I liked the mid-drives although this has a lot to do with the monster hill I was living on at the time. I'm probably not a good source for reviews now cuz I kinda soured on the whole thing; if I got back into it now I would buy a dedicated ebike and leave the Rivs to pedalers. Which you shouldn't read as criticism of *your *project, it's me saying I shouldn't add any more to the discussion cuz it's about a thing I no longer do.
On Monday, July 17, 2023 at 6:38:42 PM UTC-7 Stephen wrote: > Hey Patrick, > > Yeah, its all in all pretty easy to get set up and going, and it would be > easy to remove and return to just a regular bicycle. The Kit actually came > with the hub motor already prebuilt into a wheel. If you are savvy I > suppose you could unlace the rim and build the hub into a different wheel. > That thought crossed my mind since the included rim is a fair bit narrower > than the alex rims of the stock clem... > > I'll have to give another update on the run and charging times, I took it > for a couple rides today and there are discrepancies between the battery > reading on the battery vs. on the handlebar display. According the > handlebar display I just about used up all my power on a 45 minute ride > today, but on the battery itself it indicated I still had over half the > power. I think I'll try and see how long I can go before it totally shuts > down sometime in the next few days. > > To me it seems like a lot of power. I've been running it on the lower > power mode and supposedly with the speed limited to 15 mph. > > And yes, the disc on the bb spindle is used to sense your pedaling. You > can see the magnets in the disc, which pass by the sensor mounted on the > downtube. > > Hey Joe, good to know I'm in safe territory! Makes good sense, I feel like > this 250w motor moves pretty good so I imagine there would be quite a bit > of torque with 500w, definitely too much for the slender fork blades. > Interesting to hear about your different experiments, did you have a > favorite? I have to admit there is something alluring about riding a clem > as fast as my road bike with only a little effort.. > > On Monday, July 17, 2023 at 2:03:34 PM UTC-4 Joe Bernard wrote: > >> Looks like you're good there, Stephen, 250W is pretty mellow. Yes it's >> the torque that would concern me with a more powerful hub motor; no bad >> experiences (I used 250W on an Appaloosa), I just try not to be too crazy >> with slim fork blades not designed with a motor in mind. Most >> front-hub-motor bikes I see are running really beefy forks. >> >> My first build was a ridiculously powerful rear-hub Clem, Grant rode it! >> Then I did a few with even more ridiculously powerful mid-drives, those >> were tons of fun. But I'm out of the ebike game these days. Maybe in the >> future I'll try one again. >> >> Joe Bernard >> >> On Monday, July 17, 2023 at 6:46:52 AM UTC-7 Stephen wrote: >> >>> Hey Joe, >>> >>> That would be because of too much torque on a weak fork I presume? I'd >>> be curious to hear more about your experiences with eRivs, and is that a >>> determination you've made based on a bad experience? Have you done both >>> front and rear type motors? I have to admit I'm pretty clueless when it >>> comes to the details of ebikes in general, but I hope that since this kit >>> is intended to be universal it will be safe enough for the type of riding >>> my father will be doing and that the company would be responsible enough to >>> highlight potential incompatibilities. It does seem like eBikes are still a >>> bit of a wild west of little to no regulation.. Unfortunately the kit >>> website is pretty limited in describing its technical specifications (it is >>> very much designed for non technical people) and I can't find a spec as to >>> whether its a 250w or 500w motor, but it does list a 40nm torque. How does >>> that speak to your experience? >>> >>> I didn't notice anything bad on my test ride yesterday, but I suppose >>> I'll give it a longer ride today and see if I notice any dangerous fork >>> flex... >>> >>> On Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 10:02:46 PM UTC-4 Joe Bernard wrote: >>> >>>> Looks fun but - as a fellow who's built a few eRivs - I gotta throw in >>>> a warning here about wattage. If that's a 250W hub you're good, I would >>>> worry about 500W on Riv's spindly forks. >>>> >>>> On Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 4:33:14 PM UTC-7 Stephen wrote: >>>> >>>>> Thought I'd share my project of the day: electrifying this clem L for >>>>> my Dad. >>>>> >>>>> A little backstory: >>>>> >>>>> My family and I all chipped in a few years ago to get my Dad a Clem >>>>> complete in an effort to give him a fun and healthy exercise activity >>>>> following a near death heart attack in 2020. Despite really liking the >>>>> look >>>>> and comfort of the bike, his level of fitness was really limiting the >>>>> amount of time he could spend on it. He'd be wiped in under 30 minutes, >>>>> and >>>>> unfortunately living in the suburban south, safe and accessible riding is >>>>> fairly limited and largely unexciting unless you're covering big miles >>>>> out >>>>> on country roads. Add to that the fact that his main riding partner, my >>>>> mom, has been a long time road cyclist with a much higher level of >>>>> fitness, >>>>> they ended up getting him an ebike from rei. Its made a huge difference >>>>> in >>>>> how much he's able to ride and his willingness to ride, but he's still >>>>> been >>>>> partial towards the Clem. >>>>> >>>>> So my folks ordered an ebike conversion kit, gosh, like a year ago and >>>>> it finally arrived recently. Its a front wheel motor with a handlebar >>>>> mounted battery pack, and supposedly a pretty simple install. However, >>>>> for >>>>> some reason the axle on the wheel was 10mm as opposed to the 9mm clem >>>>> fork >>>>> drop outs so I had to do a bit of filing (on the axle) to get it to fit. >>>>> Took it for a spin and it really goes! Feels a little less >>>>> jarring/unnatural than other ebikes I've tried. I'm curious to see how it >>>>> holds up. >>>>> >>>>> Please excuse the messy cables in the pics, still got some neatening >>>>> up to do. And for those curious, the kit is the swytch bike kit. >>>>> >>>>> [image: IMG_5909.jpg] >>>>> >>>>> [image: IMG_5910.jpg] >>>>> >>>>> [image: IMG_5911.jpg] >>>>> >>>>> [image: IMG_5912.jpg] >>>>> >>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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