E-Bikes

[olbriar]

I can see it now ... Briar's Electric Bike Shop ... opening in a town near you, soon !

It would be nice to not only use but to reuse some of the tools. I really don't understand why bikes require unique tools. And to add to the agony, the bike assembly fasteners are not standard across different manufactures. Why must it be so complicated and expensive to work on a bike?

 

[ozonetrooper]

Wanna see the small handful of parts, I drove to the Harley shop on the other side of Houston for, that cost almost $400 dollars ?

IF I cold go back I would just leave the switch broken ....

Update on the project: I have put all the things I took off - back on ! It has been incredibly hot this week, cold front blowing through as we speak. Suppose to cool down and my goal is to put the new parts on and hope I am ready to ride again !

 

[olbriar]

I hope you get to enjoy your repairs soon!! My parts and tools were less than two hundred buckazoids. It seems a lot to spend on a bike that only cost $1,500 that I purchased on sale in 2023.

 

[olbriar]

Information shows that my chain is out for delivery. With that in mind, I installed the new cassette. The removal was very easy for the lockring on the old cassette was all but loose. There is no way it was tightened to 40Nm. Once the new was installed, I found I needed a thicker washer between cassette and frame. I had a set of washers so I experimented until the cassette clears the frame and hopefully close enough to be read by the sensor. The old chain on the new cassette sound like a thrashing machine. I won't know how successful my morning adventure might be until I get the new chain cut down and installed. It will be a trial and error to get it all set up correctly.

 

[olbriar]

The new chain showed up early afternoon. As in all first time projects there was a little bit of white knuckles time but all for not. The cutting of the chain and installing was really pretty easy. The tools purchased for the project worked really well. The most difficult task of all was getting the space between the new cassette and the sensor correct. It took a number of tries to get the spacing correct. Each trial consisted of removing the rear wheel and changing the washers between the cassette and the bearing cone locknut. It took three tries to find the right amount of washer to make the distance correct for the sensor to correctly read the count of the 9th gear ring. Each time the wheel had to be removed and spacing changed and reinstalled. Then power up the bike and try riding it. Too much and too little space caused no reading or sporadic readings. I only think I have it set right. Maybe another washer would make it perfect. lol. In other words... who knows when it's right? It was sensing as well as before the repair so I stopped messing with it. My next flat I'll try an additional thin washer spacing. I'll likely be taking it back out.

I was very happy with my repairs today. Considering it was the first time for everything I did, I had no problems with the tasks. Youtube is a wonderful tool for first time projects. The tools that I had purchased worked perfectly for the projects. The only snag I encountered was the spanner lock nut to remove and install the cassettes took an inch socket that I didn't have. I could only find an inch socket that was a half inch drive. My torque wrench is a 3/8 drive. I had to buy the socket and a 3/8 to a 1/2 converter so I could replace the cassette to specifications.

My son was coming over for some beers after he got off work. That cut my riding and testing a bit short today. The bike felt great under foot but I still encountered some lulls while riding. It was a typical day of riding in that regard though the bike felt tighter. (with no better words) The lack of slop in the chain and cassette was very noticeable. I had not noticed the drive chain was so worn out. I certainly noticed and enjoyed to lack of that sloppy feeling this afternoon. I only logged 26 miles when I called it a day. There wasn't any traffic on the sidewalk South.

 

[DonB]

Great job on your repair endeavors 👍

 

[olbriar]

I volunteered myself to drive my son and d-i-l to an event / party thing down town this afternoon. They planned on an uber for their home trek. I respect them for not drinking and driving. It was pretty cool anyway but I would have been riding earlier if not for being obligated. As it played out, I wasn't riding much before three. I was able to get 40 miles out of a battery that is normally done around 33 to 35 miles. The bike did it's normal lulls but the replaced drive train gained me a few miles per charge.

I went riding after dinner. I got in another 29 miles before it was getting dark. I was cold so I was glad to call it a day. I didn't see anyone riding on the sidewalk South. I did see a few cyclists in town.
I saw two boys riding what looked to be pretty new, if not new, full sized fat tire e-bikes. They were riding together and actually pedaling.
It was refreshing to see. I don't know that I've seen a single kid pedaling an e-bike until today. They are all riding bikes like it is their first car. They look to be having a great time so who am I to judge.

Tonight must be prom night. I saw a few parents getting pictures of their daughters in gowns with their escorts in tuxes in front of their houses. I also ride by a very nice park just South of my house. There are two rental venues that often host weddings and nice walks around the area. Two bridges, mature trees, hills... perfect photo drops and the couples were hand in hand here and there in the park for that purpose.
It was fun seeing them. Brought back some memories.

 

[olbriar]

I messed around this morning while it warmed up and then went riding.
I had just reached the South end of town when I received a text from a childhood friend. A mutual girlfriend from our youth is in seriously bad health so we discussed that. We ended up exchanging texts for over a half hour. I didn't have a huge window to ride so it was somewhat reduced. It had gotten windy so it wasn't a great afternoon to ride anyway. I rode some and came home to cook and eat but went riding after dinner. The wind had calmed down some so it was fun riding. Between the two rides I managed to log 67 miles.

Even though it warmed into the eighties today it was windy. I think that kept the sidewalk traffic on the low side for a weekend. I saw only a few cyclists this evening. I saw only one willing to battle the wind this afternoon.

 

[olbriar]

Today was much like yesterday. It got into the eighties and was pretty darn windy. I mowed my lawns and hustled home, suited up, and went riding. I only went around the block and came back. The bike was rarely sensing my pedaling. Something was way wrong. I put on some work clothes to attack the problem. My best guess was the distance to the sensor was still not correct. Everything I've read has the recommended space being a tight squeeze for a nickel to pass between the cassette and the sensor. My spacing is less than the thickness of a dime. I pulled the back wheel off and added a very thin washer and put the bike back together. I could almost push a nickel between the two. Thinking I had it set right, I once again put my bike clothes on and went for a ride. There was zero sensing of my pedaling. I returned and changed clothes once again. Increasing the spacing was moving in the wrong direction. I removed the washer I had just added and then put a micrometer on the washer combination I had.. and rode with the past few days. I didn't dare decrease the distance in fear I'd harm my impossible to obtain sensor. I put the washers back on the wheel, mounted the wheel, and called it good. Why my spacing isn't the recommended space... I can only contribute to it being an after market sensor. The sensing and lack of is either the sensor is bad or the problem is somewhere else in the bike. The same big question I've had for six months...WHERE? I flipped the bike back over, slapped a battery back on it, and rode around the block. Zero problem! I came home, put on my bike clothes, and rode 40 miles before putting the bike up.
It still had the occasional lull, but for the most part, it was as good as it's been since I first had the outage last fall. I did NOTHING to fix it today. Though it's not fixed, it was rideable. It was not rideable when I started out today. I turned the bike upside down and back a couple of times and I put the battery on and removed it a couple of times. That's it. I would suspect the battery to bike connection but the display never blinks and when the bike has no sensing, the throttle still works. I would blame it on the aftermarket sensor but it was purchased because the original started cutting out.. or the bike was cutting out.