:: Alien electric bike conversion ::
Fitted this conversion on my old Evans mountain bike. Pretty straight forward. I had to file out the front fork drop outs to allow the rather large spindle to drop in a bit further and allow the large tabbed washer to locate and prevent the spindle from revolving. although to be honest the flats on the spindle were a tight fit in the drop outs anyway. My forks were exactly at the 100mm required between legs at the spindle position. Filing the fork ends was a bit difficult with a round file having to keep the depth more or less identical on both sides. Fitting the supplied rack was a breeze but I do have a rattle( which might be the battery handle) that i need to cure because it drives me mad. The inclusion of the controller box housing being on the end of the rack is a good move although fitting all the wires and connectors in the space was a bit of a juggle. there is a locking pin to keep the battery in place but there isn`t a key switch for turning on the power( just a flat toggle switch) which means that a thief could ride away with power if they cut off your security chain. I needed to fit my pedelec controller on the left hand side because the bike has a triple chain wheel and the small wheel and lugs would have been in the way of the magnetic disk and I didn`t want to destroy the crank set. Fitting the pedelec (pedal assist) on the left was no problem but would just like to point out that the sensor (small plastic box) needs to face outwards and the magnetic disk needs to be fitted with the arrows facing clockwise (which is opposite to how you would fit it on the chain wheel side.)
A word about the pedal assist! this system assists your pedalling more when the chain wheel speeds up rather than the way my bought Powertrek Dynamo bike does it. On my powertrek, you get more help when you crank is moving slowly thus helping you to get up to a decent pace, whereas on the Alien you get more help the faster your crank is moving so as you get up through the gears to a higher gear the help drops off and leaves you on your own more or less which is when(Im my case)exactly when i need more help to keep up a decent pace. You can feather in the twist throttle at anytime to help but it means that you have to think about what you are doing more. I disconnected my pedal assist wires and just rely on the twist throttle as and when i need it. Let me just say that the Evans being a light bike to start with is a lot easier to pedal along unassisted so might well become my training bike rather than my pleasure bike. I just returned from a brisk ride of around 7 miles and felt like I had had a work out (which can be good) but my right hand had aching joints from working the throttle and when I moved my hand to change gear I tended to loose control of the throttle and there was a lag till I got control again. Some people love the set up but I find it a touch illogical. Having said that my version (36V 250W) has plenty of punch and will spin you along in top gear and full throttle at a fair old pace. If you have a half decent MTB bike laying around and you fancy an electric bike then with a bit of engineering knowledge and the alien kit you can be on the road with a decent hub motor for less than the cost of an equivalent ready to go shop bike.
:: double_electric_hub ::
After my recent heart attack apart from feeling down in the mouth about my future health i was sad at possibly having to hang up my cycle clips for maybe an indefinite period. I considered buying a petrol scooter so as to be able to still enjoy riding around the country lanes where I live in North Norfolk. I still might invest in one at some future date but at present I`m on the normal 4 week driving ban but thank God I can at least still ride my Electric bike.
Riding along the flat and downhill shouldn`t be a problem on the bike but pushing uphill at this early stage in the aftermath is surely going to be a problem that will confine me to very few local routes.
Then I got thinking! I`ll just ride on throttle on the uphill sections and duly set off for my first ride since being released from hospital. OK, I got round the course but the uphill throttle only sections were a bit disappointing and speeds at times dropped to wobble levels.
Then I had a new thought! what if I stripped down my Evans/Alien conversion and fitted the front drive hub to my powertrek plus the controller and battery? how would all the weight on the powertrek affect the performance? Well, nothing ventured , nothing gained and with the fitting of the extra throttle to the left hand side of the bars all was ready for a road test.
Wow!!! what a hill climber with both throttles full open. Anyway, having done a number of miles I can pedal using the pedelec of the Powertrek backed up by the throttle of the Alien hub when needed and I`m pleased to say that it has put me right back on the road again with the added bonus that if I become tired in these early days I can ride home with a choice of one or two throttles. In fact, the performance with those two 36V 250W motors is so good that I find myself wizzing around certain parts of my routes with my head down and both throttles fully open with a big smile on my face.
Now my big decision is whether or not to leave the Powertrek as is and buy another kit for the Evans?
I`m also very pleased about the general look of the bike, it really doesn`t stick out as anything much other than a normal single motor e bike. I`ve fitted crampbusters to both throttles and positoned them within reach of my bar ends and getting used to lifting one and pushing one away to get the power from both throttles all at once is as easy as falling off a bike:-) no pun intended.
Thanks for reading
Dave Chilvers
:: New Electric Bikes to hit the shops going by the name of Oxygen. ::
There is a new range of E bikes just about to be launched in the UK. They go under the name of Oxygen.The owner bought out the Oxygen name last year and set about designing a complete new range. Watch this gallery for photos and more info on them in the coming weeks.
:: tea_up_on_the_twin_hub ::
:: Whats it all about. ::
In conjunction with the offshore windfarm being constructed in the area of Sheringham Shoal just off of the North Norfolk coast a new harbour area is being constructed to one side of the inlet and out near the life boat station that feeds the main harbour at Wells-next-the-Sea. There is actually no harbour area nearer along that stretch of coast so it made sense to build in that location as a service depot for the ships and boats that are needed to construct and service the windfarm. The construction has been by dredging the material needed to form a harbour from the actual area where it is being built as well as what looks like dredging material from the main low tide inlet slightly out to sea from the bar. A long floating pontoon landing platform has also been constructed for safe mooring. To be honest the area where this new harbour has been built was always a bit of a dead area along the inlet with very few anchored small pleasure craft and has alleviated the need to use moorings in the harbour proper where the local fishing boats load and unload their catch. The cables that take the electricity inland to the distribution point have already been laid from Weybourne on the coast through many of our fields in North Norfolk and now that spring is on the way and fields have been returned to the farmers for ploughing you would be hard pressed to find the route that they have taken.