How to secure the battery to the bike

[Chalo]

A bike with 2" wide tires, a sprung saddle, and a comfy riding position is plenty usable at speeds up to about 30 mph. It's not what they're best at, but they can do it (and they won't definitely be garbage after a few years of use like a suspension bike).

I don't know what do you mean by garbage after a few years. I have, at this point, 5 full suspension bikes, they are all easily over 10 years old and all of them running like new.

If you have five of them, I'm guessing not one of them has accumulated several years' worth of riding. So you haven't had the chance to wear them out, probably. I'm guessing at least some of them are floppier in the rear end than they used to be.

And at over 10 years old, I'm also guessing you may not be able to get rebuild kits or spare parts when they crap out, as they all do. Once a suspension bike becomes a creaky, free play ridden mess, and you can't replace the proprietary bits, then it's garbage whether you like it or not. And that's if chunks don't break off of them, which is another thing suspension bikes do.

I have bikes in their 30s and 40s that are running good as new. Their frames don't have pivots, bushings, spacers, shocks, or dampers.

 

[Ecyclist]

I bought all my bikes used and cheap with plenty of mileage on them. People get tired of bikes before they get worn out For obvious reasons I almost exclusively use the silver Giant I build. Thousands of miles including a trip around Japan and no problems. I ride it on type of trails you would never survive without suspension. Remove suspension from your car and let us know how this works for you. Even mopeds and scooters have suspension now.

 

[999zip999]

San Diego everyone has a bike as bragging rights. It's like Porsches and Ferraris in Newport Beach. I have a ten year old Ferrari only 640 miles. These things are for bragging rights. Low miles with original tires and original brakes.
San Diego they have $10,000 bikes all over the place Plus used bikes of all kinds are cheap or available. Plus North county have special bike Lanes all over the place even more than in my neighborhood. Bike friendly but still ride with caution.
first find a bike that can hold your battery in the triangle or maybe in the triangle.

 

[donn]

I have an old criterium Cannondale road bike. It's very fast and it's hanging on the wall of my garage and collects dust for the last 20 years.

My Cannondale is an '80s "touring" model, but same story otherwise. Once in a while I think, maybe a different seat ... Then when I need to go somewhere, I get on my recumbent bicycle with rear suspension.

there are lots of people that are not motorized that ride with leg power faster then 20mph on rigid road bicycles

When I put a motor on my bicycle, I discovered an interest in suspension that I had not had previously. Even though before then I regularly exceeded 20mph. (I'm no athlete, but there's always hills, at least here there are.) Somehow it's a lot different, occasionally going real fast, than always going at least kind of fast. Seemed like it would be kind of rough on my bicycle, if not on me.

 

[SlowCo]

ok i attached the picture of the bike i'd like to buy and where i'd want to put the battery

bike:
https://www.decathlon.it/p/mtb-st-540-s-blu-arancione-27-5/_/R-p-301117?mc=8500761&c=BLU
battery:
https://www.akkushop-24.de/Lithium-Ionen-Akku-72V-20Ah-1440Wh-Akkupack-incl-50A-BMS-Ladegeraet-fuer-Scooter-E-Bike-Pedelec

I used a triangle battery pack hung under the downtube. But it is only 1kWh in size:

 

[999zip999]

Slow Co I like that battery placement where did you get the battery and how big is it is it a 14s-6p ?
27.5 ?

 

[MoneyPit]

if I had the choices @alexscard has in terms of bikes I would, in order

a) stick to the hardtail and put a *quality* suspension seatpost on it like a Thud LT. Keep the battery in the triangle.

b) go to a backpack battery.

I can hear the poo plopping on the floor now. Yes I'm serious . I thought it was an idiot idea too until I was forced to go there myself. I started with an old Stumpjumper. Put the battery on a seatpost rack. If there is a formula for keeping a rack like that steady without shifting after bouncing around on trails, I wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Strong clamp, upgraded hardware, enhancing the clamp's grip. I failed. Early in its life the bike was hit by a car and killed.

I put a dropper post into its replacement and the first bike took the fight out of me rackwise. I didn't want to risk an undersling, and I couldn't put it on top. I went with a backpack battery and hated the idea. After the first ride I couldn't believe how well it worked.

The weight is no longer on the bike. So the thing that is taking all the hard hits and such no longer has that dead weight on it. Instead its on the rider who has it strapped tight to his body. The rider shifts his weight all over the place according to the needs of the moment. The weight on your back becomes a non issue as a result. Same - amazingly - with the cord. I forgot it was there about 30 seconds after I got going. Huge surprise.

I am using a hardshell pack that also provides spinal protection. Inside is some leftover padding to keep the battery still. There is room for my toolkit and wallet/keys. A Janitor's keychain retainer, some silicone tape and a bit of balled up silicone handgrip makes a cable stop that keeps the cord taut-ish to my body when I am standing or sitting on the pedals. An XT90 with a little silicone built up around the edges makes it as waterproof as can be, and QD's if I fly off. The hardshell protects the pack.

I know people instinctively hate this idea but it works very well

 

[Voltron]

No hating on that! I ran backpack battery a bunch, it's so practical for prototyping on a conversion when battery mounting is sometimes the hardest part, or on rainy days etc, and the handling improvement on the same bike switching from frame mount to backpack is really noticable!
I got car doored recently by a door opening from the passenger side of an Uber, that jammed the front brake lever and sent me over the bars, and landed perfectly across the center of my spine onto the curb, right on my big flat hard case battery in soft backpack.
People were already rushing over the help, and nobody, including me, could believe when I hopped up basically uninjured.
I've taken full trees across the back mtb crashing, so I know exactly how much pain that saved me ..lol

 

[Voltron]

Not the bike I flipped, but ran this Kona with backpack, which was another plus, having several bikes that ran off the same backpack...

 

[SlowCo]

Slow Co I like that battery placement where did you get the battery and how big is it is it a 14s-6p ?
27.5 ?

Yes, it's a 14S6P triangle pack with 3350mAh cells. The bike is a simple FS MTB size medium with 27.5" wheels/tires from "Decathlon/B'Twin".

 

[MarcTaddos]

I used a triangle battery pack hung under the downtube. But it is only 1kWh in size:
thumbnail_IMG-20210225-WA0001.jpg

I like your bike setup but i am wondering why did you install such a wide saddle (I guess this is not the original model) and does it make pedaling a bit uncomfortable ?

 

[SlowCo]

I like your bike setup but i am wondering why did you install such a wide saddle (I guess this is not the original model) and does it make pedaling a bit uncomfortable ?

Unfortunately I'm handicapped and sitting hurts. The ultra wide saddle spreads the load and eases the pain somewhat.
So not recommended for "normal" cyclists and pedalling but for me an improvement.

 

[MarcTaddos]

Unfortunately I'm handicapped and sitting hurts. The ultra wide saddle spreads the load and eases the pain somewhat.
So not recommended for "normal" cyclists and pedalling but for me an improvement.

Ok got it. Most important it suits you so you can still enjoy your rides !