Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Ebike: Patience required

One might notice I have not really gotten anything accomplished on my ebike this month. This wasn't due to a lack of interest, but my planned supplier of the major components, ebikes.ca, has been quite busy this year and is consequently out of stock of the motor and controller I want. The shipment has finally arrived and I placed my order today. The good side to this is that it means that the number of people using ebikes is rapidly growing. However, it seems like I've been itching to get my bike together for an eternity.

Here's what I ordered from ebikes.ca:

Crystalyte 5304 rear hub motor, 26" w/ 7speed
72v 35A controller
Direct plug-in Cycle Analyst
Half twist throttle

I settled on the 5304 as it seems to offer the best mix of a good top speed and hill climbing ability of the 5-series motors. However, there are many who say that the 5-series motors in general are too heavy (25lbs) and are energy hogs in comparison to the 4-series. With my bike, my plan is to not have to pedal at all up the significant hills on my commute. This is also why my battery is so large in its energy storage capacity.

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