Say Hello to Storm

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BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
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That may well be the same throttle as on the 'Pedego' but just as a BTW, it's the same, inexpensive generic throttle included with the 'Magic Pie 2' (at least), other kits and is commonly available on ebay and elsewhere for anywhere from $10 & up. A quick shopping search for "ebike thumb throttle" turns it up in quantity.


Not to infer it's bad or anything, not as well fitted as I'd like but perfectly acceptable for the money lol - despite it's low price mine has served me well for thousands of miles in all sorts of conditions, the pic below repairing physical damage from a crash (dislodged TPS) is for curiosity only, it's not it's fault I smacked it with the pavement heh;





edit: erm... a correction - on reflection that repair was actually corrosion, years after I'd repaired the initial impact damage. Still, thousands of miles & Maine winters will do that & there's the very good chance I hadn't insulated it as well as I could have after the initial repair.

Whatever the case, while I'm sure they make better this'uns good 'nuff by me as obviously I'm too cheap to even get another ten dollar one :p
 
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biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,653
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Dallas
Thanks for sharing your experience with that throttle assembly BA. I figure that baby cost about $2 in China, but yeah that doesn't mean anything. There's probably millions of them in operation on eBikes, and any major problems were worked out long ago.

It's not a terribly an attractive rascal, but I can live with it too. By the time I get this bike I'm going to have $693 total in it, so I think I can live with that lol.
 

KCvale

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2010
3,966
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Phoenix,AZ
The whimp of e-Bikes?

It's not a terribly an attractive rascal, but I can live with it too. By the time I get this bike I'm going to have $693 total in it, so I think I can live with that lol.
That's cheap.
The battery in my fat tire electric was more that.
Heck just the shifting motor kit and bike combined were more than that too.

Then again this is a Kilowatt machine that will do wheelies in 1st gear and well over 30mph in 7th and go 35+ miles with no pedal help at those speeds, much farther if you ride in concretively and use the gears.



I haven't done a hub motor build or anything with only 350W, but I know what 560W feels like, even with 3 gears nothing to write home about.



18 mile range @ 28mph with a 6' 220# rider sitting up and not helping.

I also know what it takes to drive a fat tire bike, especially off-road in sand but it would be the same for snow, it takes BoKo Power just to keep forward momentum let alone get to speed.

Fat tires look neat, and are comfortable running them at like 20# tire pressure, but they darn hard wheels to turn and that takes power, lots of power.

The 8? hub motor can only take 350W right?
That is not even 1/2 HP, be happy if it will run you up to the store and back on flat level ground with the tires at ~40#.

A larger battery will let you keep and use the 360W longer, but there is no way to give the thing more balls, it's neutered at the factory by the parts.

The motors and controllers I use however can take up to 1680 Watts of battery power and function, the neutering is just the 1,000 watt battery it has in it ;-}
 
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biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
Considering how great these other bikes are, or might be, no one seemingly wants one. Why? They have power, range, maybe price? But at the cash register, crickets.

Meanwhile this crappy, much maligned little Storm just sold 10,000 units in 2 months, and 5.6 million, as in $ millions

Just thinking out loud, after the Storm gets in peoples hands, and people get used to riding them, I wonder what's going to happen when Storm v2 comes out with 750w, 15ah, 7 speeds, and $900 price tag? And don't forget the base model will still be for sale too. 12 million? 15 million maybe? Who knows.

My personal theory is the other bikes fail to capture peoples imagination.
 
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Albula vulpes

New Member
Mar 16, 2010
419
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FL
Lets hope Storm can fulfill orders. It looks like his main guy on the team either got fired or jumped ship. His picture is no longer on the indegogo page. I remember his name was John Hopp.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
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Lets hope Storm can fulfill orders. It looks like his main guy on the team either got fired or jumped ship. His picture is no longer on the indegogo page. I remember his name was John Hopp.
I think Storm and John Hopp are friends, and John Hopp's contribution was helping in the prototype process. I also think the infamous green wheeled bike with the big motor belongs to him. After the launch John Hopp seems to have become more or less a silent partner.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,653
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Dallas
Such drama on the Storm campaign.

Sondors E-Bike, a big crowdfunded project, tangled in legal wrangling.

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-sondors-ebike-lawsuit-20150423-story.html
A couple of items left out of this article, is that agency 2.0 ask the judge for a restraining order, and an expedited hearing. Both denied. Hearing was set for late July. Hopefully they'll settle out of court before then.

All I'll say is Storm may have some legitimate complaints about the way 2.0 ran some aspects of the campaign, which now have been rectified by a new PR firm he's hired.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
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Storm sent these pictures of the calipers he's chosen. they're considered an upgrade from the prototype.

 

KCvale

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2010
3,966
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Phoenix,AZ
Storm sent these pictures of the calipers he's chosen. they're considered an upgrade from the prototype.

TIP for Strom...
If you are going to take a pic of an installed part make sure you at least connect it properly first, that cable shaft lock nut doesn't lock any adjustment where it is ;-}

I hope everyone gets what they expected and with their Internet marketing strategy I am sure they will come up with even better things and get rich.

I want to do that too ;-}
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,653
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Dallas
Update today said Storm has added pas. This wasn't mentioned in the update.


This was the prototype controller



From the newest update



 

KCvale

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2010
3,966
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Phoenix,AZ
That battery and controller look familiar...



Dandy little units for His and Hers 'old folk' pedal help.
The 3-speed blue His is done.
Respectable enough at just over 25 mph on 26x1.95" tires.
The 3-speed purple Hers needs another custom part and only has 24" wheels.

I'll run either one against a new Strom because I know how much ummph it takes to spin fat tires, that pair of bikes is surrounded by bikes with much fatter tire bikes, but they all have REAL power ;-}