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Post by vance on Feb 19, 2022 16:11:00 GMT -8
So, here's an off subject thread I thought might interest a few of you. I built an ebike out of an XL Burley Samba tandem bike for my wife and I. Here's the back-story: My wife does not ride bikes due to a minor but critical sight issue. However, our friends are all going on bike excursions, in which we are unable to participate together. She decided she wants to go on a 3 day (30 miles/day) bike ride in Joshua Tree Park that friends are doing (and now, we are doing) in April. I have been actively biking since the early '90s, and I am very happy that she's got the bug. Mind you, she is a bit fearful of biking. Most of the 10 participants in this ride are riding electric bikes, including one tandem. This tandem is a commercial ebike with Bosch parts, far out of my price range. The tandem riders are a sighted husband and a legally blind wife. This led to an idea. We already had an infrequently used tandem bike, so, in order to participate AND keep up, I needed to electrify our bike. I love a challenge. Mods, baby! Here it is: I had to make a disc brake hanger (no integral mount was on the frame) for the huge 203mm disc set. A couple of hours of planning, hacksawing, grinding, and drilling yielded a good sturdy stainless steel mount for the caliper: The black schmutz on the adapter is Sharpie ink, left over from lay-out. Laying along the horizontal wheel stay (look for the two hex bolt heads), you can see part of the custom stainless steel torque arm I made to keep the wheel from brutalizing the dropouts. This left the original V brake, which I set up for the stoker: My wife likes a bit of control, and if you've ever ridden tandems, you know the stoker has NONE. So, the brake is a little bit of comfort to her, but she has been warned! The electric setup is a 1000 watt rear hub brushless motor and controller with both pedal assist modes and a throttle. The battery is 48 volts/20 amps. I thought I'd need a big system to power a tandem, esp. with me weighing in at 220, the bike at 40, and my slender wife nunya. Turns out it might be overkill, but more power isn't bad, esp. if it means more range. I figured the weight needed to be in the back, where my svelte bride will sit, so I went for a rear hub. I know, mid drives are the modern rage, but they're a problem with tandems. It's finished, and we went out for a 20 miler today. Noice!
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Post by vance on Feb 19, 2022 17:45:21 GMT -8
The back disc brake I used is a Bengal caliper. The reason that these are the best tandem brake is that they don't have plastic parts that can melt due to heat from the intense braking needs of a tandem. Melting parts? Yikes!
I have a steel fork with both V brake mounts and disc mounts that I might install, if I'm not confident on twisty steep downhill runs. That will make it a 4 brake bike!
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Post by pacediver1 on Feb 20, 2022 2:19:16 GMT -8
That’s a great idea
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 21, 2022 18:15:29 GMT -8
This may be an answer for my wife and myself to get her back to riding. She has three bicycles, but is scared to ride again. The reason? Well, she was on a ride about four years ago, and crashed twice at the end of the ride simply by turning off the trail she was riding. We were riding the Banks-Vernonia State Trail, and it was not a difficulat turn, but she had forgotten the need to lean into the turn, and ended up on the ground in a low-speed tumble. So I've been thinking that a tandem may be the answer. John
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Post by vance on Feb 22, 2022 8:31:50 GMT -8
One problem with this setup is that the rear wheel is a pain to take off and put on.
We recently had a flat on the back, and I patched the tube w/o removing the wheel. I carry an extra tube, but that's useless unless you remove the wheel from the bike. The patch ended up giving out and we had another flat 3-4 miles later.
In hopes of avoiding more rear flats, I bought a pretty expensive puncture resistant tire. It has an extra layer of kevlar or something like that, and is pretty heavy. What's a couple more lbs, eh?
Next time the wheel comes off I have some finish work to do on the brake adapter, but it's just cosmetic.
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 15, 2022 15:07:15 GMT -8
Phil and John, you guys might enjoy this:
JB
EDIT:
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Post by vance on Mar 15, 2022 16:27:48 GMT -8
We've had a couple of glitches, both electronic and mechanical, but it looks like we've got a smooth running system now. We just did a 25 mile ride with no problems, and had a full bar battery at the end. We never get out of the #2 level (out of 5), even with some pretty gnarly climbs.
We did two 22 milers on one charge and had 2/3 reported at the end. Sometimes these meters are unreliable, so we need to figure it out over time. It could be like my Acura fuel gauge that drops more rapidly at the end than the beginning. I have two batteries, so I carry the second, JIC.
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Post by vance on Mar 15, 2022 16:40:34 GMT -8
There are some turn-key electric tandems available which use mid drive Bosch (and other) units. Our tandem friends have one and it is really nice.
Mine, being DIY, has issues that I had to address, but that's the fun of it for me. Mine has a hub drive motor on the rear, but the mid drives have the motor on the cranks.
The rear hub motor makes for an easier installation, but the mid drives are more efficient. The problem with installing a mid drive on a tandem is the eccentric bottom bracket.
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Post by SeaRat on Mar 15, 2022 17:05:59 GMT -8
Phil, In order to get some diving out of this thread, your back rack could be modified to carry fins. I put a short nylon strap with a quick release buckle onto the front of my recumbent's rack, and I can then put fins onto the rack pretty easily. I have paniers too, and can carry all the towels, swimsuit, mask & snorkel I need to get to the pool. My pool is a 50 meter competition pool with a deep end for competitive board and platform diving, so it's 18 feet deep. I can carry everything on my bike needed for me to get wet for snorkeling. John
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Post by vance on Mar 21, 2022 17:11:50 GMT -8
So, although the tandem is running great, and all is good there, I'm working on another bike. Because the tandem project had a bunch of issues, that lead me on to another project using the left over parts.
One problem was that I ordered the wrong kit for the tandem, and then had to get the right one. Return shipping was 2/3 of the purchase price, so I rebelled and ended up keeping it. The first kit didn't use an LCD, so its corresponding controller didn't have a connection for one and I had to order new parts to make up for that mistake.
My fault, so all is good.
Then, mistake #2, I thought I'd need another battery so we could go the distance on the Joshua Tree ride. So, I bought a second, very expensive battery as a back-up.
We've ridden the tandem 25 miles and haven't dropped the battery charge indicator even one bar.
So, now I have a motor kit and an extra battery.
What will Vance do?
You know....
I spent the afternoon mounting the extra stuff onto a mountain bike I had languishing in the basement. I'll post photos as I go!
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Post by vance on Aug 16, 2022 15:12:33 GMT -8
My wife and I joined 10 friends and about 20 others on a 2 day ride from San Francisco to Point Reyes. It totaled just about 80 miles. The first day was slightly longer. The ride was supported by The Sports Basement, and they provided meals, SAG, and pit stops along the way.
We camped in a nice spot in Olema (I am not big on camping, and my expectations of a poor night's rest were as I figured), but the social interaction of the ride, the dinner, and the evening around the campfire was great. A really fun time.
It's nice to do this with friends and it's great to mingle with others from all adult age groups. The younger riders were very tolerant of the oldsters (to their credit), and everyone seemed to enjoy talking, eating and drinking, and riding together.
The electric tandem worked great, and the od has just turned over 550 miles!
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 16, 2022 17:57:45 GMT -8
Phil, I figured out one help for a good night’s sleep—ear plugs. I tried them out two decades ago when I was camping with my son at a swim meet. The foam plugs don’t work unless you roll them into a small diameter that will go deep into your ear canal (one friend tried ear plugs without knowing this on a return railroad trip from his cross-America bicycle ride, and said they didn’t work, until I told him this trick). The other trick is a good air mattress.
‘Glad you had a great three-day trip.
John
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Post by vance on Aug 17, 2022 15:59:35 GMT -8
We are signed up for the rim ride of Crater Lake in September, about a 40 mile ride. It sounds like a lot of fun, and we will continue on from this excursion to some RR trails in Bend, Ore. We have an AirB&B in Bend, so sleeping isn't a problem.
I bought an XXL camp cot (I'm 6'3", 220 lbs), and self-inflating pad, so as to get a better night's sleep while camping. I go to my friend's off grid property near Yosemite twice a year as well as bike trips (?) times a year, so a good cot and pad is well worth it.
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Post by vance on Sept 25, 2022 15:27:34 GMT -8
We did the ride at Crater Lake, despite the impending smoke. It held off for the day, and we had good conditions with only moderate smoke. The ride was quite hard, but only about 40 miles. There were steep, long climbs of many miles, then terrifying descents (esp. for my wife who doesn't like high speed at all, and particularly hates them since she has little personal control). I let her use her brake a couple of times . Most of the ride was without cars, but curiously, they allowed travel in either direction. Most people opted for clockwise, b/c it kept one on the inside lane where there are steep cliffs on the outside. This made for some intense encounters when the minority going downhill in the counter-clockwise direction had to brake hard to avoid crowds at the rest stops. The day after the ride, you couldn't see the water of the lake from the rim, due to smoke. Then we went on to Bend, which was also under threat of intense smoke, but again, we dodged the bullet. We hiked to an amazing place on the McKenzie River called the Blue Pool. It's name is actually the Tamolitch. After hiking for a few miles along the river through an enchanted forest, we came to the source of the river. It is a huge pool at the foot of a cliff, where the water comes up through lava tubes to form the river fully formed. The water is an intense blue in the pool. If you're interested in seeing what it is like, check this: traveloregon.com/things-to-do/destinations/lakes-reservoirs/tamolitch-the-blue-pool/We also rode the tandem through Bend, along the Deschutes River and into town. Again, the next day, the smoke came in. Bend is a great town, and has one of the best Thai restaurants ever! It also features many really high quality food truck venues.
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Post by vance on Sept 25, 2022 16:11:02 GMT -8
I forgot to mention that these steep and long climbs exhausted our battery far more than we have ever experienced. We carried the extra battery, so when the gauge dropped to 0 with 5 miles to go we swapped out and rolled to the finish with miles to spare.
Our friends on the commercial tandem were confident of enough power to finish, but ended up with a dead battery with 3 miles to go.
Their slog up to the finish was very hard. It's not something that you want to happen. Takes all the fun out of it.
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