My Schwinn High Sierra Mac 8 (em3ev) ... Update

[SloNEZ]

Rode it about 2700 miles last season. I got a bit of a late start, and some spoke troubles tried to keep me down.
I did have a couple crashes. First one at about 20 mph.
"Superman-ed" off the bike and slid. Hit so hard I bent the keys I had in my pocket.
Gouged knee, various other scrapes and bruises.
Second time at about 20+ mph. Separated my shoulder. That one hurt for quite a while. Hoping for better luck this year

The kit is still running great, and I've got almost 300 miles on it so far this year. I want 3500 miles this season. We'll see.
I did add fenders after the original build linked in my signature.
I replaced the tires for this season, and upsized to a 26 X 2.35 Big Apple in the front.
This made the front fender not fit, so I had to "mod" that a little, lol. Seems to be working just fine.
I am running about 33-35 psi in the rear tire and about 22 psi in the front.
Last year, I kept 40 in the rear and 30 in the front (it was smaller, though - 30 was about as low as I could go with it).
These lower pressures seem to cost me a couple Wh/mile near as I can tell.
(Or it could be me I did put about 25 lbs back on over the winter, lol. I'm about 250 dressed. Working on it!)
Worth the extra Wh, though, for the extra comfort. This commute over Michigan's rough roads on a rigid bike beats up my old body enough as it is.
Other than regular adjustments/tightenings and such, I haven't had to do much. I took the bottom bracket apart and lubed that all up a couple weeks ago over at the co-op ... good thing - it really needed it.

Here it is Sunday morning ready to head into work:

That custom lid you see there was cobbled together with a snowboard helmet, an old shield from my Shoei, and some Gorilla Tape.
Really helps on those cold rides into work during the week when I leave earlier - it's still pretty chilly at 5:15 AM here in Michigan!

The cold weather actually helps a lot - it will take 5-10 minutes longer when it gets warmer out.
Here's a pic of my route into work:

I cross the Grand River valley between, basically, Grandville and Rockford.
I'm able to go faster in the morning 'cause it's cooler out and there's little to no traffic on the bike paths that I use.

The route home is the same, but it's warmer out and there's more traffic on the paths:

25 miles each way.
I go down about 440' from my house to the river, and then about 530' back up to Rockford.
Average grade per Road Bike Pro is 6% and max is 12%.

Takes about 17-19 Ah for the morning trip. 1:05 if it's cold out, 1:10 or so if it's a warm morning.
About 35-39 Wh/mi with my current tire set-up. Averaging about 22-23 mph.
The trip home takes about 1:15 on a cold day and about 1:20 - 1:25 if it's hot out.
Anywhere from 26 Wh/mile to about 31 Wh/mile. Averaging about 20-21 mph.
That little bit of extra average pace in the morning costs a lot of Wh/mile! I have ~ the same Cd as a refrigerator, I guess.

If anyone's interested, I'm going to post up some more detailed numbers from the CA when I review my kit from em3ev.
It's pretty much straight-up awesome, and I want to make sure Paul gets his props.

Thanks for looking,
-Slo

 

[motomech]

Curious, to what do you attribute your crashes to?

It seems to me that you would be a likely canidate for a used full suspension mountain bike.
You could get the tire pressure back up to a safer/more efficient level and have a better ride to boot.
Frankly, With a few exceptions, I wonder why anyone would ride a 15 mph plus bicycle without suspension,
given that used mountain bikes offer an incredible value if one shops around a bit.
A common scenario is the case of my GT Idrive(second link below);
The original owner bought it as a dis-counted year old model in 2008, intending to become a MTB entheusist ,
but for whatever reason, never got around to taking it out in the woods.
By the time he listed it CL in '12, he couldn't get any interest @ $700.
It was obsolete and too heavy as far as the serious MTB guys were concerned.
I gave him $650, less than half of the MSRP, for basicly a new bike.
I rode Japanese MX motos all my life and what makes these things so cool is the quality of the susp.
It's more or less scaled down copies in terms of function and the way they work has to be felt to be believed.
I weight 250 lb.s and one a week or so, I add a bit of air to the fox shock and it never bottoms while giving a smooth ride.
Ditto for the forks, except I have never touched them.
And the Hayes Sole hyd. brakes are out-standing, stopping strong from 25 mph.
Changingn to a quality full suspension bike would turn your commute from teeth rattling, to bugs in your teeth.

 

[arkmundi]

Interested in how you came to the Schwinn High Sierra for Mac eBike convert

 

[beast775]

Thats a long commute,but you got one of the best kits congrats...Great memories touring around greater detroit playing metal in the mid eighties.Seduce, bet you know who that is :wink: .

 

[SloNEZ]

Postby arkmundi » Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:25 pm

Interested in how you came to the Schwinn High Sierra for Mac eBike convert

I mention that in the build thread linked in my sig.
Old 4130 MTBs are great for conversions - you've said so yourself!

I do keep an eye on craigslist, but I haven't seen any good deals yet.
Plus, I don't have any more money to put into this project at the moment. I was lucky SWMBO let me spend as much as I did.
I've never had a bike with suspension, so it might be I just don't know what I'm missing!
Either suspension or a recumbent might be on the horizon for an upgrade, but this is working for me right now.


Both crashes were the same stupid mistake: too much front brake on a slippery surface.
One was loose sand and gravel - l really should've seen that coming.
The other was a wooden bridge wet with dew at about 5:30 AM. I had no idea wet wood was that slick!!

-Slo