Nov 10, 2011
Jeremy bought a kit off EVALB after reading an article I wrote in the CAN magazine.
He has provided me with great feedback on his experience so I thought I should share. Daryl.
“I have ridden it twice to work and it is fantastic, safer, faster, but still as much exercise as I want! No worry with the battery-it easily lasted the 48 kms or so and took about 5 hrs to charge up again. It took me a while to get all my personal settings to my comfort but that;s expected. It looks so like an ordinary bike that people are doubletaking when I zip along or leave them standing at the lights.
The bike is attracting a lot of interest from my cyclist friends and on this subject it is likely you may see some keen takers in future-I have given them copies of your article in Chainlinks”
The following is a review of my experience of converting my bike to an electric assist:
As I’ve cycled to work over these many years there have been occasions when the purist in me has gone into hiding, and I’ve heartily wished for a bit of extra oomph at the end of a tiring day. As I have got older-it does happen, even to cyclists!-these impure thoughts have surfaced more often. And I’m a big sucker for technological advances even if I’m also a Luddite in terms of buying new stuff! Some changes this year apart from ageing have meant that I’ve had to review my transport issues and Daryl Neal’s article on electric kit conversions in the last edition stimulated my thinking. I have been following electric bike progress for a number of years but have remained concerned about the battery problem. I also know someone with an extensive range of petrol conversion kits dating back to last century, they were after all the working person’s transport until the car swept all away-and I have ridden a few modern examples. They are noisy and smelly and clumsy in the drive system.
I contacted Daryl and the end result was my receiving a beautifully packed conversion kit.
After some serious thought and study and some concise words of advice from Daryl I completed the conversion in about 5 or so hours.
I used my faithful but sturdy old Avanti Ridgerider 21 speed, with a new powered front wheel, a 48volt battery in a very neat pack to fit on the rear carrier, a control box where the drink bottle carrier was, and a throttle and regenerative button on the handlebars. I chose a direct drive motor for its simplicity and minimal maintenance and I wanted the re-gen capability.
The conversion is not something to be undertaken lightly unless you have pretty good mechanical and bike repair experience. Getting the front wheel fitting correctly is vital, sorting and tidying/waterproofing the cabling is time consuming-I didn’t shorten the cables as I didn’t want to fiddle with the plastic connectors so I tidied it by concealing it in the racing tyre tube I used as a cable tidy. There is a commercial tidy tube you can purchase from electrical stores which you shrink using heat once you have installed all your cables, but it’s a bit permanent!
Finding appropriate space for the handlebar controls is a bit problematical, I probably made it more difficult by retaining all the gear controls, as theoretically you could do without the front chainrings, but I wanted to retain them in case of breakdown/flat battery etc. The bike weighs a good 15-20 kgs more so pedalling it home in the event of a fault would be a big ask without all the gears! I put the throttle control on the left handlebar as I signal a lot with my right hand, and chose a quad bike type control. The re-gen button is on the right next to the front brake lever so I can use it in conjunction with the front brake. This device is like an exhaust brake on a truck for those who’ve driven them-it retards your speed and recharges your battery-magical.
I also had to strengthen my old carrier to cope with battery weight plus pannier(s).
However, the end result is simply amazing!
The bike feels more secure with two wheel drive, the motor delivers low speed torque which has you up and going very smartly, which makes roundabouts, traffic lights, narrow bridges and highway crossings so much quicker and safer, it is noiseless except on hills when it growls away to itself contentedly as it sweeps you up magically. It recharges overnight with a smart charger which switches itself off when done and one charge easily carries me the 48kms and back each day over a mix of hills, state highways, bike paths and rural roads. I can get as much exercise as I please, in fact I often find myself pedalling flat out in sheer excitement!
For me, the option of buying a second car was completely out of the question, and to those of my more dinosaurian friends who commented that for the price you could get a second-hand scooter, I shut them up by reminding them they don’t come with pedals and cost to register/run etc let alone the use of fossil fuels.
The electric option is a perfect solution. Daryl of EVlab is professional, knowledgeable and helpful, I couldn’t recommend him more highly.
“All still well with the beast (that’s what Gavin calls it) and it charged through a particularly wet afternoon a week or two back with no problems. I still can’t get over the massive torque it produces from start, so much safer in traffic, i couldn’t get away at that rate even on my racing bike.”
