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[hop-a-long]

I have never ridden a recumbent but it looks like you can get plenty of gear on with that trailer and it must have been a nice adventure. How did you find it in the UK? I would worry about the aggressive drivers we have in this country.

Up north that wasn't much of a problem, I mostly followed a couple of long distance cycleroutes.
Below Glasgow there are plenty of cyclepaths and where there weren't I used as much single lane roads as possible.
I only had 3 sections of A-road, one for a few miles of A82, the second for about a mile on A830 and the third for a couple of miles on the A83.
All in Scotland and everywhere the cars just slowed down and passed slowly. The only issue I had was with HGV drivers not paying attention to cyclists.

 

[Leon103]

I have just seen a unicycle for sale. Anyone rode one? Are they difficult

 

[Galena]

I have just seen a unicycle for sale. Anyone rode one? Are they difficult

By coincidence I passed a house locally last weekend that had a table sale with a unicycle for sale. I didn't buy though. I imagine they are very difficult to ride but there is only one way to find out......

 

[Leon103]

By coincidence I passed a house locally last weekend that had a table sale with a unicycle for sale. I didn't buy though. I imagine they are very difficult to ride but there is only one way to find out......

It isn't cheap. Can't remember if it was £120 or £150.

 

[Rigsby666]

@Rigsby666 Did you find your design anywhere we can research a build?

@Galena All I did really was join some of the eBike forums and ask questions or lurk reading other peoples experiences. Then after some consideration, I decided on a 48v 1000W rear hub motor, which I looked on eBay and Amazon for the best priced eBike conversion kits (that included much of the peripheral bits as well, such as controller, brakes, throttle, etc), and then also a battery that will run the motor kit. The battery is the most costly thing and there are lots of ways of spending a lot of money (branded cells and large Ah will double or treble the cost), but I just went for an 48v 15Ah battery (unbranded cells in a Hailong case), that mounts on the bike frame at the bottle cage bolts (other options are available), which is about the lowest spec I'd recommend for a 1kW motor. I have found it copes surprisingly well and gives me a range of about 40-45 miles with average usage (but give it stick and you'll have it down to 35, or really limit the amount of motor use and stretch it out to 50). The motor is great up climbs, most moderate hills you easily have the capacity to go up with little effort holding about 20mph, I've done some really quite steep climbs (for me) a few 7%-8% ones and it will still easily go up them but a fair bit slower, and a 10% that I do occasionally where I'll have the motor flat out and still have to put a fair bit of effort into pedalling too, but will still make it up this long climb, something that would be impossible for me on leg power alone. I typically do 20/25 miles on a ride out with between 1300ft to 1800ft elevation gain and will average about 17/18mph. Top speed doesn't really interest me too much, I've have done 30mph on the flat, but then I've done 35mph rolling downhill, so what, I've not really fully explored that. for me it's really for the help on climbs and for when I'm knackered, so I end up doing much longer rides, which is most excellent. If you've got any specific questions, I'll try and answer them for you based on my experience, if that would help.

 

[Galena]

@Galena All I did really was join some of the eBike forums and ask questions or lurk reading other peoples experiences. Then after some consideration, I decided on a 48v 1000W rear hub motor, which I looked on eBay and Amazon for the best priced eBike conversion kits (that included much of the peripheral bits as well, such as controller, brakes, throttle, etc), and then also a battery that will run the motor kit. The battery is the most costly thing and there are lots of ways of spending a lot of money (branded cells and large Ah will double or treble the cost), but I just went for an 48v 15Ah battery (unbranded cells in a Hailong case), that mounts on the bike frame at the bottle cage bolts (other options are available), which is about the lowest spec I'd recommend for a 1kW motor. I have found it copes surprisingly well and gives me a range of about 40-45 miles with average usage (but give it stick and you'll have it down to 35, or really limit the amount of motor use and stretch it out to 50). The motor is great up climbs, most moderate hills you easily have the capacity to go up with little effort holding about 20mph, I've done some really quite steep climbs (for me) a few 7%-8% ones and it will still easily go up them but a fair bit slower, and a 10% that I do occasionally where I'll have the motor flat out and still have to put a fair bit of effort into pedalling too, but will still make it up this long climb, something that would be impossible for me on leg power alone. I typically do 20/25 miles on a ride out with between 1300ft to 1800ft elevation gain and will average about 17/18mph. Top speed doesn't really interest me too much, I've have done 30mph on the flat, but then I've done 35mph rolling downhill, so what, I've not really fully explored that. for me it's really for the help on climbs and for when I'm knackered, so I end up doing much longer rides, which is most excellent. If you've got any specific questions, I'll try and answer them for you based on my experience, if that would help.

Thanks for the comprehensive answer, did you go for pedal assist or throttle?

 

[Rigsby666]

Thanks for the comprehensive answer, did you go for pedal assist or throttle?

@Galena I decided not to install any PAS at all, as I don't like the ridgid fixed steps in assistance that you get with most cheaper systems, so I went for a throttle only, which is effectively a manual pedal assist with infinite levels of assistance and gives total freedom to what assistance you use (or don't use) at any point, dependant on terrain, mood, strength, and any other factor you can think of. Also, most PAS is cadence sensing, so the more revs you pedal, the more assistance you get, which to me is stupid, as you need the most help when on climbs, but typically that is when you are only able to pedal relatively slowly. For a PAS with any real functionality, you would also need an LCD screen or control switch with selectable adjustable modes, this is normally an additional option and cost, and something I didn't feel I wanted or needed to buy. Again, its a personal thing dependant on your requirements and mindset really.

 

[bazzac]

I have five or six bikes, this is my favourite. It's wearing some heavy shoes in the pic. Probabaly my most topical bike is my single speed, fixed belt drive TREK which i salvaged and painted myself. I will try dig out some pics.

 

[bazzac]

 

[bazzac]

 

[bazzac]

 

[bazzac]

Actually probabaly nearer 8 or nine bikes if i include unfinished projects..... LOL

 

[bazzac]

I am always on the lookout for a proper penny farthing to restore.........

 

[Galena]

View attachment 33183

Nice clean lines, handlebars would be useful though and possibly brakes?

 

[Galena]

@Galena I decided not to install any PAS at all, as I don't like the ridgid fixed steps in assistance that you get with most cheaper systems, so I went for a throttle only, which is effectively a manual pedal assist with infinite levels of assistance and gives total freedom to what assistance you use (or don't use) at any point, dependant on terrain, mood, strength, and any other factor you can think of. Also, most PAS is cadence sensing, so the more revs you pedal, the more assistance you get, which to me is stupid, as you need the most help when on climbs, but typically that is when you are only able to pedal relatively slowly. For a PAS with any real functionality, you would also need an LCD screen or control switch with selectable adjustable modes, this is normally an additional option and cost, and something I didn't feel I wanted or needed to buy. Again, its a personal thing dependant on your requirements and mindset really.

I understand what you say about PAS on hills, but without meaning to sound condescending, that's why you have gears. It is true that you pedal slower on climbs and I haven't really tried it on an e-bike but if you spin a low gear whilst climbing you should get the assist? On my road bike I usually average a cadence of 85-90 rpm on a ride, on the climbs that probably reduces to about 70, but if I was to gear low enough i could keep the cadence up most of the time.

 

[Rigsby666]

I understand what you say about PAS on hills, but without meaning to sound condescending, that's why you have gears. It is true that you pedal slower on climbs and I haven't really tried it on an e-bike but if you spin a low gear whilst climbing you should get the assist? On my road bike I usually average a cadence of 85-90 rpm on a ride, on the climbs that probably reduces to about 70, but if I was to gear low enough i could keep the cadence up most of the time.

@Galena What a nice fella you are. You're not at all condescending, and indeed you are of course totally correct. LOL. I just found that, on the bike I tried that even in the lowest gear, on many steep climbs, I couldn't get enough revs to get the maximum assistance and therefore I found PAS a bit of an unnecessary hindrance. This could be a combination of my lack of technique, the bike's gearing, and/or my physical limitations and fitness. But I just found with a throttle, the control is completely with you, with nothing getting in the way or overriding your varying and specific needs at any point. It's just a personal point of view really. :-)

 

[jof]

I think there would be a market for a lightweight e-bike with relativly small battery that would charge through regenerative braking & just kick in to assist up the big hills.
So the weight penalty is not so high that you can't:
a) put it on top of the car
b) ride the flats without any assistance

 

[Rigsby666]

I think there would be a market for a lightweight e-bike with relativly small battery that would charge through regenerative braking & just kick in to assist up the big hills.
So the weight penalty is not so high that you can't:
a) put it on top of the car
b) ride the flats without any assistance

I like the concept @jof. I have no idea of the possible technical capabilities, but I love the idea of regenerative braking and systems that would charge your battery as you ride, I mean those wheels are flying around, why can't they at some point be charging your battery, say on downhills when your freewheeling, like a dynamo type idea. However, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of affordable products available and from what I can understand, the current regenerative braking technology isn't very good or efficient, the returned energy is very little and to me certainly not worth the cost at this point.
Just as a separate point, I regularly manage to ride on the flat without assistance on my eBike. Again, not sure of the technicalities, but it seems that once I get over a certain speed, the resistance from the motor becomes hugely less significant, I think it's around 14/15 mph but could be wrong, I'll check on my next ride. However, getting it onto a car roof, I really would not fancy trying. But surprisingly, I did manage to lift it over a five-bar gate once when I was out on a ride. :-)

 

[Galena]

@Galena What a nice fella you are. You're not at all condescending, and indeed you are of course totally correct. LOL. I just found that, on the bike I tried that even in the lowest gear, on many steep climbs, I couldn't get enough revs to get the maximum assistance and therefore I found PAS a bit of an unnecessary hindrance. This could be a combination of my lack of technique, the bike's gearing, and/or my physical limitations and fitness. But I just found with a throttle, the control is completely with you, with nothing getting in the way or overriding your varying and specific needs at any point. It's just a personal point of view really. :-)

I wonder if a throttle tempts you to use the assist, more than you would with PAS? I have no particular preference for either system, just weighing up the pro's and cons.

 

[Galena]

I think there would be a market for a lightweight e-bike with relativly small battery that would charge through regenerative braking & just kick in to assist up the big hills.
So the weight penalty is not so high that you can't:
a) put it on top of the car
b) ride the flats without any assistance

There are already lightwight e-bikes, no regenerative braking but quite a nice bit of kit
Yes it's an e-bike