rhitee05
10 kW
Actually, I'm sure there's a best way and an easiest way. For my purposes, an optimum solution is probably somewhere in between, but it might be different for others.
I've decided I want to add e-assist to my bike, which will be my first e-bike project. Note that I did say e-assist - I still plan on pedaling, using the motor for higher cruising speed and climbing as needed. After much reading, I decided on a Cyclone 500W motor because I like the through-the-gears approach instead of raw wattage. But, instead of their standard setup, I'd like to run the motor through the crank so I have the full range of gearing available when pedaling. That will also give me wider gearing range for the motor because I'd set up the drive ratios so the optimum motor speed range matched the optimum pedaling cadence. I've ran some numbers to figure out what sort of ratios I need, speeds, etc, but I'll spare the gory details for now. Maybe I'll set up a build thread with all that later. The goal is to design a good, solid drivetrain now that I can implement for not-too-much cash and then upgrade incrementally later.
For now, I've been trying to figure out what the best way is to add a left-hand chainwheel to my existing crank setup. The bike is a Trek hybrid with a 3-speed 28/38/48 chainwheel in front and 7-speed 11-31 cassette in back. For the new left-hand drive, I figured that I probably want a ring in the 45T range to get the right ratios, give or take a tooth or two, which is in a nice range for standard rings. I'm not very familiar (yet) with the details of how all the parts fit together, different standards, etc, so sometime soon I'll need to tear into the bike to see exactly what I'm starting with. Based on what I've read so far, I'm guessing that my low-mid range bike probably has a square-drive crank and not one of the better spline types? I read through the very long freewheel resource thread and some others, which were helpful and informative. Speaking of freewheels, since I'm going for e-assist I don't care if I end up with free-wheeling pedals or not - I'll be pedaling anyway.
I figure I have a couple of options. Tandem bikes use a left-hand drive for the 2nd rider, so maybe I can mix-and-match one of those left-hand cranks with my existing right-hand one. I'm sure it's possible to somehow modify the existing left-hand crank to mount a chainwheel, but I'm not sure how easy or reliable that would be. Since the kit version of the Cyclone comes with a 44T freewheeling crankset, maybe there's a way I can modify that to work on the left side? The options probably increase the more hardware I'm willing to replace, so that's where the easiest-vs-best tradeoff comes in. I'm willing to modify what I've got (or buy) to some degree, but I really don't have the capability (i.e. tools and equipment) to do much besides very basic fabrication.
So, any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I might try to find a nice big bike shop near me to see if I can eyeball some hardware. Pictures are great, but its hard to figure out how stuff will fit together until you can get your hands on it!
I've decided I want to add e-assist to my bike, which will be my first e-bike project. Note that I did say e-assist - I still plan on pedaling, using the motor for higher cruising speed and climbing as needed. After much reading, I decided on a Cyclone 500W motor because I like the through-the-gears approach instead of raw wattage. But, instead of their standard setup, I'd like to run the motor through the crank so I have the full range of gearing available when pedaling. That will also give me wider gearing range for the motor because I'd set up the drive ratios so the optimum motor speed range matched the optimum pedaling cadence. I've ran some numbers to figure out what sort of ratios I need, speeds, etc, but I'll spare the gory details for now. Maybe I'll set up a build thread with all that later. The goal is to design a good, solid drivetrain now that I can implement for not-too-much cash and then upgrade incrementally later.
For now, I've been trying to figure out what the best way is to add a left-hand chainwheel to my existing crank setup. The bike is a Trek hybrid with a 3-speed 28/38/48 chainwheel in front and 7-speed 11-31 cassette in back. For the new left-hand drive, I figured that I probably want a ring in the 45T range to get the right ratios, give or take a tooth or two, which is in a nice range for standard rings. I'm not very familiar (yet) with the details of how all the parts fit together, different standards, etc, so sometime soon I'll need to tear into the bike to see exactly what I'm starting with. Based on what I've read so far, I'm guessing that my low-mid range bike probably has a square-drive crank and not one of the better spline types? I read through the very long freewheel resource thread and some others, which were helpful and informative. Speaking of freewheels, since I'm going for e-assist I don't care if I end up with free-wheeling pedals or not - I'll be pedaling anyway.
I figure I have a couple of options. Tandem bikes use a left-hand drive for the 2nd rider, so maybe I can mix-and-match one of those left-hand cranks with my existing right-hand one. I'm sure it's possible to somehow modify the existing left-hand crank to mount a chainwheel, but I'm not sure how easy or reliable that would be. Since the kit version of the Cyclone comes with a 44T freewheeling crankset, maybe there's a way I can modify that to work on the left side? The options probably increase the more hardware I'm willing to replace, so that's where the easiest-vs-best tradeoff comes in. I'm willing to modify what I've got (or buy) to some degree, but I really don't have the capability (i.e. tools and equipment) to do much besides very basic fabrication.
So, any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I might try to find a nice big bike shop near me to see if I can eyeball some hardware. Pictures are great, but its hard to figure out how stuff will fit together until you can get your hands on it!