How to make a frog battery stealthy?

[cwah]

Hello there,

I recently purchased an electric bike from Conhismotor, and I'm quite satisfied. It weight 24kg, reach 36km/h (or 22mph) with a 36V10AH Li(NiCoMn)O2 battery. I wanted it not too heavy because I live in the second floor.

I thought with a frog battery, it would be stealthy:

But in the street, everybody noticed it, and at first sight, they can all guess it's an electric bike!!!!! :|

Any idea how I could make it look like a normal bike?

 

[E-bike4life]

Get rid of all the crap on the handle bars :lol:

The tape especially

Other than that the rear of the bike looks pretty good, minust the lock and cable.

 

[cwah]

In my handle bar, there is the speed selector, the GPS holder, the speedometer and of course the light.

I can't get rid of any of them :lol: I just removed the tape from the speed selector and put some super glue instead.

But my problem is the frog battery too visible. I need it stealthy!!

ps: I tried to put a plastic bag around to hide it. But it looked horrible and people still noticed it. (I know it wasn't a good idea)

 

[E-bike4life]

If you are not to stuck on keeping the frog battery you can upgrade to Lipo and configure them to fit inline on the cross bar.

 

[Lock]

In my neighbourhood some in the pedal-bike community like to decorate their bike baskets with plastic etc flowers. Perhaps the pack could be hidden behind an attractive floral arrangement?

LocK

 

[cwah]

I'm kinda stuck to this battery because it's quite expensive and I'll loose quite a lot of money if I change it to lipo. But I suppose I could keep this battery and fit it in the cross bar? But I suppose I would have to take account of the controller? don't know how I could do that.

Lock, I'm completely open to any proposition. Do you have any (applicable) example of floral arrangement to hide the battery?

thanks

 

[amberwolf]

Are you always pedalling? If not, it won't matter how "stealthy" it is.

Lots of wiring on the bike kinda gives it away, too, especially the heavy wiring to/from the controller, if that's what I am seeing below the downtube.

 

[nuevomexicano]

Put the battery in a regular bicycle top bag or bicycle panniers mounted on the rear rack.
I put my battery in one of these:
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1023681_-1_1596009_20000_400103

 

[cwah]

Yes, I'm always peddling, no problem for that.

The bag idea is not bad. But I don't want to break anything. I was thinking maybe of a bigger bag that could cover my battery?
Something like this but bigger I could use as battery cover:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Bike-...ltDomain_0&hash=item2c5eea65dc#ht_3288wt_1163

Not sure if something like this exist.

 

[cwah]

Or maybe a rain cover for bike bag:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Roswheel-Bike-Bicycle-Rear-Seat-Bag-Pannier-Rain-Cover-/160632512280?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2566719f18#ht_500wt_1396

But this one is really ugly. Need something more sexy :lol:

 

[Lock]

Lock, I'm completely open to any proposition. Do you have any (applicable) example of floral arrangement to hide the battery?

Hehe... yah know cwah, I might have been kidding about the flowers eh? :wink:

But a Google image search turns up plenty of examples:
http://www.google.ca/search?tbm=isc...589l0l11557l15l15l0l5l5l0l221l1719l0.7.3l10l0

Plan B) Cammo the pack and make it disappear... A post here recently about an "art bike" got some mention in the media for the way the bike might "disappear" in the way that it appears as a reflection of its environment...
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=31717

This bike:

...so how about if the pack were wrapped in highly reflective mylar film? eg:
http://www.reflectechsolar.com/

Lock

 

[dogman dan]

What battery? Oh there it is. I was distracted by all the other crap on there. Perhaps carry the battery in a "normal" rack bag. My guess is that people notice what I was noticing. What the heck is with that rack? For stealth, I guess that's the wrong kit, as far as the handlebars go. A single half twist throttle with no on off or other switches is much cleaner installed than all that stuff taped on.

Here's a pic of a relatively clean install on an ebike. battery in the metal box on the rack, controller tucked behind the seat on the front of the box, nothing on the bars but a simple throttle with no switches. Few ever notice the motor on the rear even though it's huge looking to me. Even though the metal box is not particularly normal, nobody ever asked about it. At a glance, the bike looks pretty normal. Wires are run alongside the brake and shift cables, and blend in.

 

[NeilP]

Frame triangle bag?

http://www.google.com/search?q=triangle+frame+bag&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=JcOITuP6KIuE-wanoKw1&ved=0CE8QrQQ

 

[cwah]

Lock, your propositions are not applicable at all, but quite funny. :lol:

Dogman, I also have pedelec. And I need to be able to select speed assistance. Otherwise I'll always be at max speed :lol:

And you're right guys, I should install the controller and the battery in a standard rack. But I still have 2 year warranty and I don't want to break anything. Do you know where I could find a safe tutorial to do that? Many thanks.

 

[dogman dan]

Is it possible to just mount the speed selector into the bag on the rear rack instead of the handlebars? Max speed still depends on how much you pedal right? Seems like the rack mounted funny and the box on the bars are the stealth problem, not the battery itself. Mabye just clean up the install some, no rack, and lose the tape.

Edit, I keep looking at the pics, and wondering if the whole thing could be relocated. Maybe the controller mounted less conspicuous somewhere under the seat, or on the back of the battery. Then the speed selector on the top of the frame right below the seat? Get all the wiring to the back of the bike more.

Any way you slice it, if people actually look, they see a battery and motor.

 

[izeman]

@cwah: take a look at my bike. i tried to hide everything as good as possible. if you wish i can look up the modell of the saddle bag.
and yes: get rid of all that stuff on your handle bar. i only installed a little thumb throttle. no more cables. nothing.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32267

 

[cwah]

Dogman, do you mean I should put everything below the seat? Do you have any example I could follow?

Izeman, your bike "stealthyness" is impressive. I wish I could do that. How could I remove the cables from the handlebar? Shall I make a hole and put the cables inside?
Same for the battery and controller, I still have 2 years warranties and if I move things around I may loose the warranty. I need some safe tutorial. any idea where I could find it?

 

[adrian_sm]

Yes, I
The bag idea is not bad. But I don't want to break anything. I was thinking maybe of a bigger bag that could cover my battery?
Something like this but bigger I could use as battery cover:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Bike-...ltDomain_0&hash=item2c5eea65dc#ht_3288wt_1163

Not sure if something like this exist.

I am a big fan of using existing bike bags to hide batteries. Personally I use the Topeak Aero Wedge Large, and just fit 20Ah of 5s LiPo.
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=22187&p=456116&hilit=aero+wedge#p456116

Someone else here has used the Topeak Mondo XL

- Adrian

 

[dogman dan]

Sorry, you'll just have to improvise and experiment. I can't see why you'd void the warrantee provided you don't cut wires. Or drop something off the bike that was taped on.

I'd just remove that rack for starters, and see if there can be a good way to mount the speed controller less obvious.

What is the need for stealth? illegality? theft? Nothing prevents theft except several big dogs in the yard with the bike, or bringing it inside with you.

Actually, the flower stickers idea was not so bad. Mabye a bumper sticker? People focus on reading the witty saying on the sticker never notice what it's stuck to? Uglify it with layers of dirty duct tape? Ugly doesn't get stolen as much.

2 year warrantee eh? Riiiiiiiiight. If it works now, there's your warrantee.

 

[cwah]

Thanks Adrian. I'm checking for now for a bag where I could hide my battery and controller.. But these 2 things are huge and I need to find the right stealthy bag.

Dogman, it's not illegal. It's mainly about thieve. And I don't like people staring at my bike. Or those on the road looking at it. And this bike is faster than the 25km/h speed restriction in UK. So I'm not allowed to ride this bike.
And at work I have comments about this "BIG BIKE" (I was thinking this bike is actually quite small compared to most bike in this forum :lol: ), or this "lazy bike".

I have a lot of reason to be stealthy :lol:

Sticker is definitely an idea, but I don't want something too ugly. I'm still quite proud of my bike.