It arrived yesterday.
I was impressed with the design of the sbp electric drive since it was introduced. That was probably a couple of years ago now? And I'd pondered getting one from time to time during all of this time. But I'd always hesitated over range anxiety.
Plus I'd always been a happy time type. I've built four of them over the last eight years. And bike #5 is partly finished. (I did have a couple year fling with an electric during this time. It was a Curre e-zip Trailz. And it was good. It just wasn't quite good enough for the long term)
Then this past spring I bought a scooter. I figured that I'd ride both the scooter and my china girl. But I only took the china girl out once after buying that scooter. Coming home I knew that I wasn't going to ride that happy time anymore. The scooter is simply a much more sophisticated machine. I probably could have lived with that particular difference. But it's also more quiet and more reliable. And that sealed the deal. No more happy time bikes for me.
The scoot is a nice ride, to be sure. But there's something missing. It's a ride that's just not active enough. I had the same problem with a china girl bike for that matter. The engine took too much effort away from me. But at least it was a somewhat more active ride than the scoot.
But I figured I'd just make up that difference by riding my plain old pedal bike roughly half the time. That would have been fine in the past. But I'm getting into my late fifties and it's not as simple as that. I can still ride a bicycle. But the summer heat, always a problem, in only getting harder and harder for me to bear. And even in better weather I find that my average speed is reduced. I'm going to have a hard time justifying the time involved with a pedal bike. I really didn't ride it enough this summer. Now that the weather is cooling down (Finally!!!), I imagine I can improve on that. But I'm afraid I'll find myself bogging down in the snow. There was a time when that was not a problem. I'm afraid that it might be a problem in the future.
I guess the strongest selling point to the sbp electric drive, for me, is the fact that the torque from the motor is passed through the pedal drive train. This means that an electricity miser who wants to get some exercise himself can stretch range an awful long way. Or, to turn it around, I'll be able to make a good deal of the necessary pedaling effort myself and merely mix in enough motor power to enable me to climb hills at a reasonable pace. Or to do my whole commute at a reasonable pace.
If it works as well as I'm thinking, then I'll prefer riding this bike to riding the scoot. Plus I'll be able to ride it through the winter. That's important.
Delivery of the sbp kit was plenty quick enough. Four or five days. And the price is more than reasonable. When you consider that bicycles are so inexpensive that they might as well be free, then I'm looking at about $350 for a capable electric bike. Not including batteries, of course. But that's still a fine price.
Now......sla batteries just aren't good enough. So I bit the bullet and ordered a Ping 36V, 20 amp/hr Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFe Po4) battery.
That's got me a bit worried. The fact is that that is going to be more precious than the rest of the bike put together. I'll need to worry about physical damage in case of any mishaps. And I'll even need to worry about theft. Most people, granted, won't know what it is. But thieves who know a thing or two about electrics? They'll know what it is. I'll have to ponder building a cage that I can padlock for the battery. But maybe that's not necessary. I'll be removing the battery from the bike for recharging. Maybe I'll only walk away from it installed when I'm going into a store or something like that. Still....it's too bad that a guy has to take something like this into account.
It'll take eight weeks or so for that battery to get here, too. That's a shame. I might have to power the bike with sla's until the good battery gets here. The bike will certainly be ready before then.
I can't help wondering if a guy isn't better off using the sla with the knowledge that they'll need replacing quite often? Maybe even twice a year or so. That'd be a bit expensive and would be a pain. But I dislike the thought of so much riding on that lithium battery.
Still....I gotta see it through. I can't spend my life wondering if the LiFe Po4 is the right battery without ever knowing. If those batteries are all that they say they are, then I want one. And I'll be willing to look after it.
As far as the bike I'm going to use, I have a few choices. But I decided that I might as well use the half-completed happy time that's gathering cobwebs in my basement.
It's kind of a shame that it'll never be completed as a happy time. It was a bike that was going to have some style. But, so be it. I'll strip off the engine and build it as an electric.
Here it is as of today.
I'll post pics of the build, too. Though it doesn't look as though that'll be all that complicated. But maybe it'll help anyone who decides to build one for themselves.
Though sbp deserves a bit of credit on that issue, too. A good instruction manual with good photos is available at their site.
I was impressed with the design of the sbp electric drive since it was introduced. That was probably a couple of years ago now? And I'd pondered getting one from time to time during all of this time. But I'd always hesitated over range anxiety.
Plus I'd always been a happy time type. I've built four of them over the last eight years. And bike #5 is partly finished. (I did have a couple year fling with an electric during this time. It was a Curre e-zip Trailz. And it was good. It just wasn't quite good enough for the long term)
Then this past spring I bought a scooter. I figured that I'd ride both the scooter and my china girl. But I only took the china girl out once after buying that scooter. Coming home I knew that I wasn't going to ride that happy time anymore. The scooter is simply a much more sophisticated machine. I probably could have lived with that particular difference. But it's also more quiet and more reliable. And that sealed the deal. No more happy time bikes for me.
The scoot is a nice ride, to be sure. But there's something missing. It's a ride that's just not active enough. I had the same problem with a china girl bike for that matter. The engine took too much effort away from me. But at least it was a somewhat more active ride than the scoot.
But I figured I'd just make up that difference by riding my plain old pedal bike roughly half the time. That would have been fine in the past. But I'm getting into my late fifties and it's not as simple as that. I can still ride a bicycle. But the summer heat, always a problem, in only getting harder and harder for me to bear. And even in better weather I find that my average speed is reduced. I'm going to have a hard time justifying the time involved with a pedal bike. I really didn't ride it enough this summer. Now that the weather is cooling down (Finally!!!), I imagine I can improve on that. But I'm afraid I'll find myself bogging down in the snow. There was a time when that was not a problem. I'm afraid that it might be a problem in the future.
I guess the strongest selling point to the sbp electric drive, for me, is the fact that the torque from the motor is passed through the pedal drive train. This means that an electricity miser who wants to get some exercise himself can stretch range an awful long way. Or, to turn it around, I'll be able to make a good deal of the necessary pedaling effort myself and merely mix in enough motor power to enable me to climb hills at a reasonable pace. Or to do my whole commute at a reasonable pace.
If it works as well as I'm thinking, then I'll prefer riding this bike to riding the scoot. Plus I'll be able to ride it through the winter. That's important.
Delivery of the sbp kit was plenty quick enough. Four or five days. And the price is more than reasonable. When you consider that bicycles are so inexpensive that they might as well be free, then I'm looking at about $350 for a capable electric bike. Not including batteries, of course. But that's still a fine price.
Now......sla batteries just aren't good enough. So I bit the bullet and ordered a Ping 36V, 20 amp/hr Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFe Po4) battery.
That's got me a bit worried. The fact is that that is going to be more precious than the rest of the bike put together. I'll need to worry about physical damage in case of any mishaps. And I'll even need to worry about theft. Most people, granted, won't know what it is. But thieves who know a thing or two about electrics? They'll know what it is. I'll have to ponder building a cage that I can padlock for the battery. But maybe that's not necessary. I'll be removing the battery from the bike for recharging. Maybe I'll only walk away from it installed when I'm going into a store or something like that. Still....it's too bad that a guy has to take something like this into account.
It'll take eight weeks or so for that battery to get here, too. That's a shame. I might have to power the bike with sla's until the good battery gets here. The bike will certainly be ready before then.
I can't help wondering if a guy isn't better off using the sla with the knowledge that they'll need replacing quite often? Maybe even twice a year or so. That'd be a bit expensive and would be a pain. But I dislike the thought of so much riding on that lithium battery.
Still....I gotta see it through. I can't spend my life wondering if the LiFe Po4 is the right battery without ever knowing. If those batteries are all that they say they are, then I want one. And I'll be willing to look after it.
As far as the bike I'm going to use, I have a few choices. But I decided that I might as well use the half-completed happy time that's gathering cobwebs in my basement.
It's kind of a shame that it'll never be completed as a happy time. It was a bike that was going to have some style. But, so be it. I'll strip off the engine and build it as an electric.
Here it is as of today.
I'll post pics of the build, too. Though it doesn't look as though that'll be all that complicated. But maybe it'll help anyone who decides to build one for themselves.
Though sbp deserves a bit of credit on that issue, too. A good instruction manual with good photos is available at their site.
