldn't fit with the mirror over on the left side, and I couldn't find a 5-minute or less way to put it in the center console; that's all the time I had before leaving for work at that point.
A bit of foam under one end kept it angled to be readable at a glance while riding:
View attachment 3
and clears my hand just barely; I can still feel it touch the back of my pinky when braking though. Annoying.
View attachment 2
I just barely had time to stuff the wiring and shunt under the old pant-leg strap I keep on the frame, before leaving, but it didn't come loose while riding.
View attachment 1
The longest and hardest part was installing the wheel sensor, which took about 10 minutes to get right, along with magnet placement. Probably would've taken less time to do it on the rightside fork, but the magnet was already there on the leftside; had I know it would have to be moved around anyway, i'd've just started on the left side.
It did all work, though. Also showed me I am riding a lot faster than I thought I was, on DGA. In places I had estimated my speed to be about 15-16MPH, I found I was actually going almost 20! Each time I rode at what felt like a certain speed, I'd glance at teh CA to find it was usually several MPH faster in reality.
Some of the data matches CB2 very closely, which surprises me, because DGA used to get much better stats, IIRC. Part of it might be the knobby solid tire now on the rear, adding a lot of rolling resistance, but it seems a bit much to blame on just that.
Hmm....actually, looking back thru this thread, DGA gets much WORSE Wh/mile than CB2, using this same pack on both, but using the 6FET and Fusin gearmotor on DGA, and the 9C direct-drive and 12FET on CB2. Wihtout pedalling, it looks like it's at least 40Wh/mile for DGA, vs 25-30Wh/mile for CB2.
I guess this explains why I almost melted the motor a few days ago on that dogfood run. Probalby it would not be a big deal if I were using the 48V Fusin core, as the windings would be intended for that voltage. I suppose that means I really ought to get cracking on testing and fixing one of those to use on DGA instead of this 36V core.
I wonder how much of the difference is due to the semi-recumbent nature of CB2 vs DGA's uprightness, and how much is the differnce in the motor/controller system?
Ride data:
19m 51s trip time (about the same as on CrazyBike2)
4.767miles
22.8mph max
14.4mph avg
26.8Wh/mile (about the same as CB2, despite the lower weight and the geared motor, and the fact that I'm pedalling a fair bit with it!)
2.497Ah
126.64Wh
58.46Amax (this must be a VERY short burst, too short for the Turnigy meter to catch, as it only sees a max of less than half that (closer to a third)
53.6Vstart
52.7Vrest
46.4Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-8.11A peak Regen
Note that the Fusin does have regen capability but because my mod to it's clutch is insufficient to hold the clutch in place during reverse movement, it still freewheels pretty well. It does catch every so often, and you can sort of feel it and hear it when it does, but it's not enough to do any braking.
If I could get the non-freewheeling planetary set off one of the other hillclimb-killed Fusins from Dogman, I'd put it on here to see what difference it makes--at even the 8A it did get in reverse current (for probably just an instant here and there), it would be at least as powerful as CrazyBike2's regen braking with the 9C. Probably more powerful, since the gear reduction would be working in reverse, converting the torque of braking into motor speed, and thus providing even more regen braking voltage for the Lyen 6FET controller to use.
So far I've used about 3.5Ah of what has (before the repair) been about 12Ah or so. I'll keep running it without recharging to see when it hits LVC nowadays. I'd been getting up to 20+ miles out of it on CB2.
View attachment 4
It's a bit awkward, glancing all the way across the bars from the mirror to read it, rather than down in the center, but it wouldn't fit with the mirror over on the left side, and I couldn't find a 5-minute or less way to put it in the center console; that's all the time I had before leaving for work at that point.
A bit of foam under one end kept it angled to be readable at a glance while riding:
View attachment 3
and clears my hand just barely; I can still feel it touch the back of my pinky when braking though. Annoying.
View attachment 2
I just barely had time to stuff the wiring and shunt under the old pant-leg strap I keep on the frame, before leaving, but it didn't come loose while riding.
View attachment 1
The longest and hardest part was installing the wheel sensor, which took about 10 minutes to get right, along with magnet placement. Probably would've taken less time to do it on the rightside fork, but the magnet was already there on the leftside; had I know it would have to be moved around anyway, i'd've just started on the left side.
It did all work, though. Also showed me I am riding a lot faster than I thought I was, on DGA. In places I had estimated my speed to be about 15-16MPH, I found I was actually going almost 20! Each time I rode at what felt like a certain speed, I'd glance at teh CA to find it was usually several MPH faster in reality.
Some of the data matches CB2 very closely, which surprises me, because DGA used to get much better stats, IIRC. Part of it might be the knobby solid tire now on the rear, adding a lot of rolling resistance, but it seems a bit much to blame on just that.
Hmm....actually, looking back thru this thread, DGA gets much WORSE Wh/mile than CB2, using this same pack on both, but using the 6FET and Fusin gearmotor on DGA, and the 9C direct-drive and 12FET on CB2. Wihtout pedalling, it looks like it's at least 40Wh/mile for DGA, vs 25-30Wh/mile for CB2.
I guess this explains why I almost melted the motor a few days ago on that dogfood run.
Probalby it would not be a big deal if I were using the 48V Fusin core, as the windings would be intended for that voltage. I suppose that means I really ought to get cracking on testing and fixing one of those to use on DGA instead of this 36V core. I wonder how much of the difference is due to the semi-recumbent nature of CB2 vs DGA's uprightness, and how much is the differnce in the motor/controller system?
Ride data:
19m 51s trip time (about the same as on CrazyBike2)
4.767miles
22.8mph max
14.4mph avg
26.8Wh/mile (about the same as CB2, despite the lower weight and the geared motor, and the fact that I'm pedalling a fair bit with it!)
2.497Ah
126.64Wh
58.46Amax (this must be a VERY short burst, too short for the Turnigy meter to catch, as it only sees a max of less than half that (closer to a third)
53.6Vstart
52.7Vrest
46.4Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-8.11A peak Regen
Note that the Fusin does have regen capability but because my mod to it's clutch is insufficient to hold the clutch in place during reverse movement, it still freewheels pretty well. It does catch every so often, and you can sort of feel it and hear it when it does, but it's not enough to do any braking.
If I could get the non-freewheeling planetary set off one of the other hillclimb-killed Fusins from Dogman, I'd put it on here to see what difference it makes--at even the 8A it did get in reverse current (for probably just an instant here and there), it would be at least as powerful as CrazyBike2's regen braking with the 9C. Probably more powerful, since the gear reduction would be working in reverse, converting the torque of braking into motor speed, and thus providing even more regen braking voltage for the Lyen 6FET controller to use.
So far I've used about 3.5Ah of what has (before the repair) been about 12Ah or so. I'll keep running it without recharging to see when it hits LVC nowadays. I'd been getting up to 20+ miles out of it on CB2.
Solcar
10 kW
I'd think the uprightness of the DGA feels slower than the more reclined position of the CB2. The additional wind resistance of being upright causes a lot of drive power consumption according to riders' accounts. I'd be scared out of my gourd, however to try to ride one of those twelve foot tall bikes some welders have constructed. 
The height of a racing ten speed is good for me.
I was thinking about finding bad cells in pack--a hopefully easier way. Maybe putting it on charge and thermal imaging it to try to "see" a cell dissipating the charger energy.
The height of a racing ten speed is good for me. I was thinking about finding bad cells in pack--a hopefully easier way. Maybe putting it on charge and thermal imaging it to try to "see" a cell dissipating the charger energy.
If I had access to DoctorBass's work lab, I'd've done just that.
Solcar
10 kW
Indeed!
Haha...I won't count on that.
Sunday I have to take Nana up to work with me, and the trailer has needed some work for months to assist it in handling heavy loads; today I finally got the most important bit of that done:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=450487#p450487
A road test will come later, hopefully tonight, when I recover a bit from the sun and heat. (it's still about 94F in the house, and 96F outside, and humid (for Phoenix)).
DGA itself appears to be doing ok, as is the Vpower pack currently in it for testing. Still need to stiffen up that hitch vertically, though, but I haven't figured out how to do it with what I have available. I have an idea, though, if I can find the right size hose clamps in my stuff.
Take a tube, square preferably, round will work, and fishmouth the ends to match the seattube and the farthest rear end of the steerer tube on the old fork that is the basis of the hitch on the bike end of things.
Notch across the ends of the tube to make slits for the hose clamp to pass thru, and use that to clamp each end down on it's respective tube.
Should work, is very simple to make, and hopefully not too timeconsuming. Only problem I may have is that I don't think there is any direct line from the seattube to the steerer on the hitch fork. Rack and stuff is in the way (but cant' be removed as the rack is necessary for the cargo pod, which I must have)
Sunday I have to take Nana up to work with me, and the trailer has needed some work for months to assist it in handling heavy loads; today I finally got the most important bit of that done:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=450487#p450487
A road test will come later, hopefully tonight, when I recover a bit from the sun and heat. (it's still about 94F in the house, and 96F outside, and humid (for Phoenix)).
DGA itself appears to be doing ok, as is the Vpower pack currently in it for testing. Still need to stiffen up that hitch vertically, though, but I haven't figured out how to do it with what I have available. I have an idea, though, if I can find the right size hose clamps in my stuff.
Take a tube, square preferably, round will work, and fishmouth the ends to match the seattube and the farthest rear end of the steerer tube on the old fork that is the basis of the hitch on the bike end of things.
Notch across the ends of the tube to make slits for the hose clamp to pass thru, and use that to clamp each end down on it's respective tube.
Should work, is very simple to make, and hopefully not too timeconsuming. Only problem I may have is that I don't think there is any direct line from the seattube to the steerer on the hitch fork.
Rack and stuff is in the way (but cant' be removed as the rack is necessary for the cargo pod, which I must have)
Solcar
10 kW
I had a trailer that my bro-in-law made. The way I reinforced the hitch vertically was to run two wires from the support rails under the seat down to the hitch point behind the wheel. I can't see that possibility being applicable to your trailer is set up, however.
For now I have bungees tightly across the point; I just don't have time to make the support I want to use there, not for a while.
View attachment 2
Seems to work ok, as even with Nana in the trailer, and the bike upright with both wheels on ground, it's got more than enough space under the third wheel for a Turnigy Watt Meter to sit on it's middle-longest side, with a finger's breadth between it and the bottom of the tire. Should be plenty to clear the ground and whatnot over most of the roads to work and back.
View attachment 1
I also have a steel cable that ties around the hitchpost and the seatpost, but it is only so that if the hitch comes loose I don't lose the trailer off the bike again. I will NEVER let that happen again.
Cumulative data from last work trip plus today's, and a quick around-the-block trailer test with Nana the St. Bernard in it, it is at the following stats from the CA. (it has not yet been recharged since the TWM tests, so you have to add together the duration based stuff, Ah, Wh, etc, but it does already include the previous CA measurements).
43m 41s trip time
10.09miles
23.7mph max
13.8mph avg
27.0Wh/mile (lots of pedalling)
5.390Ah
272.5Wh
58.46Amax
53.6Vstart
52.5Vrest
46.1Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-11.9A peak Regen (must be only instantaneously momentary as there is no braking occuring)
It's now recharging via it's normal charger and the BMS, as a pack. I'd rather wait and see when it hits LVC but I need all the power available tomorrow to take Nana to work with me and back home afterward.
The current trailer/bike configuration, with lights on and off. (and with Nana and Hachi wandering in front of it for scale comparisons :lol: ) Note how bright the reflective tape on the trailer and hitch is, in the flash.
View attachment 4
View attachment 3
Also added a "bumper sticker" to the trailer.
View attachment 2
Seems to work ok, as even with Nana in the trailer, and the bike upright with both wheels on ground, it's got more than enough space under the third wheel for a Turnigy Watt Meter to sit on it's middle-longest side, with a finger's breadth between it and the bottom of the tire. Should be plenty to clear the ground and whatnot over most of the roads to work and back.
View attachment 1
I also have a steel cable that ties around the hitchpost and the seatpost, but it is only so that if the hitch comes loose I don't lose the trailer off the bike again. I will NEVER let that happen again.
Cumulative data from last work trip plus today's, and a quick around-the-block trailer test with Nana the St. Bernard in it, it is at the following stats from the CA. (it has not yet been recharged since the TWM tests, so you have to add together the duration based stuff, Ah, Wh, etc, but it does already include the previous CA measurements).
43m 41s trip time
10.09miles
23.7mph max
13.8mph avg
27.0Wh/mile (lots of pedalling)
5.390Ah
272.5Wh
58.46Amax
53.6Vstart
52.5Vrest
46.1Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-11.9A peak Regen (must be only instantaneously momentary as there is no braking occuring)
It's now recharging via it's normal charger and the BMS, as a pack. I'd rather wait and see when it hits LVC but I need all the power available tomorrow to take Nana to work with me and back home afterward.
The current trailer/bike configuration, with lights on and off. (and with Nana and Hachi wandering in front of it for scale comparisons :lol: ) Note how bright the reflective tape on the trailer and hitch is, in the flash.
View attachment 4
View attachment 3
Also added a "bumper sticker" to the trailer.
Solcar
10 kW
Bumper sticker is a nice touch.
If I thought they'd stay stuck on the trailer kennel shell, I'd put them on the sides of that, too. Today was the store meeting where we could bring our dogs up, so I brought Nana, the St. Bernard, and she was a great hit...and behaved mostly, but I did have to keep the muzzle on her, as there were many other dogs of various types and training levels, and I can't predict what they will do that she might not like, nor can I control them--just her.
She had no problem in the kennel trailer, except that she wanted to get out right after getting in (cuz it's very hot out there, even with the iced towels and whatnot I put in there for her), and it took a bit of calming and convincing for her to lay down and stay still at first. Once we were going, it was fine.
I couldn't go faster than about 15MPH, and even that was pushing it, because the trailer gets this side to side shimmy above that, and then she gets up and it really starts to wobble around. It flipped over on it's side once, on the way home, because of that. Two passing vehicles stopped, one in either direction, to help and to block other cars, and one driver got out to help. I was surprised, but thankful.
Nana was not hurt, or apparently even very disturbed by it all, but she was happy to get home.
I wasn't hurt either as I was already in the process of trying to stop once I saw (in the mirror) and felt the shimmy get uncontrollable, but it was too late...all I could do was step off the almost-stopped bike, let it fall, and try to keep the trailer from falling over hard, but I could not reach it in time and it tipped over fully on it's right side.
I guess the lesson is to keep it at 12-13MPH max, no matter what, with that trailer, until I can determine exactly why it happens and fix it (if it's even possible).
I wish I had pics of the store event itself, but we can't do photo or video on premises so there are none. I had planned to take pics of Nana in the trailer once I got home, but after all that had happened I just wanted to let her out of it, and back into safe-home for her to feel better about it all. Before we left, it was too hot to make her wait in the trailer while I took pics.
Now, a couple hours later, everybody's settled down and napping, although I can't sleep cuz it's still too hot (94F inside and out).
The bike itself performed fine, and didnt' have anything break in teh fall, although there's now more scratches on stuff on the right side than in the pics from last week's crash.
The Fusin motor got pretty danged hot; not as hot as last time I used the trailer, despite using it mostly at similar speeds (I think), if a bit less load. This time I could easily keep my hand on it's casing even 10-20 minutes after I got home, and didn't need to put any cooling water on it at any point. No cutouts of motor or pack or controller, either.
At this point I'm pretty sure it must've been halls overheating causing the cutouts before. Not much else makes sense.
Max wattages I saw realtime on the CA were around 700-800W during startups, with me cranking on the pedals pretty hard in lower gears, nearly standing on them to try to reduce the load on the motor at startup.
Typical wattages were in the 150-400W range, depending on slope and speed; it seems like the slower I go below 8MPH the worse the heating gets despite the lower total input power, but that is a guess based on hand-checking the motor cover after running at those speeds vs at higher ones.
10-12MPH seems the ideal compromise between trailer shimmy and motor heating. Keeping in mind that I am pedalling quite a lot--about 75W worth according to the realtime CA display, as that's about how much it goes up on the motor if I stop pedalling.
Solcar
10 kW
Maybe put a sticker on top.Nana's a real trooper, took it all in stride.
I was thinking about the hitch on the trailer and came up with a couple of observations. The one is that the hitch being up high tends to destabilize the pulling some. However, the second observation negates the first some, and it is that if the trailer tends to get tipsy, the hitch being high enables the bike to be able to hold it up some.
The latter was part of my original reasoning for doing it that way, along with the fact that I could just hook it to my basket's rear rack at the time.
Nowadays, I've seen many much better systems, like the BOB, but at the time I had not found that or most other behind-the-wheel hitches--the rest all hooked on the left dropout, which I did not want to do--it's just too weak a point for putting *all* of the pulling tension/torsion/compression on from a trailer hauling as much as several hundred pounds, especially on a cheap aluminum framed bike like DGA, which is already carrying a lot of stress on the seatstay/chainstay from teh rack and pod system.
So I would like to do a modified BOB with all the pivots in one point, much like what I have now but much lower down.
Part2: DON'T KEEP RIDING YOUR BIKE WITH LOOSE SPOKES:
Now for the bad news...that rear wheel I put on there is toast. The one with the airless tire, off some cheap 26" MTB I got off Freecycle some time back.
I had felt some "wiggle" in it a few days ago, and noted that some spokes were not as tight as they should be, but it was still relatively true, and I didn't have time to re-true it, so I left it alone.
Each consecutive ride I noticed a bit worse wiggle, as if the axle nuts were loose, but they weren't--instead, the spokes were getting loose enough in places to (I assume) let the RIM wobble sideways.
I expect the fall-over yesterday was the clincher, because although I did not notice a real problem with it then, probably because I was pulling the trailer and it already has the wobble/wiggle that pulls the bike around a bit, I'm still sure it was already warped. I was not concerned iwth the bike at all at the time, just Nana and getting her home safe.
But today as I headed out, the rear brake rubbed a bit, and I could SEE some warping of the rim; several spokes were very loose, mostly on the left side. But I had to be at work pretty quick so I couldn't stop and do anything about it, and I felt it getting worse the whole way there. By the time I got there, the wheel was bad enough that I knew before I left work for home I'd have to do something.
View attachment 4
When I got off work, and finally had the chance (in the 115F heat at almost 2pm, but fortunately in breezy shade) to work on the wheel, and man is it MESSED UP.
View attachment 3
The best I could really do was to take the brake pads off the rear, because with them on there it could not turn past them in two places, even with spokes tightened to the max on the corrective side, and loosened to floppiness on the other side.
View attachment 2
Then I did what I could to retension the rest of it, but that wasn't much. I'm not even sure I can rebend the rim back into shape when it's off the bike, but I'll have to try, cuz I don't think I can get this airless tire off of here and onto other rim. If I can, I will, and put one of my better non-MTB tires on there, too, over the airless "tube" instead of the knobby MTB that's on there now.
View attachment 1
One option I do have is to completely unlace this rim from the spokes and hub, and relace the rim and tire off the *front* wheel (otherwise identical to this one) off that bike onto the spokes and hub for the rear. Since the airless tire keeps the nipples pressed into place I can pretty easily do this, but I'd rather leave that wheel alone as it currently is a working wheel that's relatively true, to use for an emergency spare for the front of one of my regular non-electric bikes.
It's hard to see exactly how bad it is on the bike, so I'll put up better pics once I get it off of there. Right now I'm cooling off, and intermittenly napping involuntarily, after a very slow and hot ride home and taking the dogs out for potty break.
Nowadays, I've seen many much better systems, like the BOB, but at the time I had not found that or most other behind-the-wheel hitches--the rest all hooked on the left dropout, which I did not want to do--it's just too weak a point for putting *all* of the pulling tension/torsion/compression on from a trailer hauling as much as several hundred pounds, especially on a cheap aluminum framed bike like DGA, which is already carrying a lot of stress on the seatstay/chainstay from teh rack and pod system.
So I would like to do a modified BOB with all the pivots in one point, much like what I have now but much lower down.
Part2: DON'T KEEP RIDING YOUR BIKE WITH LOOSE SPOKES:
Now for the bad news...that rear wheel I put on there is toast. The one with the airless tire, off some cheap 26" MTB I got off Freecycle some time back.
I had felt some "wiggle" in it a few days ago, and noted that some spokes were not as tight as they should be, but it was still relatively true, and I didn't have time to re-true it, so I left it alone.
Each consecutive ride I noticed a bit worse wiggle, as if the axle nuts were loose, but they weren't--instead, the spokes were getting loose enough in places to (I assume) let the RIM wobble sideways.
I expect the fall-over yesterday was the clincher, because although I did not notice a real problem with it then, probably because I was pulling the trailer and it already has the wobble/wiggle that pulls the bike around a bit, I'm still sure it was already warped. I was not concerned iwth the bike at all at the time, just Nana and getting her home safe.
But today as I headed out, the rear brake rubbed a bit, and I could SEE some warping of the rim; several spokes were very loose, mostly on the left side. But I had to be at work pretty quick so I couldn't stop and do anything about it, and I felt it getting worse the whole way there. By the time I got there, the wheel was bad enough that I knew before I left work for home I'd have to do something.
View attachment 4
When I got off work, and finally had the chance (in the 115F heat at almost 2pm, but fortunately in breezy shade) to work on the wheel, and man is it MESSED UP.
View attachment 3
The best I could really do was to take the brake pads off the rear, because with them on there it could not turn past them in two places, even with spokes tightened to the max on the corrective side, and loosened to floppiness on the other side.
View attachment 2
Then I did what I could to retension the rest of it, but that wasn't much. I'm not even sure I can rebend the rim back into shape when it's off the bike, but I'll have to try, cuz I don't think I can get this airless tire off of here and onto other rim. If I can, I will, and put one of my better non-MTB tires on there, too, over the airless "tube" instead of the knobby MTB that's on there now.
View attachment 1
One option I do have is to completely unlace this rim from the spokes and hub, and relace the rim and tire off the *front* wheel (otherwise identical to this one) off that bike onto the spokes and hub for the rear. Since the airless tire keeps the nipples pressed into place I can pretty easily do this, but I'd rather leave that wheel alone as it currently is a working wheel that's relatively true, to use for an emergency spare for the front of one of my regular non-electric bikes.
It's hard to see exactly how bad it is on the bike, so I'll put up better pics once I get it off of there. Right now I'm cooling off, and intermittenly napping involuntarily, after a very slow and hot ride home and taking the dogs out for potty break.
Solcar
10 kW
The trailer hitch my bro-in-law made had two arms attached right above the rear dropouts and then they went back and connected together at a small barn door type hinge. The trailer had a matching hinge and then a pin is dropped between the two. That allowed freedom of movement in all dimensions.
I have a feeling that it will be possible to straighten that rim. I hope so!
I have a feeling that it will be possible to straighten that rim. I hope so!
MadRhino
100 GW
We can see enough, and IMO that rim is not worth re-lacing. You would succeed, but the wheel will have uneven tension and require frequent maintenance.amberwolf said:
Probably; we'll see once I get a chance to get it off of there. If I can get the airless tube out and onto my rim that had the flat tube (stem failure), I would rather do that. Just not sure I can physically manage it.
Funny that I put this airless tire wheel on there so I wouldn't have to deal with rear wheel problems, and then the wheel itself gets toasted instead of the tire/tube. :lol:
Anyway, I went ahead and moved the pack back to CrazyBike2, and will go back to using it, now that the pack is essentialy proved working ok. Still needs a range test, but I've already shown it'll do at least two days worth of work commutes without a problem, and I only need one.
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=451895#p451895
THen I just need to fix up DGA ASAP as a spare, just in case.
Funny that I put this airless tire wheel on there so I wouldn't have to deal with rear wheel problems, and then the wheel itself gets toasted instead of the tire/tube.
:lol:Anyway, I went ahead and moved the pack back to CrazyBike2, and will go back to using it, now that the pack is essentialy proved working ok. Still needs a range test, but I've already shown it'll do at least two days worth of work commutes without a problem, and I only need one.
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=451895#p451895
THen I just need to fix up DGA ASAP as a spare, just in case.
Solcar
10 kW
I should explain the hinges used to make the hitches a little better. I believe the hinges are the type used with a padlock when locking a door. I also ought to clarify that the hitches on the trailer only essentially make use of the triangular half of the hinges--the built-in pivoting action of the hinges is disabled when the hitch is made, and prevented from being able to pivot. Basically, these type of hinges offer a triangular piece heavy sheet metal of appropriate size with a strategically drilled hole--that is the half of each hinge that really matters, though the other half has convenient holes for attaching the hinges to each assembly.
When the trailer is connected up to the bike, the joining pin is inserted after lining up the two padlock holes--one on each hinge. One hinge is on the trailer and one is at the rear of the bike.
I couldn't find a picture of this type of hinge on the Internet and I don't use the trailer any more, having removed the hitch from the bike, but if you like, I can try to take a picture if you might be interested in it. I have removed the hitch from the bike to save weight and because it endangered my foot as a scraping risk in tight quarters because it extended out from the rear of the bike.
When the trailer is connected up to the bike, the joining pin is inserted after lining up the two padlock holes--one on each hinge. One hinge is on the trailer and one is at the rear of the bike.
I couldn't find a picture of this type of hinge on the Internet and I don't use the trailer any more, having removed the hitch from the bike, but if you like, I can try to take a picture if you might be interested in it. I have removed the hitch from the bike to save weight and because it endangered my foot as a scraping risk in tight quarters because it extended out from the rear of the bike.
Anything like the one I used as my kickstand hinge here?
http://electricle.blogspot.com/2009/02/100th-post-kickstand-chain-guide.html
I'm still not sure quite how it'd hook up and give 3-axis freedom of movement, though. I could do it with enough hinges, of course, but I don't think it'd hook up like you describe. :?
Also, even the hinge I used above quickly wore at the hingepin area, with all that bike weight on it as it moved. I expect pulling that kind of weight (whcih it would have to do) would do the same thing even faster as a hitch pivot.
http://electricle.blogspot.com/2009/02/100th-post-kickstand-chain-guide.html
I'm still not sure quite how it'd hook up and give 3-axis freedom of movement, though. I could do it with enough hinges, of course, but I don't think it'd hook up like you describe. :?
Also, even the hinge I used above quickly wore at the hingepin area, with all that bike weight on it as it moved. I expect pulling that kind of weight (whcih it would have to do) would do the same thing even faster as a hitch pivot.
Solcar
10 kW
That one in that picture is pretty close to the one that was used in my set-up.
Even though the hinges mating at their tapered ends would seem restrictive in the up/down direction, the play in the pin joint allows plenty of freedom up/down. Don't really need that much in that regard because the major pivoting is left/right. Probably advantageous not to have too much up/down freedom of movement. It ought to work to use a padlock instead of a pin, too, as I seem to recall doing that.
One thing that I left out is that the very end tips of the hinges are bent outward from the joint to improve smooth meshing.
Even though the hinges mating at their tapered ends would seem restrictive in the up/down direction, the play in the pin joint allows plenty of freedom up/down. Don't really need that much in that regard because the major pivoting is left/right. Probably advantageous not to have too much up/down freedom of movement. It ought to work to use a padlock instead of a pin, too, as I seem to recall doing that.
One thing that I left out is that the very end tips of the hinges are bent outward from the joint to improve smooth meshing.
Decided to start working with that "normal" Bell trailer, on CrazyBike2, since I'd much rather be hauling things on that bike anyway.
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=490948#p490948
Also decided that I should finally get around to fixing DGA's rear wheel, since I've managed to put it off since late August. Was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be to get the solid tube and tire off the bent up rim, and over onto a good wheel, but it definitely took a lot of effort, and wore me out enough to need a nap afterward. On the plus side, I didn't stab myself with any tools or break anything except the tip of one cheap screwdriver.
Basically I had to use GOOD STRONG flatblade screwdrivers to HAMMER between the rim's inside edge and the tire's bead.
View attachment 7
I couldn't push them into the space, even a little bit, without the hammer. After prying with two of them about 1" apart, I got the bead out enough to slip the tip of a file in there to hold it open while I pried elsewhere around the rim, an inch or two at a time, until I popped off all the bead on one side.
View attachment 6
Then I was able to use a flatblade screwdriver worked and pried under the tube, between tube and rim, and then pry the tube up and over the same rim edge. That got me a little bit of it over, and repeating that a few times got it off enough to roll the rest of it.
View attachment 5
There are no markings on it except for it's size. I'd hoped for a brandname so I could add some data to one of the air-free tires threads.
Since with these things there's no chance of a hernia thru the tire's sidewall, I decided to re-use the Kenda Kross tire I liked so much on the rear of DGA with my friction drive, but had to set aside due to a fabric tear in the sidewall.
Getting the tube into the tire was a little harder than expected, as it kept popping out where I'd already gotten it in; turns out it is a fair bit larger than the rim/tire. I guess the idea is the compression of hte foam helps to keept he tire/tube on the rim even under sideloads, so it doesn't roll off as easy.
Getting the tube/tire onto the rim was actually easier than getting tubed tires on, because I didn't have to worry about puncturing or slicing the tube. :lol: Took a lot more force, but it was way easier to apply it.
The old rim is pretty trashed:
maybe worth saving, maybe not. Into the wheel closet it goes.
So now, except for no rear brake pads (had to take them off to even ride home bakc when the wheel bent up), DGA is ready to roll again.
I thought I would take it out for a spin, but when I pulled out the Vpower/CammyCC pack from the storage shelf to stick in the cargo pod, I found it wouldn't power up the bike. It's got ANOTHER dud cell in it; troubleshooting to be found in the post after this one:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=492155#p492155
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=490948#p490948
Also decided that I should finally get around to fixing DGA's rear wheel, since I've managed to put it off since late August.
Was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be to get the solid tube and tire off the bent up rim, and over onto a good wheel, but it definitely took a lot of effort, and wore me out enough to need a nap afterward. On the plus side, I didn't stab myself with any tools or break anything except the tip of one cheap screwdriver. Basically I had to use GOOD STRONG flatblade screwdrivers to HAMMER between the rim's inside edge and the tire's bead.
View attachment 7
I couldn't push them into the space, even a little bit, without the hammer. After prying with two of them about 1" apart, I got the bead out enough to slip the tip of a file in there to hold it open while I pried elsewhere around the rim, an inch or two at a time, until I popped off all the bead on one side.
View attachment 6
Then I was able to use a flatblade screwdriver worked and pried under the tube, between tube and rim, and then pry the tube up and over the same rim edge. That got me a little bit of it over, and repeating that a few times got it off enough to roll the rest of it.
View attachment 5
There are no markings on it except for it's size. I'd hoped for a brandname so I could add some data to one of the air-free tires threads.
Since with these things there's no chance of a hernia thru the tire's sidewall, I decided to re-use the Kenda Kross tire I liked so much on the rear of DGA with my friction drive, but had to set aside due to a fabric tear in the sidewall.
Getting the tube into the tire was a little harder than expected, as it kept popping out where I'd already gotten it in; turns out it is a fair bit larger than the rim/tire. I guess the idea is the compression of hte foam helps to keept he tire/tube on the rim even under sideloads, so it doesn't roll off as easy.
Getting the tube/tire onto the rim was actually easier than getting tubed tires on, because I didn't have to worry about puncturing or slicing the tube. :lol: Took a lot more force, but it was way easier to apply it.
The old rim is pretty trashed:
maybe worth saving, maybe not. Into the wheel closet it goes.
So now, except for no rear brake pads (had to take them off to even ride home bakc when the wheel bent up), DGA is ready to roll again.
I thought I would take it out for a spin, but when I pulled out the Vpower/CammyCC pack from the storage shelf to stick in the cargo pod, I found it wouldn't power up the bike. It's got ANOTHER dud cell in it; troubleshooting to be found in the post after this one:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=492155#p492155
So....a few months later I finally got back to DGA, now that I need it because CrazyBike2 is broken for now:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=545492#p545492
The Vpower/cammy battery works again, after removing the dud cell and recharging. I didn't use it for my commute today, though; instead I used the ammo-can RC-LiPo pack first tested on CrazyBike2. It is 14s 2p, so 58.1V (4.15V/cell) at 10Ah.
Ride data for my commute today, same path as with CB2, no pedalling:
19m 30s trip time
4.599miles
22mph max
14.1mph avg
31.2Wh/mile
2.684Ah
143Wh
55.41Amax
58.0Vstart
54.6Vrest
48.7Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-10.7A peak Regen :?
This is the Fusin gearmotor, which has a freewheel, so there shouldn't be *any* regen current. I did attempt to disable the FW but that didn't work, and it just slips when rotating wheel faster than motor or regen, etc. It's just possible that there is an intantaneous momentary regen current.
Ride was fine, but I never did get back to putting the rear brakepads back on, so I should fix that. I'm going to be riding DGA for my work commute at least for tomorrow and probably Saturday, until I have time on Friday and Saturday night to fix CB2.
Instead of clamping it to the bar-end, this time I mounted the CA in the instrument-hole in the "dash". It's just clear-taped on for now, but if I have to keep it in there very long, I'll mount it inside the dash instead of on top of it. Hopefuly I'll have CB2 fixed so I can move the CA back over to it, rather than permanentizing it on DGA.
Just as I was leaving work today (literally as I was about to ride off), I met an older gentleman with a white delta trike, with what I think he said was a Hill Topper kit; it's a small hubmotor on his front wheel. I was about to start a conversation with him about his bike, mine, ES, etc., when he just continued on his way. It was kind of wierd, because he was the one that had stopped to talk to me. :? Oh, well.
I had several hails from poeple, several on bicycles, most of them saying "nice ride!" or similar. Didnt' get to stop and talk with any of them, though.
I finally got back to DGA, now that I need it because CrazyBike2 is broken for now:http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=545492#p545492
The Vpower/cammy battery works again, after removing the dud cell and recharging. I didn't use it for my commute today, though; instead I used the ammo-can RC-LiPo pack first tested on CrazyBike2. It is 14s 2p, so 58.1V (4.15V/cell) at 10Ah.
Ride data for my commute today, same path as with CB2, no pedalling:
19m 30s trip time
4.599miles
22mph max
14.1mph avg
31.2Wh/mile
2.684Ah
143Wh
55.41Amax
58.0Vstart
54.6Vrest
48.7Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-10.7A peak Regen :?
This is the Fusin gearmotor, which has a freewheel, so there shouldn't be *any* regen current. I did attempt to disable the FW but that didn't work, and it just slips when rotating wheel faster than motor or regen, etc. It's just possible that there is an intantaneous momentary regen current.
Ride was fine, but I never did get back to putting the rear brakepads back on, so I should fix that.
I'm going to be riding DGA for my work commute at least for tomorrow and probably Saturday, until I have time on Friday and Saturday night to fix CB2. Instead of clamping it to the bar-end, this time I mounted the CA in the instrument-hole in the "dash". It's just clear-taped on for now, but if I have to keep it in there very long, I'll mount it inside the dash instead of on top of it. Hopefuly I'll have CB2 fixed so I can move the CA back over to it, rather than permanentizing it on DGA.
Just as I was leaving work today (literally as I was about to ride off), I met an older gentleman with a white delta trike, with what I think he said was a Hill Topper kit; it's a small hubmotor on his front wheel. I was about to start a conversation with him about his bike, mine, ES, etc., when he just continued on his way. It was kind of wierd, because he was the one that had stopped to talk to me. :? Oh, well.
I had several hails from poeple, several on bicycles, most of them saying "nice ride!" or similar. Didnt' get to stop and talk with any of them, though.
Just for the heck of it, I rode today's identical commute at 15MPH cruise speed instead of 20MPH, to see what the difference in power usage is. Turns out it isnt' much, probably because of the large number of complete stops and starts on the route. Pretty much same nearly-zero wind conditions as yesterday, and same directions for what breezes there were.
Ride data, no pedalling:
21m 39s trip time
4.558miles
19.6mph max
12.6mph avg
27Wh/mile
2.256Ah
122.3Wh
54.9Amax
58.0Vstart
55.2Vrest
49.2Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-11.9A peak Regen :?
I forgot to note yesterday that as I arrived at work, the left front turn signal mount broke; looks like it had been flexed one too many times (it's made from a steel strip so it can bend if the signal hits something rather than breaking the plastic casing). I ziptied it to the handlebar temporarily; that's the blue tie seen in the CA pic in the previous post.
The ammo-can pack is performing well so far, and is balanced within +/- 0.02V on all cells, after one fairly deep discharge (on CrazyBike2) and two shallow ones (on DGA yesterday and today), and bulk charging at 4A max each time.
But the Fusin motor is making some noises I don't like, and has been since I overheated it a while back. I'm worried that the gears are deformed or damaged, and taht a tooth is going to break off and trash them all.
If I have time tomorrow, I am going to work on getting one of the other two Fusin cores from Dogman operational, and swap it out with the existing one. That will do two things, or three if i get the non-freewheeling one working.
1--Get an undamaged gear cluster in there, since I'm pretty sure that's where the noise comes from.
2--Change the winding type from 36V overvolted to 48V to a 48V at 48V. It'll slow down the bike and it's acceleration, but it will also hopefully limit the current a bit and keep me from destroying the motor...maybe. Or at least allow me to more safely go higher in voltage on this bike/motor, wihtout worrying so much about frying the motor, without limiting the current at the controller. I could be wrong....I'm sure I'll smell it eventually if so.
3--Add regen braking, assuming I use the non-FW unit. Not totally sure how good an idea that is, given that I have had problems with even my wrenches and other torque arms on the 36V@48V fusin at 1200W peak, and even eventually breaking a good wrench with the 9C on CB2, a few days ago, probably from the rocking back and forth from the regen braking and acceleration at only 2KW peak. But if I can keep the axle fixed in place, it'll sure save on brake pad wear.
Anyway, we'll see how things go tomorrow, cuz I am also trying to work out how best to fix CrazyBike2 to get it back on the road. I would much rather have it working before Monday next week, than ride DGA that week and the next, as I will be having a much much longer commute of around an hour or more each way, probably more than 30 miles round trip. Much more comfy on CB2, especially after a likely hard night helping remodelling a store several nights in a row.
Ride data, no pedalling:
21m 39s trip time
4.558miles
19.6mph max
12.6mph avg
27Wh/mile
2.256Ah
122.3Wh
54.9Amax
58.0Vstart
55.2Vrest
49.2Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-11.9A peak Regen :?
I forgot to note yesterday that as I arrived at work, the left front turn signal mount broke; looks like it had been flexed one too many times (it's made from a steel strip so it can bend if the signal hits something rather than breaking the plastic casing). I ziptied it to the handlebar temporarily; that's the blue tie seen in the CA pic in the previous post.
The ammo-can pack is performing well so far, and is balanced within +/- 0.02V on all cells, after one fairly deep discharge (on CrazyBike2) and two shallow ones (on DGA yesterday and today), and bulk charging at 4A max each time.
But the Fusin motor is making some noises I don't like, and has been since I overheated it a while back. I'm worried that the gears are deformed or damaged, and taht a tooth is going to break off and trash them all.
If I have time tomorrow, I am going to work on getting one of the other two Fusin cores from Dogman operational, and swap it out with the existing one. That will do two things, or three if i get the non-freewheeling one working.
1--Get an undamaged gear cluster in there, since I'm pretty sure that's where the noise comes from.
2--Change the winding type from 36V overvolted to 48V to a 48V at 48V. It'll slow down the bike and it's acceleration, but it will also hopefully limit the current a bit and keep me from destroying the motor...maybe.
Or at least allow me to more safely go higher in voltage on this bike/motor, wihtout worrying so much about frying the motor, without limiting the current at the controller. I could be wrong....I'm sure I'll smell it eventually if so. 3--Add regen braking, assuming I use the non-FW unit. Not totally sure how good an idea that is, given that I have had problems with even my wrenches and other torque arms on the 36V@48V fusin at 1200W peak, and even eventually breaking a good wrench with the 9C on CB2, a few days ago, probably from the rocking back and forth from the regen braking and acceleration at only 2KW peak. But if I can keep the axle fixed in place, it'll sure save on brake pad wear.
Anyway, we'll see how things go tomorrow, cuz I am also trying to work out how best to fix CrazyBike2 to get it back on the road. I would much rather have it working before Monday next week, than ride DGA that week and the next, as I will be having a much much longer commute of around an hour or more each way, probably more than 30 miles round trip. Much more comfy on CB2, especially after a likely hard night helping remodelling a store several nights in a row.
Since it's gonna be at least a few days or more of using DGA exclusively, I moved the CA to inside the "dash" (it barely fits...well, actually it doesn't fit up at the top but only further down inside...I'd ahve to taek it out of it's casing to fit it in properly, which I'm not going to do).
Since I need more range for the long commute, I moved the main CB2 pack over to DGA into the pannier, and the ammo-can pack to on top of the rack. I would prefer to mount it on the right side to balance things, but I can't find the little rack-ear "shelf" I had planned to use for that. I'd bolt the shelf to the rightside vertical rack support panel, and then strap the ammo can to both that and the shelf, which would be secure enough for my riding, and should be secure enough evne for a spill. WHen I find the shelf I'll get that done.
Added rear brake pads, and found I had to completely retrue the rear wheel--it was so bad it pushed hte brake arms back and forth even with the pads over 3mm away from the rim. It's better now, but not perfect. Good enough for todays ride and still giving me a little rear braking at least, without rubbing. Several spokes are as tight as they can get so the rim must be badly bent.
Not much else to do with it for now, until I see if anything fails on the ride out tonight or back tomorrow morning. Should take about an hour to get there, but am leaving myself two hours in case something goes wrong during the ride, since I've never taken this route before. Had actually planned to ride it out and back either yesterday or this morning, just to know it, but too many other things had to be done around here that I couldn't do the last week, so I will just deal with it as needed tonight.
Since I need more range for the long commute, I moved the main CB2 pack over to DGA into the pannier, and the ammo-can pack to on top of the rack. I would prefer to mount it on the right side to balance things, but I can't find the little rack-ear "shelf" I had planned to use for that. I'd bolt the shelf to the rightside vertical rack support panel, and then strap the ammo can to both that and the shelf, which would be secure enough for my riding, and should be secure enough evne for a spill. WHen I find the shelf I'll get that done.
Added rear brake pads, and found I had to completely retrue the rear wheel--it was so bad it pushed hte brake arms back and forth even with the pads over 3mm away from the rim.
It's better now, but not perfect. Good enough for todays ride and still giving me a little rear braking at least, without rubbing. Several spokes are as tight as they can get so the rim must be badly bent. Not much else to do with it for now, until I see if anything fails on the ride out tonight or back tomorrow morning. Should take about an hour to get there, but am leaving myself two hours in case something goes wrong during the ride, since I've never taken this route before. Had actually planned to ride it out and back either yesterday or this morning, just to know it, but too many other things had to be done around here that I couldn't do the last week, so I will just deal with it as needed tonight.
Ride both ways was relatively uneventful, and only had to use the primary pack, recharging at each end. My only real issue was that the bike lanes were unusable for long stretches of Cave Creek Road, either because of road damage or because they have been restriped at some point in recent years (after I was last on that road, which has been a long while up north of Sweetwater, and a few years even up to there), and are far narrower than a bicycle. In some places, they are only a few inches wide, with ridges of pushed-up asphalt at the join with the "gutter", making it impossible to actually ride in the lane itself. This is true in both directions.
So for a number of stretches, I simply had to ride in the right traffic lane, forcing all the cars to go around me. On my way there, at 8-9pm, it wasnt a big deal because the traffic was pretty light, even on Bell Road whcih is normally horrific traffic during daytime. But on my way back, at 7-8am, it's still "rush hour" and there are a lot of people that are probably almost late for work or just impatient or whatever, so it was fairly stressful.
Sidewalk riding was pretty much as unsafe as street riding, becuase of the number of driveways, damaged concrete, sign posts and utility poles right in the center of the sidewalk, and lots of cars pulling out across the sidewalk and even partway into the road, waiting to make their turn onto the road. Most of that was on Bell, but a fair bit on Cave Creek Road right where the bike lane was the most unusable.
So I chose to ride the road for all of the trip except for my copule of hundred yards of attempting the sidewalks.
The most whiteknuckle part of the ride was in the morning going downhill on Cave Creek Road, becuase at the edge of the road, for over a foot into the road from the gutter, are typical iron grates for drainage--not a big deal. But whoever last resurfaced the road (and improperly remarked the "Great Sonoran Bikeway" bike lanes into uselessness) not only didn't smooth down the edges around the drains, they actually left "rolls" of asphalt on some of them that raised the edges up to three inches. More of them don't have "rolls" at their edges but just very very thick asphalt around them, leaving what amounts to a 1.5-2.5 foot wide pothole that is anywhere from 1" to 3" or more deep.
Most of these drain-potholes are in the wider (but not wide-enough) section of bike lane that is mostly usable, but one must essentially exit the lane every few dozen feet to every couple hundred feet (guesstimate) to go around them. If you don't go around them, you'll need good DH-type suspension and a light bike to avoid a crash and/or wheel damage--I definitely don't have that on DGA, which is not only heavy but even heavier than usual with two packs on it, and has only a basic RST Omni spring/polymer front shock, and hardtail.
These are mostly on the southwest-bound side of CCR, downhill. I'm glad I rode that part in daylight, because at night even my "moped/scooter" headlight might not be sufficient to give me reaction time to avoid them.
On the trip home, on Bell Road, most people passing did so in the next lane. But on Cave Creek Road southbound, most people passing me were so close that had my mirror stuck out any farther, they probably would have hit it; I started taking more of the lane to force them to pass me in the other lane, becuase some areas of the right side of the road were as noted above, unrideable, and I couldn't risk finding one of those spots suddenly and having to swerve, and ending up runover by a car that I didn't have time to see. For the most part, this worked, though a number still passed closely and never changed lanes completely.
There was only one person that was aggressive and honked at me, and that was on Bell Road, as I slowed during approach to a red light, letting it coast down so that hopefully the light would change before I arrived (it didnt'). SInce I was approacing an intersection, and there were no cars directly behind me in my lane, I had taken the lane to prevent right cross/etc. As I was about 8 or 9 car lengths from the intersection, some guy in a small dark car (dunno what kind) approaches me from the rear left, out of one of the two lanes to my left that had already almost slowed to a stop, only this care was continuing at at least half speed (25MPH or more). I guess they didnt' wnat to slow down or stop for the red light, so they thought they'd just go around the already-stopping and stopped traffic in what they assumed was an empty lane.
I was wearing my brown leather jacket, and light gray pants, and a not-yet-used and thus unfaded bright orange mesh vest over the jacket. I don't normally wear such vests these days, as I am on CB2 where it couldn't be seen anyway. But I figured on this ride in the morning it would be a really good idea, and it might be what let them see me in time to not run me over in their impatience.
They honked medium-length, and rapidly slowed, but were probably less than a bike-length from me before they matched speeds and then stopped, just as I braked to a stop at the intersection, and just as a couple more poeple in the stream of pedestrians walked directly in front of me in the crosswalk--I couldn't have continued to get out of the car's way even if I had had time to try.
Usually when someone behind me honks, if they cannot get around me they keep honking, even if we are sitting at a red light when they could not go anyway (and when they are going to go straight, not turn!). This guy did not, at a guess because he was not honking out of aggression but out of warning, though the warning was useless as I coudln't have gotten out of his way anyway--not enough time to ditch right or left or accelerate (even if my path hadn't been blocked by pedestrians). So after we stopped it was all quiet, no revving/etc.
But right after the light changed, and I was on my way across the intersection, and heading to the right side of the lane again, when the other cars to my left were far enough ahead of me and the car behind me that he slammed his throttle to full and roared around me, and he almost hit the car in front of him before he was able to slow down, not only squealing his brakes but actually skidding on the road. I guess he must've been really late to work or something.
Charging at work was easy, with an outlet in the vestibule well out of the way of all the construction crews and materials and such.
The actual ride uphill on Cave Creek Road required fairly close power monitoring, trying to budget watts to 500 and under, to prevent overheating of the geared hub motor. I mostly ascended at 12MPH or less. At some points I had to pedal a bit, though not strenuously, but probably enough to add 50W to the system. I didn't want to damage the motor, because I could not have pedalled the rest of the way up by myself, or gotten home very easily after work. Plus I really don't wanna have to fix another motor. When i got to the top of the hill, I felt the motor, and it was fairly warm on the outside . Later I felt it maybe 10 minutes or so, and it was getting hot as heatsoak thru the casing finally started venting some fo the heat of the motor inside.
The ride home I managed 18-20MPH for most of the ride, with some stretches needing slower speed due to poor road conditions vs traffic to my left. No worries about overheating the motor, even at 600-700W as I was at-speed for most of that. Never got more than very warm.
Ride data for the to-work (pm) route:
55m 16s trip time
14.73miles
22.2mph max
15.9mph avg
32Wh/mile
8.919Ah
469.39Wh
50.87Amax
58.3Vstart
52.3Vrest
47.5Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-8.7A peak Regen
Ride data on the wya home (am):
50m 4s trip time
13.98miles
23.5mph max
16.7mph avg
27.0Wh/mile
7.077Ah
377.1Wh
55.03Amax
58.3Vstart
53.1Vrest
48.2Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-15.4A peak Regen
I'm considering moving the 9C over to it until I get CB2 back and working, but would rather not.
So for a number of stretches, I simply had to ride in the right traffic lane, forcing all the cars to go around me. On my way there, at 8-9pm, it wasnt a big deal because the traffic was pretty light, even on Bell Road whcih is normally horrific traffic during daytime. But on my way back, at 7-8am, it's still "rush hour" and there are a lot of people that are probably almost late for work or just impatient or whatever, so it was fairly stressful.
Sidewalk riding was pretty much as unsafe as street riding, becuase of the number of driveways, damaged concrete, sign posts and utility poles right in the center of the sidewalk, and lots of cars pulling out across the sidewalk and even partway into the road, waiting to make their turn onto the road. Most of that was on Bell, but a fair bit on Cave Creek Road right where the bike lane was the most unusable.
So I chose to ride the road for all of the trip except for my copule of hundred yards of attempting the sidewalks.
The most whiteknuckle part of the ride was in the morning going downhill on Cave Creek Road, becuase at the edge of the road, for over a foot into the road from the gutter, are typical iron grates for drainage--not a big deal. But whoever last resurfaced the road (and improperly remarked the "Great Sonoran Bikeway" bike lanes into uselessness) not only didn't smooth down the edges around the drains, they actually left "rolls" of asphalt on some of them that raised the edges up to three inches. More of them don't have "rolls" at their edges but just very very thick asphalt around them, leaving what amounts to a 1.5-2.5 foot wide pothole that is anywhere from 1" to 3" or more deep.
Most of these drain-potholes are in the wider (but not wide-enough) section of bike lane that is mostly usable, but one must essentially exit the lane every few dozen feet to every couple hundred feet (guesstimate) to go around them. If you don't go around them, you'll need good DH-type suspension and a light bike to avoid a crash and/or wheel damage--I definitely don't have that on DGA, which is not only heavy but even heavier than usual with two packs on it, and has only a basic RST Omni spring/polymer front shock, and hardtail.
These are mostly on the southwest-bound side of CCR, downhill. I'm glad I rode that part in daylight, because at night even my "moped/scooter" headlight might not be sufficient to give me reaction time to avoid them.
On the trip home, on Bell Road, most people passing did so in the next lane. But on Cave Creek Road southbound, most people passing me were so close that had my mirror stuck out any farther, they probably would have hit it; I started taking more of the lane to force them to pass me in the other lane, becuase some areas of the right side of the road were as noted above, unrideable, and I couldn't risk finding one of those spots suddenly and having to swerve, and ending up runover by a car that I didn't have time to see. For the most part, this worked, though a number still passed closely and never changed lanes completely.
There was only one person that was aggressive and honked at me, and that was on Bell Road, as I slowed during approach to a red light, letting it coast down so that hopefully the light would change before I arrived (it didnt'). SInce I was approacing an intersection, and there were no cars directly behind me in my lane, I had taken the lane to prevent right cross/etc. As I was about 8 or 9 car lengths from the intersection, some guy in a small dark car (dunno what kind) approaches me from the rear left, out of one of the two lanes to my left that had already almost slowed to a stop, only this care was continuing at at least half speed (25MPH or more). I guess they didnt' wnat to slow down or stop for the red light, so they thought they'd just go around the already-stopping and stopped traffic in what they assumed was an empty lane.
I was wearing my brown leather jacket, and light gray pants, and a not-yet-used and thus unfaded bright orange mesh vest over the jacket. I don't normally wear such vests these days, as I am on CB2 where it couldn't be seen anyway. But I figured on this ride in the morning it would be a really good idea, and it might be what let them see me in time to not run me over in their impatience.
They honked medium-length, and rapidly slowed, but were probably less than a bike-length from me before they matched speeds and then stopped, just as I braked to a stop at the intersection, and just as a couple more poeple in the stream of pedestrians walked directly in front of me in the crosswalk--I couldn't have continued to get out of the car's way even if I had had time to try.
Usually when someone behind me honks, if they cannot get around me they keep honking, even if we are sitting at a red light when they could not go anyway (and when they are going to go straight, not turn!). This guy did not, at a guess because he was not honking out of aggression but out of warning, though the warning was useless as I coudln't have gotten out of his way anyway--not enough time to ditch right or left or accelerate (even if my path hadn't been blocked by pedestrians). So after we stopped it was all quiet, no revving/etc.
But right after the light changed, and I was on my way across the intersection, and heading to the right side of the lane again, when the other cars to my left were far enough ahead of me and the car behind me that he slammed his throttle to full and roared around me, and he almost hit the car in front of him before he was able to slow down, not only squealing his brakes but actually skidding on the road. I guess he must've been really late to work or something.
Charging at work was easy, with an outlet in the vestibule well out of the way of all the construction crews and materials and such.
The actual ride uphill on Cave Creek Road required fairly close power monitoring, trying to budget watts to 500 and under, to prevent overheating of the geared hub motor. I mostly ascended at 12MPH or less. At some points I had to pedal a bit, though not strenuously, but probably enough to add 50W to the system. I didn't want to damage the motor, because I could not have pedalled the rest of the way up by myself, or gotten home very easily after work. Plus I really don't wanna have to fix another motor. When i got to the top of the hill, I felt the motor, and it was fairly warm on the outside . Later I felt it maybe 10 minutes or so, and it was getting hot as heatsoak thru the casing finally started venting some fo the heat of the motor inside.
The ride home I managed 18-20MPH for most of the ride, with some stretches needing slower speed due to poor road conditions vs traffic to my left. No worries about overheating the motor, even at 600-700W as I was at-speed for most of that. Never got more than very warm.
Ride data for the to-work (pm) route:
55m 16s trip time
14.73miles
22.2mph max
15.9mph avg
32Wh/mile
8.919Ah
469.39Wh
50.87Amax
58.3Vstart
52.3Vrest
47.5Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-8.7A peak Regen
Ride data on the wya home (am):
50m 4s trip time
13.98miles
23.5mph max
16.7mph avg
27.0Wh/mile
7.077Ah
377.1Wh
55.03Amax
58.3Vstart
53.1Vrest
48.2Vmin
0% Regen
0Ah Regen
-15.4A peak Regen
I'm considering moving the 9C over to it until I get CB2 back and working, but would rather not.
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