Electric vehicle show

An electric vehicle show was held today and it had something for everyone. From these 1917 Detroit electric vehicles (yes electric cars have been around that long!) that have a top speed of about 40km/h and a range of 50km -

Through to the showstopping Tesla roadster with a range of about 380km (this one drove from Sydney to Canberra without a recharge), a top speed of 200km/h and 0-100km/h acceleration in 3.7 seconds! It is a strict two seater and the 'boot' is full of batteries so it is not exactly the most practical car in the world but I would not mind one anyway -

In other displays one guy had even converted his ute to electric and piled all the batteries into a lockable box on the rear tray -

No petrol required here-

And of course lots of electric bikes were also on display. The one below is an interesting prototype. With a weight of just under 10kg it is (apparently) the lightest and probably the smallest electric bike in the world. The motor is on the front wheel and looks like it uses a cog to drive a series of notches built into the rim. The battery is built into the central tube and is recharged in place. The range is about 30km but it is not built for speed so it may take you a while to go that distance! The bike was imported by Switched on Cycles who I have done some test riding for previously.

Trike review

I came across this great review of the Christiania by the owner of one in Portland USA of all places! I was impressed by some of his modifications and he was equally happy to hear about how I upgraded the front brakes with the Avid BB7s to address some of the issues he is also experiencing.

Throttle issues

I have had some problems lately with the power dropping off. Initially I thought it might be because of the sub zero temperatures causing the battery to struggle a bit. However it also occurred on warmer afternoon rides and if I kept the battery inside overnight. And then one day it stopped working all together! When this occurred I noticed the red LED on the controller was flashing 5 times then going off and flashing again. A quick email to ebikes.ca and they informed me this was an error code for the throttle.

Closer inspection of the throttle cable showed a possible area of concern. The steering dampener situated underneath the cargo box seemed to be rubbing ever so slightly on the cable when I turned right. By wiggling this section of cable I was able to get the LED to stop flashing so there was obviously now a fault in this part of the wiring. I cut out this section and soldered the cable back together and all was good again. Sure enough the section of wire I removed did have some issues with the internal insulation and there was an intermittent short circuit occurring.

I rerouted the cable well away from the steering and checked everything else and it all seemed fine. The bike now powers along as it should. I only wish the controller was flashing this error code every other time I was looking for the problem!

Lots of trikes

Yes I have not updated the blog in a while - life has been a bit hectic!

The Aussie distributor of the Christiania has a new website and if you look closely here you may even see a couple of shots of my bike (photo 82 and 83). Indeed looking through all the great photos I may even have some more ideas about what I can do to the trike!

Another electric bike

A local company was after some test riders for a range of electric bikes they are importing and I volunteered! I spent two days with a 'townie' style electric bike with a 200 watt hub motor in the rear wheel, 36volt lithium battery, pedelec system, brake cut off and twist throttle.

I had read a lot about the pedelec system where the motor operates only when you are pedalling. On this bike as soon as you started pedalling a nominal amount of power assist was automatically applied and you could then twist the throttle if you needed more power. It took some getting used to but I quickly got the hang of it and found it very easy to use. Basically I could just hop on and pedal! I only needed to worry about the motor if I hit a hill though unless it was really steep I could just drop down a few gears and not worry about applying more power with the throttle. I did two rides over two days - 17km on day 1 and about 24 on day 2. I recharged in between and the power gauge on the throttle never got below 2 lights (out of 3). I would estimate range to be about 40km depending on how much you use the throttle.

The battery locks in to the frame for security but can be unlocked with a key if you wanted to bring it inside to charge it up. Another key turns the battery on and off. With the motor turned off this bike is a bit hard going with only 6 gears so you would want to make sure the battery is fully charged up before heading out. With a 40km range though this should not be a problem.

I was pretty impressed for my first ride on a 'normal' electric bike. For commuting to and from work one of these would be ideal especially in summer when you want to arrive relatively fresh and not dripping in sweat. And if you did not have a huge cargo bike sitting in your garage like I do you could also load it up with a handy amount of shopping with the addition of some strong panniers. I also liked the style of the bike with the more upright seating position which is common in Europe but not so much here. All in all a great way to get around!

Let there be light!

The local bike shop received a stack of lights for our upcoming winter and I liked the look of the Cygolite MiliOn 200. Unlike other helmet mounted lights I have seen, on this one the light and li-ion battery are together in one neat little unit. The velcro strap on the helmet mount could have been a bit longer though as I was unable to mount it in my preferred position at the front of my helmet due to the large spacing between the air vents. It fitted very securely on the top though -

The light output is fantastic and simply does not compare to the lights I had mounted previously. The run to Scouts with my eldest is now done one hour after sunset and I can see quite clearly on the unlit bike paths with this light. It was a good thing too as tonight I saw that someone had dumped a bunch of old mattresses on the path. Further up someone had dumped all their tree cuttings over their back fence straight on to the path as well! Honestly sometimes I think I am just better off sticking to the road!

Sheldon Brown Memorial ride

Each year the LBS holds a ride around the local lake in memoriam to Sheldon Brown - bicycle guru who gave so much of his time to helping others. He replied to one of my email questions (of which he received hundreds per day apparently!) shortly before he died - it was regarding the torque on a Shiman Nexus 7 speed hub if you change to a smaller front chain wheel.

It was a great evening for riding and I enjoyed 'letting loose' on the trike around the bike paths without having the kids on board. Though I quickly discovered that a number of the paths are on a rather severe angle which meant I needed to do a bit of leaning on the trike so as not to tip! It is not so bad with a bit of weight in the front (ie if the kids were in the box) but the camber of roads and paths needs to be watched when empty! Some of the other riders who I had not met before were also a bit amazed at my ability to keep up on the hills until they heard the motor noise! It was a bit dark on the way home and though I was lit up like a Christmas tree I had trouble seeing the odd obstacle so may look at investing in a helmet mounted light that will enable me to brighten up the path ahead properly. I can't really use handlebar mounted lights as I have no room and the light would be blocked by the kids sitting in the box.

Some shots of the trike as the sun set over the lake -