sulphuric99
10 mW
I've put about 100 miles total on this kit mounted to a plain steel frame, no suspension mountain bike with 26" wheels. Bike pictured here: http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2179
With the 36V 12AH SLA's that came with the kit, peak speed on flat ground was 20MPH using 26" Continental "Town and Country" tires. (With plain MTB nobbies, I remember the peak was around 2-3MPH lower, but they sure had grip!) I never ran the SLA's all the way down, but after 14 miles of pretty much no pedaling the bike's speed and acceleration was noticeably slower. I would feel comfortable going around 15 miles on this kit without pedaling.
Today I went for my first real ride with a 12S4P A123 pack (39.6V 9.2AH). Wow! Acceleration is noticeably improved, and my peak speed is around .5-1MPH faster. Also, unlike SLA's, I didn't notice a drop off in peak speed/acceleration anytime during my ride. Some specs with no pedaling, typically going at max speed whenever possible and safe, flat roads:
Total time: 79 minutes
Total distance: 16.25 miles
Average speed: 12.3mph, Max: 25mph
Rider weight: 135 pounds
After the trip, I immediately recharged the pack using a Hyperion EOS 1210I-A charger. It reported 7.588 Ah used to recharge the pack to full. Assuming 85% charging efficiency (wild guess), this works out to around 6.45 Ah of capacity used for my ride, or ~255 watt-hours at 39.6v (I don't have a watt-hour meter like the Drain Brain yet, so this is the best i can do.) So this works out to around 16 watt-hours per mile. (This value seems a bit low given the specs I've seen posted - do these specs sound wildly inaccurate to anyone?)
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this kit. Except for a bit of dropout filing, it was easy to install. If I was going to do this again, I would just skip the SLA's entirely and spend the money on another Dewalt pack.
Some downsides:
- Some of the hub motor's spokes where a bit loose, and the wheel didn't spin true out of the box. I've mostly fixed this, but a couple of the spokes still feel more loose than I would like, which concerns me.
- The default thumb throttle becomes sheer torture after a few minutes of holding it down.
- No battery fuse is included with the stock kit (!).
- I wouldn't take the stock kit out into the rain without sealing, taping, or covering everything up. The controller especially didn't look completely sealed to me (<i>mostly</i> sealed, but not quite 100%).
Some recommendations as you are installing the kit:
- The SLA's that come with the kit fit pretty snugly into the included battery bag. I put some thick cardboard beneath the batteries, and some thin cardboard in between each one. The cardboard acts like a last resort shock absorber, reducing stress on the batteries when going over potholes, jumping curbs, etc.
- Tape the battery wires in the bag down to the batteries, and ensure all the connectors are tight. I had the connectors come loose a few times on my early trips.
With the 36V 12AH SLA's that came with the kit, peak speed on flat ground was 20MPH using 26" Continental "Town and Country" tires. (With plain MTB nobbies, I remember the peak was around 2-3MPH lower, but they sure had grip!) I never ran the SLA's all the way down, but after 14 miles of pretty much no pedaling the bike's speed and acceleration was noticeably slower. I would feel comfortable going around 15 miles on this kit without pedaling.
Today I went for my first real ride with a 12S4P A123 pack (39.6V 9.2AH). Wow! Acceleration is noticeably improved, and my peak speed is around .5-1MPH faster. Also, unlike SLA's, I didn't notice a drop off in peak speed/acceleration anytime during my ride. Some specs with no pedaling, typically going at max speed whenever possible and safe, flat roads:
Total time: 79 minutes
Total distance: 16.25 miles
Average speed: 12.3mph, Max: 25mph
Rider weight: 135 pounds
After the trip, I immediately recharged the pack using a Hyperion EOS 1210I-A charger. It reported 7.588 Ah used to recharge the pack to full. Assuming 85% charging efficiency (wild guess), this works out to around 6.45 Ah of capacity used for my ride, or ~255 watt-hours at 39.6v (I don't have a watt-hour meter like the Drain Brain yet, so this is the best i can do.) So this works out to around 16 watt-hours per mile. (This value seems a bit low given the specs I've seen posted - do these specs sound wildly inaccurate to anyone?)
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this kit. Except for a bit of dropout filing, it was easy to install. If I was going to do this again, I would just skip the SLA's entirely and spend the money on another Dewalt pack.
Some downsides:
- Some of the hub motor's spokes where a bit loose, and the wheel didn't spin true out of the box. I've mostly fixed this, but a couple of the spokes still feel more loose than I would like, which concerns me.
- The default thumb throttle becomes sheer torture after a few minutes of holding it down.
- No battery fuse is included with the stock kit (!).
- I wouldn't take the stock kit out into the rain without sealing, taping, or covering everything up. The controller especially didn't look completely sealed to me (<i>mostly</i> sealed, but not quite 100%).
Some recommendations as you are installing the kit:
- The SLA's that come with the kit fit pretty snugly into the included battery bag. I put some thick cardboard beneath the batteries, and some thin cardboard in between each one. The cardboard acts like a last resort shock absorber, reducing stress on the batteries when going over potholes, jumping curbs, etc.
- Tape the battery wires in the bag down to the batteries, and ensure all the connectors are tight. I had the connectors come loose a few times on my early trips.
