wardjewell
100 µW
My wife is an athlete with multiple sclerosis who will always stay active. We, with a lot of help from Justin and the others at Grin Cycling, and Ping at Ping batteries, finished the latest iteration in 10 years of evolution of her electric trike this summer. We are back from 2 weeks of riding paved bike paths in the mountains, where it performed very well.
The trike is a Sun USX recumbent, sunseeker.bike/index.php/products/ez-3-usx-hd/. The delta design is easier for her to mount and dismount than a tadpole. Underseat steering is her strong preference for arm position. She has ridden this trike for ten years and is looking at lighter-weight replacements, but it has been completely reliable.
The trike started with a Wilderness Energy/aotema brushed motor and lead acid batteries. Eight years ago we replaced the batteries with a 20 Ah LIFEPO4 battery from Ping, pingbattery.com/servlet/the-10/36V-20AH-LiFePO4-lithium/Detail. Those batteries are still going strong on another bike, and she is using a newer 4-year-old battery, also 20 Ah LIFEPO4 from Ping.
Last year in the mountains the motor did not perform as it used to. With Ping's help I confirmed the batteries were good. I replaced the motor bearings. The brushes were worn but had plenty of life left, and I could not find replacements. After cleaning the commutator, checking the windings (as well as I could), checking all connections, and reassembling the motor, its performance was still low. My conclusion was that either a winding had partially failed or the magnets had lost strength over ten years of use. We needed a new motor.
With help from Justin at Grin we chose the Ezee geared motor on the 20" front wheel, ebikes.ca/shop/electric-bicycle-kits/ezee/front-ezee-kit-advanced.html. The trike is designed for climbing and acceleration, not speed, which tops out around 37 kph (23 mph). We climbed grades that averaged 2% for 6 km and included short grades of 4-5%. She rode at times with and at times without pedaling. The motor does not have a temperature sensor but was only warm to the touch after climbing.
She likes the geared motor because with its internal freewheel it presents almost no drag when it is not running. Her older direct drive motor made it difficult to ride the trike without using the motor.
The original motor had a thumb throttle. Her hand would get tired from constantly holding the throttle. The new system has a twist group throttle, 12-pole pedal assist, and cruise control, all coordinated by the Grin Cycle Analyst V3, www.ebikes.ca/product-info/cycle-analyst-3.html. Pedal assist and cruise allow her to spend a lot of time not using the throttle. We have a three-position switch to allow three levels of pedal assist, but it is not yet active. That should further improve functionality.
The Cycle Analyst gives the flexibility that my wife wants. It allows us to adapt the motor exactly to her needs. This is important for anyone with a disability. So far we have tuned pedal assist, acceleration and deceleration, cruise, and throttle response to her preferences. We are still working on others. It would be difficult to get the full benefit of the Cycle Analyst without some knowledge of motors. Grin’s support is excellent, and I am confident they would continue answering questions as long as a user asked them. But understanding all the features and how to use them would be difficult for someone starting from no knowledge. The alternative, though, is a simpler controller that would not provide the flexibility we get from the Cycle Analyst.
At list of USD 1,700 the Sun USX is the lowest-cost delta trike with underseat steering I have found. The 36V 20 AH LIFEPO4 Ping Battery is USD 553 with shipping. The motor and controller system was USD 1,000 delivered. The total cost to build the trike now would be USD 3,253.
This price puts this trike out of reach of many. This trike is for a serious cyclist who rides distances of 30-50 km in a day over widely-varying terrain. A more casual rider might be happy with something simpler. Sun makes lower-cost tadpoles and deltas with conventional steering, and TerraTrike also makes a lower cost tadpole. A throttle-only motor and smaller battery would probably result in a total cost under USD 2,000. This is still a lot, but the benefits of riding regularly are significant for those who can do it.
The trike is a Sun USX recumbent, sunseeker.bike/index.php/products/ez-3-usx-hd/. The delta design is easier for her to mount and dismount than a tadpole. Underseat steering is her strong preference for arm position. She has ridden this trike for ten years and is looking at lighter-weight replacements, but it has been completely reliable.
The trike started with a Wilderness Energy/aotema brushed motor and lead acid batteries. Eight years ago we replaced the batteries with a 20 Ah LIFEPO4 battery from Ping, pingbattery.com/servlet/the-10/36V-20AH-LiFePO4-lithium/Detail. Those batteries are still going strong on another bike, and she is using a newer 4-year-old battery, also 20 Ah LIFEPO4 from Ping.
Last year in the mountains the motor did not perform as it used to. With Ping's help I confirmed the batteries were good. I replaced the motor bearings. The brushes were worn but had plenty of life left, and I could not find replacements. After cleaning the commutator, checking the windings (as well as I could), checking all connections, and reassembling the motor, its performance was still low. My conclusion was that either a winding had partially failed or the magnets had lost strength over ten years of use. We needed a new motor.
With help from Justin at Grin we chose the Ezee geared motor on the 20" front wheel, ebikes.ca/shop/electric-bicycle-kits/ezee/front-ezee-kit-advanced.html. The trike is designed for climbing and acceleration, not speed, which tops out around 37 kph (23 mph). We climbed grades that averaged 2% for 6 km and included short grades of 4-5%. She rode at times with and at times without pedaling. The motor does not have a temperature sensor but was only warm to the touch after climbing.
She likes the geared motor because with its internal freewheel it presents almost no drag when it is not running. Her older direct drive motor made it difficult to ride the trike without using the motor.
The original motor had a thumb throttle. Her hand would get tired from constantly holding the throttle. The new system has a twist group throttle, 12-pole pedal assist, and cruise control, all coordinated by the Grin Cycle Analyst V3, www.ebikes.ca/product-info/cycle-analyst-3.html. Pedal assist and cruise allow her to spend a lot of time not using the throttle. We have a three-position switch to allow three levels of pedal assist, but it is not yet active. That should further improve functionality.
The Cycle Analyst gives the flexibility that my wife wants. It allows us to adapt the motor exactly to her needs. This is important for anyone with a disability. So far we have tuned pedal assist, acceleration and deceleration, cruise, and throttle response to her preferences. We are still working on others. It would be difficult to get the full benefit of the Cycle Analyst without some knowledge of motors. Grin’s support is excellent, and I am confident they would continue answering questions as long as a user asked them. But understanding all the features and how to use them would be difficult for someone starting from no knowledge. The alternative, though, is a simpler controller that would not provide the flexibility we get from the Cycle Analyst.
At list of USD 1,700 the Sun USX is the lowest-cost delta trike with underseat steering I have found. The 36V 20 AH LIFEPO4 Ping Battery is USD 553 with shipping. The motor and controller system was USD 1,000 delivered. The total cost to build the trike now would be USD 3,253.
This price puts this trike out of reach of many. This trike is for a serious cyclist who rides distances of 30-50 km in a day over widely-varying terrain. A more casual rider might be happy with something simpler. Sun makes lower-cost tadpoles and deltas with conventional steering, and TerraTrike also makes a lower cost tadpole. A throttle-only motor and smaller battery would probably result in a total cost under USD 2,000. This is still a lot, but the benefits of riding regularly are significant for those who can do it.
