"Augmented Hiking" or Frank's Mechanized Assault
 

So, I haven't posted here in a while due to the snow and my lack of interest in snowshoeing an the attendant hazards of avalanches etc. Meanwhile in my basement, I've been plotting a means to take the drudgery out of endless km's of logging road approaches and get to where I want to go faster to high grade my experience. Not wanting to be a motorized boor in the back country, I opted to go the electric mountain bike route. Got 2 Cyclone 3000 watt mid drive kits from Luna Cycle in California and bought two 2000's era clunker downhill bikes, a powerful battery from China (a reputable source) and got to work in my basement. First one took about a month to build as I learned the various nuances. Its not pretty, but it smokes. Took it for its first maiden uphill journey 2 weeks ago and it smoked - literally. Had it in the 44 tooth chainring going up for 4 km's and must have been travelling 20 km/hr at least on a pretty steep uphill trail. Got to the start of Pingu and smelled electric burning. Learned my lesson. In the future, I'll be hitting steep uphills with the 22 tooth front chainring. Anyway the proof of concept is there. Second test on Sunday was range. Had the battery at about 85% charged and went from my house in Deep Cove area to upper Blueridge/Hyannis Point and down the trail to Twin Bridges along the fisherman's trail to spur 4. Up the steep connector to the main bike trail and back to the entrance shack and down the steep trail to Twin bridges and then back up the steep trail from fisherman's to Hyannis and back home. Took my GPS and travelled 30 km and gained 1800 feet elevation. Still had about 25% capacity on my 52volt 20 ah battery and that was with mostly throttle and little pedalling. I am so stoked to try this on a mid week run up the Lions. The idea is to travel along logging road, ditch bike in woods with a camo tarp and lock and remove expensive battery and hide it separately. This thing is a gravity sled on the way down and being dual suspension, I expect it will take the drudgery out of the endless downhill switchbacks. Now I have a world of areas I can try such as BCMC's mountain lake cabin without worrying about a key, maybe even Tenquille lake. I assume some people will deride me for taking the suffering out of the enjoyment, but I have a thick skin and reminds of years ago climbing Alpha and we took a helicopter to Lake Lovelywater and a snooty younger person suggested it was cheating. I could have suggested to get the full experience she could have walked from Vancouver and worn a hair shirt, but each to their own. Second Bike build took 5 hours as I had all the right tools and chains etc.

Right on, looks like a fun project. I'd be interested in hearing how many vertical meters you can knock off with a 20AH battery.

Highly impressive, you could market these. Great innovation, hard work to get it working and looking forward to your test results.

K

Great Idea. I think my next test will be a climb up Mount Seymour Road. The risk of running out of juice is minimal as I can turn around and use gravity on the downhill.

This whole project including bike cost about $1,800. To get the same power from a manufactured bike would probably cost in excess of $6k. No manufacturing plans, but if anyone wants to attempt something similar, I'm happy to assist with knowledge gained. It was a fun winter project and learned to do all sorts of things on bikes that I've never done before.

Looks impressive indeed. I wish I could make fun projects like this but I lack skills and patience in making things. I have an old and reliable bicycle and it would be nice to upgrade it. But in terms of time and money, I think about getting a hybrid bike as mentioned on willpowerpeak. All I want is a versatile and good-looking bike for my needs.

I also have an electric 29er bike that I built a few years ago. The answer to your question is depends how much you pedal really. After a few trips around you will get the feel for your personal range and interpreting your on-board computer readout. Its heavier than a regular bicycle so running out of juice isn't fun. Once you are going up you start going through the juice. I have a simple throttle on mine and can skimp if necessary. You don't get that heavy cardio workout like a straight bike but you can pedal as hard as you want. I ride motorcycle and bicycle as well, E bike is weirdly right in-between. Its a lot of fun, and honestly I cant believe how good the technology is. I see more and more on Seymour trails and it makes me wonder if Ebikes may get banned up there someday. Doesn't seem fair sometimes!>:)