2008 wrap up

We want to thank all our customers and friends for support over the last year of our venture here to spread bicycle love, and in the process, rethink transportation.  We wouldn't be here without everyone's support, we truly appreciate it.

It has been an amazing, and challenging year. On the broader scale, 2008 will go down in the history books as a year of substantial change, most of it for the negative.  The financial world has been in turmoil, dragging the economy with it.  But some changes have not been bad.  The crazy ups and downs of gas prices have a lot of people thinking more deeply about America's dependence on foreign oil.   While various sides of the political spectrum are not necessarily in agreement about how to solve the problem, the important thing is that there is increasing consensus that something needs to be done.  

Cycle 9 was founded in 2007 after we decided that we didn't just want to complain about oil dependency, but to do something about it.  It always feels better trying to fix a problem than just to complain about it (even if that involves mortgaging ones house to the hilt to get a business going).  Bikes won't solve every problem.  Cars are useful conveyances for many purposes.  But the more we use bikes and watch our energy usage in getting around, the more it becomes clear that moving a 3,000 pound hunk of steel around to transport a single human is a huge waste of energy.  Many kilowatt hours of energy, for even a short trip.  And bikes can be one piece of the puzzle, along with more walking, more public transit, high speed trains, and etc.  At some point in our future, when oil is more scarce, I bet most of us will prefer to have that oil go towards producing our food and other necessities.

So, if we can have one wish for 2009, it is that the incoming administration realizes the importance of developing better infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists in our towns and cities.  By far, the biggest complaint we hear about cycling is about its "danger."  While statistics show that it is probably not nearly as dangerous as many people think, statistics don't change most people's minds.  Regardless of the highly controversial subject of whether bike lanes are good or bad safety-wise, it is a simple fact that bike lanes/paths promote more people biking.  I was recently in Madison, Wisconsin, which has developed a network of rail-trails around the city.  In warmer months, those are very well used, I saw other riders out at all times of the day.  

But, here in the Southeastern USA, we have the double whammy of fast drivers and narrow roads.  For many people, even if they want to bike, they just don't feel comfortable doing it on these kinds of roads.  And so they get in the car.  Sadly, our state's department of transportation has often been actively anti-cyclist in their road planning.  Talk about lack of foresight.

When Obama announced plans for new infrastructure, he mentioned roads and bridges.  I really hope he does some more thinking about this before implementing it.  Certainly, some roads and some bridges do need work - those that represent the central transportation corridors should be brought to modernity.  But beyond that, it is a matter of priorities.  I hope we place more priority on making our cities easier to navigate by non-car means, rather than just spending willy-nilly on automobile infrastructure.  

Two thousand and nine will be a challenging year.  But often it is the challenges that cause people to become engaged, rise up, and work towards solutions.  We sincerely hope that in trying to meet the challenges, the solutions that get implemented aren't just "more of the same."  We've tried that for the past 30 years.  Let's try something new - livable, walkable, bikeable cities and towns.  Places where children can play in their neighborhoods again, walk to school safely, breath clean air, and not become obese by being driven everywhere.  If we as a country put our minds to something, we can usually do it.  I hope we will put our minds to this as our new year's resolution.

BMC motor face-off

Recently, we went to one of the steepest hills around to test the new BMC 600 watt, internally geared brushless hub motors. There are two versions, a "torque" (the V2-T) and a "speed" (the V2-S). We wanted to see how they did for steep hill climbing on an Xtracycle equipped bike, and did some head-to-head rides with them. Note that Morgan is the heavier rider by about 40 lbs, so we did multiple tests by swapping bikes back and forth to get to the heart of the question, "which motor is best for climbing?"

SALE and Holiday Closure

Please join us for a SALE at our retail store, Friday Dec 26 and Saturday Dec 27.  All accessories on sale 15% off. Bikes also on sale $30 - $100 off. Selected other items on sale as well. We will be open regular business hours - Friday 11-6 and Saturday 10-5

We will then be closed for winter break and inventory activities Sunday Dec 28 - Thursday Jan 1. We will reopen Friday Jan 2.

Thanks to all our customers for a great year! 

From the Cycle 9 team (Elise, Morgan, Kristen and Chris)

Change

(I wrote this a few months ago, and am finally posting it. It still seems relevant today).

Change is scary. No doubt.

The world is headed towards major change, or so many people think. I regularly read several websites that talk about these changes, such as The Oil Drum, and iTulip. The mood on those sites has grown dark. The sites come from very different perspectives - iTulip from the macro-economic-political view, and The Oil Drum from a resource (mainly oil) point of view. Yet they seem to converge on the same conclusion: we are now past the peak of our wealth/opulence/lifestyles, for some time to come (or, according to the pessimists, forever). The recent major failures in monetary systems are taken as signs of systemic problems that indicate we as a society and species have been living beyond our means, both financially and resource-wise.

It gets worse. Visions of chaos, riots, political upheaval, and war are often brought out. At minimum, the specter of drastically declining lifestyles is brought up, or worse, of wealth destroyed.

It's easy to get lost in depressive visions of possible outcomes and futures.

But, for those of us doing that, it is important to step back and have some perspective.

What else is new? That cliché applies to all of the change we seeing around us. Our period in history was nearly unprecedented in its lack of major war, high degree of globalism, and so much wealth distributed so widely*. There is no time in history that 30 years of adult work would generate enough wealth to support someone through a work-free retirement, except recent history.

So if the pessimists are right, wealth-wise we are simply returning to "normal". I'm no happier than anyone else about loosing the ability to access the wealth for a nice retirement - but the skeptic in me long ago said that day would never come anyway.

Loss of wealth is scary. Just as is loss of health, loss of a loved one, or any major change. War and political upheaval are scary too.

But I do not have much control over those things. I do have some control over my own life, and how I interact with the changes.

For years, I've felt change was coming, in my gut. At times it was sickening. So I've done things to prepare, like learning to live with less. One view is: hey, if we're going to loose our wealth tomorrow, why not enjoy it to the maximum today, and party it up?

My own view is rather than partying until the end and then crashing suddenly into unplanned misfortune, I'd prefer to gently ease myself into the change. My purchase of an Xtracycle was one of the many steps taken in that direction. I am learning to live without using a car very often, even though I still own one. I keep extending the range of use of my bike, helped by newer battery technologies and electric assist. And also helped by my enjoyment of riding the bike.

That's the thing of it. I am enjoying not using the car, except for an occasional longer trip. The bike is really fun. But wait, wasn't I saying above that change is scary? Now I am saying that I'm having fun with it. How can this contradiction be explained?

As I've mentioned before, biking is more connected with my environment, it is slower, more relaxing, more enjoyable. This is a clear case where, for me, the wealth represented by an automobile does not bring happiness, but quite the opposite.

Today in USA Today (10/20/08), there was an article, "Lower Gas Prices come as a relief". With the lower gas prices recently, it states: "... motorists are no longer facing the kind of gas prices that had forced them to eat out less, avoid travel, and bike to work." As if biking to work was a real hardship! Ouch.

This goes to point out that the pain of change all depends on how one responds to that change. If, say, gas prices go to $10 in the future, that change will have only a moderate effect on me (mostly in food prices), because I don't depend on gas for my day-to-day activities any longer. I enjoy biking, and I have at least some insulation from future drastic change. My remaining car trips are mostly discretionary, and can be cut if necessary.

The same is true of things like eating locally produced food. If one develops relationships with local farms, e.g. through a CSA membership, then if gas prices go through the roof, or if other upheavals occur, one will be more insulated to change than those dependent on groceries shipped cross country. In my own experience, doing this has many other rewards, such as getting to know the people that produce my food, visiting the farmer's market regularly, and knowing that my food is grown without supporting a big agribusiness. If, in the future, I have to ride my electric-Xtracycle 30 miles to the farm to pick up my food, I can see it as a pleasant outing rather than ordeal (especially if less fast moving SUV's are on the road).

Change does not have to be painful. There may be regions of the globe where change results in very negative occurrences, such as dictatorship, war, famine, etc. Other places change could simply result in downshifting of standards of living**. Regardless, one can either choose to be happy and enjoy what they have, or to be sad and glum about what was lost and how things used to be. I think that the first step in being happy with change is being prepared for it, mentally if not physically. And then focusing on what one has, rather than what one doesn't have.

I am very happy to have my health (helped by regular bicycling), have food (transported by bicycle to my home), have shelter, have transportation (by bicycle), and have the opportunity to work on things that are interesting to me.

This results in a mostly positive outlook for whatever may come. That is not a positive outlook about the external circumstances, but about my own ability to deal with whatever those circumstances are.

Biking is a change that doesn't have to be a hardship, despite what the mainstream media may say about it. We have a lot of customers who write to us, telling us what great enjoyment they get out of riding their bikes. We have people who couldn't ride a regular bike due to a disability, but now can with an electric assist, and really enjoy it. One such customer recently had a little glitch with her bike, and while we had it in our shop, she called every day to find out how the repair was going -- she missed her bike!

It is my hope that as the change becomes more apparent, more people will discover ways to cope with the change that don't involve desperate lashing out into war or riots or whatever, in hopes of maintaining what used to be. I hope more people will find biking as a way to lessen environmental impacts, oil dependency, and health problems that are associated with automobile use.

This is the core mission of Cycle 9 - these are our values.


* Not widely enough, but moreso than any period in history.

**Scientific studies have confirmed the following relationship between wealth and happiness:
1. Being very poor, such that one can't afford food and clothing, makes people unhappy

2. Being very rich, such that one can afford any material luxury, also makes people somewhat unhappy (not as unhappy as #1, though)

3. Being of moderate means - enough to afford food, shelter, and clothing, but not a lot of extra - makes people the happiest.

Store is now open!

Our new store is open, at 601D W Main st. in Carrboro, NC.

Carrboro is the sister city to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The two have "grown up" and melded together. But they still retain somewhat distinct personalities. One thing we really like about Carrboro is its bicycle infrastructure. There are lots of bike paths here, that encourage people to get out an ride more.

Here's a map to the store:


View Larger Map

Brick and Mortar Store? not quite yet...

Due to delays beyond our control from the power company and contractors, we haven't been able to open our doors to the public quite yet. We're clearing the hurdles one step at a time and still aiming for this weekend to be really open. We do have staff at our location during our regular business hours to answer your questions, but don't have all of our goods available for you to see and touch just yet. Stay posted everyone!

New Store open Tuesday, Dec 9

We're getting closer on the new retail store, but we're still finishing some renovations on the building, waiting for the power company to turn the power on, and will be moving in this weekend. So, we anticipate being able to open the doors on Tuesday, December 9. We'll still be getting organized, but you can see and ride our bikes and check out what we've got on special for your holiday shopping. See you then!

New Retail Store

After a long wait, it looks like our new retail store will be open the weekend of Dec 6-7 or at latest early the following week. It will be a bit of a work in progress for the next couple weeks, but we hope to at least have the doors open on the 6th, so come on down and check us out! 

We're located at 601 W. Main Street in Carrboro. For those of you who know Carrboro, this building has been known for a long time as the "Basnight" building, for the hardware store that operated here for > 50 years. We hope that soon it will be known as the "Cycle9" building. We'll have a selection of hub motors, cargo bikes, Breezer and Marin bikes, Xtracycle kits and accessories for you to browse and try out. New store hours are as follows:

Monday closed

Tuesday 11-6

Wednesday 11-6

Thursday 11-7

Friday 11-6

Saturday 10-5

Sunday 12-5

Phone number/email will remain the same.

The Firefly: the Nuvinci/eZee Surly Big Dummy build

This project took months - mostly because I've been so busy. But finally, she is here, the "Firefly" Big Dummy:



Here are the details:
Surly Big Dummy 20" frameset. Front eZee hub motor. Rear Nuvinci continuous variable gearhub. Single speed Surly Mr Whirly crankset. Dimension cruiser bars (a bit more angled out than the Nitto bars, which I like). Xtracycle longtail kit. Blue down low glow. Monkeylight front wheel spoke light. Powergrips toe straps on bear cage pedals. Rear stoker bar (using a standard stem). Planet bike fenders. WTB speed-she seat. Hayes mechanical discs 7". SweetSkinz NightWing tires. (note, you can buy all of this stuff from us, just give a call - or watch for our new web store, coming very soon).

Here are the impressions:
I might seem biased, because we sell this stuff. On the other hand, we also sell Xtracycles, and the Yuba Mundo, along with various other bikes. So I really have no motivation to be biased towards one option over the other.

That said, the Big Dummy is a smoooth machine. It rocks. I must admit, when I first heard people raving about it, my natural contrarian tendencies had me thinking it was just a bunch of hype. Well, it is not all hype. It is real.

I rode an Xtracycle/Stumpjumper combo for years, and for several months now, have been riding a Yuba Mundo. Both were great bikes. They did the job, and they did it admirably. But it is like comparing a Toyota tercel to a Lexus. Or maybe I should think of a better analogy than cars (since we're trying to encourage people to bike more!). In any case, the handling is better than either the Xtracycle or the Yuba. The loaded stability is similar to the Yuba, but better than the Xtracycle. But more than anything, it just feels like it glides over stuff.

Part of that may be due to the Nuvinci hub. Shifting is a smooth, continuous motion. There are no specific "gears". This is particularly fun when combined with the eZee electric hub. On other bikes, I found that when accelerating from a stop, I'd have to shift through a rapid succession of gears to keep up with the motor. With the Nuvinci, as I accelerate, I can just slowly twist the adjuster knob to keep my cadence matched to bike speed. It is a really incredible experience.

I was riding along a local street the other day, with my daughter on the back. I saw a woman hitchiking, it looked like she was in a big hurry to get somewhere. I stopped and asked whether she needed a ride. At first, she was incredulous, but, she quickly realized that it would be faster than walking/running, so she hopped on. She was totally wowed by the whole experience. Maybe a future longtail convert? I hope so! Or at least, maybe she'll tell some friends about it. And the cool thing is, with her, my daughter, all our stuff, and me, the bike still handled well.

Anyway, I no longer think it is hype when I see people write that the Big Dummy is the pinnacle of bikes. Certainly, there are other bikes that are better at some things - racing bikes that are much faster, cross bikes that are more nimble, and etc. But if I were to own only one bike, this would be it.

The gear range on the Nuvinci is better than I expected. I used a 32T front/ 16T rear, the maximal ratio "allowed" by Nuvinci guidelines (though I've heard it can probably be exceeded, with a loss of efficiency in the hub). This 2:1 ratio is enough to get the bike up a pretty steep hill with a moderate load, though if I kick in power from the hub motor, then it is no problem at all. But, to my surprise, at the other end, I can pedal it up to about 25 mph in "overdrive". This was a pleasant surprise, as I had expected only ~20mph from the ratios.

As I've written elsewhere, the eZee hub motor is a great pairing for a cargo bike (as is the BMC). They are relatively lightweight, but produce good torque for hill climbing, without requiring a humongous battery pack. The operation on the front of the Firefly is pretty seamless. I thought I'd notice the weight, but on this setup, it is barely noticeable.

The bike moves through corners gracefully for a longtail. The SweetSkinz cruiser-width tires (2.1") seem to roll pretty well, I'd say at least as well as the Conti Town & Country, and close to the Scwhalbe Marathon.

Ok, enough raving about it. Some more pictures, then a few notes about the Nuvinci install at the bottom.

Front view, showing light, drink holder, go-pro camera mount for my more paranoid moments.


Rear view, showing the handlebar set up.


Shot of the cool NuVinci shifter pod, and my crane bell (not a hint of plastic on this bell, the sound is puuure):


Ok, some notes about the build. The biggest issue is that the Big Dummy has vertical dropouts, but the NuVinci is mostly designed for horizontal dropouts. However, they've now included a little torque arm and a no-turn washer that work with vertical dropouts. But it still requires a chain tensioner to work (and besides, I want to run a dual front chainring at some point). I'd read various rumors of incompatibility between chain tensioners and the "shifter pod" for the Nuvinci, pictured here:




This pod converts the cable tension into a rotational force, to rotate a shaft that changes gear ratio. It was clearly not designed with the thought that one might need to run it with a chain tensioner. I contacted Fallbrook (makers of Nuvinci) about this, and despite rumors that they are coming out with a compatible chain tensioner, the rep I spoke to did not know of that, and pretty much told me to Google search. Well, I gave up on that after finding little clear information, and just decided to order a Paul Melvin chain tensioner, and to "make" it work.

After getting the hub installed, and running the two cables (yes, it requires running two cable housings and cables for the gear changer to work), I quickly discovered the problem. That little plastic pod has to lock down onto a little disc underneath it, or it will just fall off. But the chain tensioner is in the way of it doing so. One solution I saw to this is just zip tying the thing on. Not my favorite solution. So I approached it a different way :) I got out the diagonal cutters, and started snipping away plastic on the pod, until there was clearance for the tensioner. Here is a picture of the cutaway:


It was a fair bit of cutting that had to be done, but fortunately, I was able to do it without obviously ruining the structural integrity of the pod. I hope that in a future version of the hub, they redesign the pod to avoid this. But all in all, it would be a quick and easy procedure to repeat.

However, not long after I did this, I ran across the Kore Chain Reactor, which uses a chainstay mount. That might actually work without any hacking at the shifter pod.

The wheel build on the Nuvinci was very much like building up an electric hub motor. It has to be done in a 2-cross or 1-cross spoke pattern, since a higher cross pattern results in too much spoke flex at the nipples. We used 2 cross, on a Sun Mammoth rim, and DH13 spokes, to produce an incredibly beefy wheel. (We can build these on request, just contact us).

I was able to locate the motor controller in a mostly out-of-sight location, underneath the chainstay tube (is there a better name for this on the Big Dummy?). I like that it hides most of the wiring, but it is also somewhat vulnerable there if I decide to do some curb hopping. The jury is out on this.


Not much else to say.... it built up well, and rides well.

Store update

The new store at 601 W Main St, Carrboro, is coming along well. A lot of the rough work is finished, but there are many details left to complete. We may have been a bit too ambitious for a Dec 1st opening, since that is less than a week away. But we're aiming hard to be open the following weekend, by Dec 6th. In the meantime, keep an eye on our blog or contact page for updates. Sometime in December we'll have a grand (re)opening sale.

The right electric motor

Today I finished my Surly Big Dummy build up. I'll post about that in more detail soon (with pictures). Before that, I'd been riding a Yuba Mundo recently, with one of the new BMC V2 motors. That V2 motor has a top speed of about 28mph at 36V, and higher still at 48V. It is very fast. But, the Yuba is geared such that its fastest gear only allows pedaling at about 17 mph. This means that if I had the throttle going pedal to the metal, my pedaling was useless - the bike was going too fast, and it was like a motorcycle. I was starting to get used to not pedaling if I wanted to go fast.

The Big Dummy is built with an eZee hub motor in front, and a Nuvinci continuous variable transmission in the rear for pedaling (by the way, we sell these built into wheels - someday we'll list them on our website). The eZee has a top speed around 21mph at 36 volts, and the way I have the Nuvinci set up, I can pedal the bike up to around 24-25 mph.

I noticed a difference right away. I realized how much I really missed pedaling the bike on the Yuba. It is funny - when I visited China a while back, lots of people had electric bikes, but almost nobody pedaled one. But, I (re)discovered that I like pedaling.

This made me decide - I don't want an electric bike that can go 35 mph, except on the rare occasion when I have to get somewhere in a hurry. I enjoy the more leisure pace of biking. A 20 mph hub motor provides a great balance of assistance, without dominating over the rider's pedaling effort. It is about the right amount of power to provide a balanced human-hybrid electric drive that gives exercise while getting me there in style. I might on occasion hop on the faster electric bikes to zip around (and to zoom by the little motor scooters that can't keep up - seriously, the V2-S BMC is FAST), but for the most part I'm going to enjoy bicycling pace, which is slower, more relaxing, and provides more exercise.

Used Xtracycle bikes - save big on a sports utility bike

In addition to a used Big Dummy, we have two Xtracycle equipped bikes for sale.


First up is a bike that was sold to a customer, used less than 10 times, then returned by the customer because she wasn't able to use it. This is a Marin San Rafael Euro (now called the EZ Step), wedded to an Xtracycle Freeradical kit. Brand new, this setup retails for about $1,100. We are offering this used for $790 - over $300 off the normal price, for a very lightly used bike. The frame is 17", designed for someone who is in the low to mid 5' range, height wise. Please drop us a line if you are interested. Here are some pictures:




Second up is Morgan's own used Xtracycle. She is building up a new Big Dummy for herself, with a slick continuously variable transmission by Nuvinci. So, sadly, her trusty Xtracycle rig has to go. This is a classic - based on a pink 1992 Stumpjumper frame made with Tange Prestige tubing and matching Specialized rigid fork. The bike has Deore XT components, a really nice Bontrager road triple crankset, platform pedals, and of course, the Xtracycle. Morgan is asking $525 for this, so it is like getting a used Xtracycle kit for $350 and bike for $175. Or something like that. Did I mention that it has the very comfortable Nitto Albatross bars? Or the SweetSkinz nightwing tires?

This bike setup is ideal for a tall(ish) person, 5'11-6'3 or thereabouts. Drop us a line if you'd like to see the bike, or inquire about having it shipped.






Now is a great time to get one of these - last summer, these were sold out nationwide for three months.

Gas will get expensive again....

Used Big Dummy - save gas, haul kids, groceries, more

We have a couple of nice used sports utility/cargo/family bikes to clear out, to make way for some new stuff when our new store opens in a few weeks.

If you don't like the price, please make us an offer... we will consider it. For folks outside central NC, we can ship the bikes, but we will have to partially disassemble them for shipping. So we want to make sure that they'll be put back together properly at the receiving end. Our preference is to ship to your favorite bike shop to have them do the assembly, but that is negotiable.

First up is a very lightly used

Surly Big Dummy

. It is an 18" frame, good for medium-tall folks. This is the nicest longtail bike available on the market. This bike was lovingly built by one of our employees, then he ended up deciding to move out of the state. We bought the bike back from him and are now offering it for sale.

Combining Surly’s impressive frame-building with Xtracycle’s unique cargo-carrying system, this bike will do everything your car used to do -

without the gasoline

. You can safely tote up to 200 lbs. of cargo and passengers on the Xtracycle’s top deck and in the specially-designed panniers. Here’s an excerpt from the Surly website:

"What does a Big Dummy do? Using Xtracycle plug-in components, it hauls your groceries, tools, human and animal friends, surfboard, work duds, briefcase, vacuum cleaner, firewood, moonshine, camping gear, banjo, mulch, and anything else you can imagine, while providing the functionality, durability, and sweet ride characteristics that Surly bikes are known for. Use the Big Dummy for commuting to work, running errands, taking the kids to school, farm/yard work, touring, or just riding around cuz it’s fun.
"What are some advantages of the Big Dummy vs. other cargo carrying systems? 1) It’s shorter than a bike + trailer system, so it can be easier to maneuver through traffic. 2) Compared to messenger bag or backpack, it won’t put strain on your back and shoulders. 3) Two wheels, vs. three or four on a bike + trailer system, keep rolling resistance, rotating mass, and overall weight to a minimum. 4) A longer-than-average wheelbase makes it predictable and comfortable for the long haul. 5) It offers more cargo capacity than a bike + rack system, while keeping most of the weight low and centered between the wheels for increased stability. 6) It’s modular and versatile. You only have to carry the accessories that are needed for your task. 7) It rides like a bike, on- and off-road. No trailer-induced death sway, no weird front-end shimmy."

We’re selling this bike gently used. The frame and fork are in great condition, with no scratches or dents, and the bike’s been given a complete tune-up. Aside from a couple scratches on the Xtracycle deck and dirt on the fenders, the bike looks nearly new.
Here’s what we’ve got built up:
Surly Big Dummy frame and fork, TIG-welded Surly 4130 CroMoly steel, military green

Frame measures 18” center of BB to top of top tube

Suspension-corrected rigid fork has both disc and canti brake mounts

Four bottle cage mounts; braze-on guides with continuous cable housing

Medium-width steel cruiser handlebar with red Oury grips

SRAM X.7 grip-twist shifters, Avid Juicy 3 hydraulic brake levers

TruVativ Team stem

Cane Creek Solos 1 1/8” threadless headset, blue

WTB Dual Duty XC 26” front wheel, black w/ black spokes

Schwalbe Marathon tires, 26 x 1.75

Avid Juicy 3 disc brakes w/ 160 mm rotors

Planet Bike hardcore wide ATB fenders, yellow

TruVativ Blaze ISIS Drive triple crankset and sealed-cartridge BB

GT platform pedals

SRAM X.5 top-pull front derailleur

Guizzo suspension seatpost

Brooks B-17 saddle, black

SRAM X.7 rear derailleur

SRAM PC991 chains

9-speed rear cassette

Hebie spring-loaded kickstand

Xtracycle longtail accessory kit, including side rails (V-Racks), panniers (FreeLoaders), and custom-painted red removable top platform (Snapdeck).
The Big Dummy is compatible with all Xtracycle accessories and add-on components, including Footsies (foot platforms for your passengers!) and the Adventure Rack (put in place of the V-Rack on one or both sides, it allows you to use two regular bicycle panniers per side). If you need any other accessories (lights, bags, bottle cages, etc.), just ask.
The frame alone retails at over $1000; our complete build was around $2200. This one-of-a-kind vehicle is yours for $1940.
If you’re ready to come see it in person, we’ll be set up at Johnny’s Sporting Goods, 901 W. Main Street in Carrboro, on Saturdays in November from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. You can also call or email to set up a weekday appointment at our Carrboro office.

The Yuba Mundo BMC Forsen two wheel drive electric bike!

One of the fun things about owning a bike shop, especially an electric one, is getting to try out fun and crazy new things.

We recently received a batch of new BMC motors, dubbed variously "600W" or "version 2" (V2). They are purported to be for higher speed use.

We decided to set up the BMC motor on the Yuba Mundo as a rear wheel drive, and the Mundo already has a Forsen 1000W/36V motor on the front. Why not? An all wheel drive bicycle with about 1800 watts of power. Somehow that seems appropriate for the Yuba, which can carry over 400lbs of cargo.

Pictures are below. Brief details:
- Yuba Mundo, a longtail cargo bike that is rock solid for carrying kids, gear, groceries, whatever
- Two LiFEPO4 10Ah batteries capable of about 40-50A output
- Front Forsen 36V 1000W hub motor. It is a high speed (up to 40 mph on the stand), low(ish) torque motor
- Rear BMC V2 600W hub motor. It is also a high speed (up to 30 mph on the stand), medium torque motor
- Right twist throttle pointing away from the Shimano twist shifter
- Left thumb throttle
- Lots of fun

The Yuba's gear range is not super wide, so by pedaling alone, the top speed is around 17 mph. However, this bike will easily accelerate to 27 mph with no pedaling, using the two motors. It sucks down some batteries, however - at 25 mph, it draws about 22 Amps, which equates to about 1000W continuous. With both motors, this bike will accelerate up hill, fast.

One more note before the pictures - everything here is only temporary, so there was no attempt made to make it aesthetically pleasing. On the bike configurations we ride every day, and the configurations for our customers, we work harder on the aesthetics.

I'll just close with the thought that the Yuba makes a great bike for an electric setup like this - because it can haul so much weight, mounting a bunch of batteries on there is of no concern. The longer wheelbase makes it very stable even with a big load. And, the baloon tires with steel frame take up shocks in the road pretty well.

Morgan

New retail showroom coming!

Cycle 9 is coming to Carrboro! We've signed on the dotted line, paid lots of money, and gambled that Carrboro is the right place to be for a store like ours.

Starting about December 1st, our new location will be on 601 West Main Street, where the hardware store used to be. We'll be taking half of that building for Cycle 9. This is right next to the tall red brick condominium, up the street from the Gym and print shop. Not too far from our friends at Johnny's, either.

We'll post a picture here soon.

We have lots of other news and writing to post here, which is coming soon.

Please stay tuned for a Grand Opening announcement.

Batteries are the crux!

Anyone who has had experience with electric vehicles will come to find out that the energy storage device (usually battery) is the crux of the vehicle. On an electric bicycle, the battery has the biggest effect on the weight and performance of the vehicle.

Here are some battery types commonly used on electric bikes:

-

Sealed lead acid (SLA)

- these have been around for a long time. They are reliable, but they are very heavy, and they can only handle about 200 charge/discharge cycles for typical electric vehicle (EV) use. A typical 36-volt SLA pack weighs in at almost 40 pounds. And to make them last, it is necessary to treat them very well, by always (always!) charging them immediately after use, and never (never!) running them down too low. We try to encourage customers to look at other solutions than SLA, because they will end up having to be replaced every 1-3 years, and so in the long run, they cost more. But for someone just starting out with an electric bike, they are a good option, just to see how the ebike works out, since they represent a low investment threshold (typically $100 or so for a 36 volt lead acid pack).

-

Nickel cadmium (Nicad)

- these have also been around for quite a while. These are substantially lighter (a little more than 60%) than lead acids, and are well suited for electric bike use. They handle high discharge rates reasonably well, they can be discharged all the way without damage (in fact, it is good for them on occasion), they handle low temperatures, they don't need complicated battery management circuitry, and they often last up to 800 charge/discharge cycles. They cost 2-3x more than lead acid, but they last 3-4x longer, meaning that over the long haul, they are a better value. Their main downside is that they contain Cadmium, a toxic metal, so they must be recycled properly after they finally die.

-

Nickel metal hydride (NiMH)

- these are also a nice chemistry, which are a bit lighter than Nicad for comparable energy storage. They also handle high currents reasonably well, and do not need fancy electronic battery management circuitry. However, NiMH does not like to be fully discharged - if done so repeatedly, they will not live as long. In our experience for ebike use, the Nicads seem to last longer. Also, NiMH is quite expensive right now.

-

Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)

- there are actually several types of lithium ion battery. The three most common chemistries are lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese, and lithium iron phosphate. Any one of these can be labelled "lithium ion," but they have very different properties. Lithium cobalt oxide is very lightweight (high power density), but has a big problem - it likes to catch on fire if short circuited or abused. So few if any people use these for electric vehicles.

Lithium manganese (Li-Mn)

is much safer, but weighs a bit more. It lasts about 500 charge/discharge cycles. This is a very common battery chemistry for electric bikes, and is quite reliable and safe in practice. It provides a nice balance of cost/weight/safety. Several of our kits, such as the eZee hub motor kit and our new Cycle9/Txed/8fun kit (watch our blog for details) include a Li-Mn battery.

- Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) - these are the latest/greatest (and much hyped) electric vehicle battery solution. In theory, these cells will last upwards of 2,000 charge/discharge cycles. They are extremely stable/safe, and somewhat tolerant of abuse. They can handle high discharge rates, though that depends on who makes them. They are about the same weight as Lithium Manganese, i.e. about 10 lbs for a 36V/10Ah pack (common electric bike size).

We are excited about LiFePO4 technology, but we have become a bit more cautious about it. We've found that these batteries vary widely in their quality and their ability to output currents sufficient for electric bicycle use,

depending on who makes them

. We've had long-term (1 year) experience with packs from several suppliers, with greatly varying results. This picture shows what we've had to do to fix packs for customers, supplied by one Chinese supplier:

This situation was no fun for us (we spent a lot of time replacing cells and reprogramming the battery management system, BMS) - and it was no fun for the customer who had to wait while we did that.

There are a few reputable Chinese LiFEPO4 suppliers, and we are continuing to examine options for a Chinese-supplied LiFEPO4 pack, because they are less expensive. We have 3 packs

on the way

here from one supplier who claims to have rigorous quality assurance procedures in place. If that testing goes well, we will begin selling them as a "beta test" situation, at a reduced price (

contact us for details

). Those are cylinder-cell based, 10Ah 36V LiFEPO4, with an external balancing charger, and 6 month warranty provided by the same company that provides the BMC hub motors. The good thing about these is that warranty/support is US based. The other good thing is that the packs are long and narrow (3.25"x3.25"x13.5"), making them a good candidate for attaching to a bike downtube or seat tube by your favorite attachment mechanism (duct tape works, though is not pretty). One downside is that they have very thin discharge wires. I am promised by the supplier that these hold up over time in the field, but I am thinking I may replace them with larger gauge wiring at some point.

My own opinion on those is that they should work reasonably well for bike setups with discharge rates below 20A. While they are rated up to 30A, past experience tells me it is never good to push the limits on such a rating, or cell failures are a likely result. One solution to this problem for higher-current needs is to double up on capacity, i.e. get a higher capacity battery (20Ah instead of 10Ah), which can handle higher discharges. Another is to put two batteries in parallel, so each one is providing approximately half the current. I use that solution on my bike, with two 10Ah (36V) LiFEPO4 packs in parallel to provide up to 35A for my current-hungry controller. Before, I was using just a single 10Ah pack and it was clearly unhappy with 35A - I ended up replacing a failed cell. But now that I have them in parallel, things have stabilized.

So, all that said, the most field-proven LiFEPO4 batteries that can handle high currents and really do live up to the hype in most cases are Taiwanese-made cells (and US made cells, if you can get them).

However, the USA and Taiwanese-made LiFEPO4 packs (like A123 systems) tend to induce a bit of sticker shock. But, for those who can overcome that shock, they are worth it in the long haul.

One Taiwanese supplier of LiFEPO4 is Phisiang. We've carried some of their packs in the past, like the one pictured here:

These are nice packs, and have been very reliable. However, they have two issues:

- They are low capacity only, 7Ah for the 36V version. That's a pretty small pack. Also, the discharge rate is limited to around 20A. For such an expensive battery, it is unfortunate that the packs can't handle higher currents. PHET makes larger packs, but they are unwieldy and not cost effective

- The responsiveness of the company to warranty issues (we've only had one) is not the best. Problems get resolved, but slowly and with big shipping expenses overseas.

We can still get these batteries for customers who request them, but we aren't stocking these anymore.

We looked around for a suitable replacement that has a similar quality, but higher capacity and better support. The result of that is we are now a LifeBatt distributor. This is a premium LiFEPO4 battery that is guaranteed for 3 years, and can handle the high currents required for electric bike use.

This battery features cells that can handle up to around 100 amps (10C rates), with a sophisticated onboard battery management system (BMS) for cell balancing and monitoring. There is a serial port on the battery for diagnostics, and a low-voltage-cutoff circuit can (should) be added for electric vehicles where there is not a low voltage cutoff in the controller.

More pricing and information will be available soon, but we've pictured below the 36V 10Ah pack, which is $750 plus shipping, from Taiwan.

We'd love to stop there and be done with it - the LifeBatt packs look to be really nice over the long haul. However, there are still two things to consider. First, the shape and size of the packs is not optimal for many electric vehicle configurations. Second, one of the owners of the LifeBatt company has had conflicts on public forums with various members of the electric bike community. We won't take sides in that, but we will say that we understand that there are some people who don't want to buy a LifeBatt for that reason.

So we are now on our way to another option. We will be building up custom packs for customers on request, using the same high quality Taiwanese made cells that go into the LifeBatt. We cannot claim that these are for electric bike use, because there are various patent battles over who owns the rights to LiFEPO4, and who can use them on e-bikes (silly IMHO, but that's for another blog post). But we can say that we would have difficulty preventing a customer from putting one of these on his or her bike (especially if that customer doesn't tell us about it). And we can also say that we are planning a configuration that is more amenable to strapping these packs to various kinds of metallic tubing that comes in, say, 3/4"-2" shapes/sizes. And our price will be competitive with other packs made from similar high quality cells. Interested? We are about to begin the first batch, and it will be limited to about 4 packs total, two of which are already spoken for. Please contact us if you want to know more.

Now, finally - in the meantime, we also continue to stock other options, such as Nicads that provide a viable and lower cost alternative to LiFEPO4. We have one Nicad pack that is triangular, and fits right into a triangular bag in the main triangle of the bike frame. That's a pretty nice configuration, for a much lower expense.

We will be announcing our new web-store soon, and all our battery options will be listed there. Or, you can

browse our current store, here.

Morgan

BMC Hub motors cont'd

We've had a great time testing the BMC V1 (alternatively called "Puma" and/or "400W"). It is a nice little motor that has great torque for its size, it is quiet, and so far, very reliable. We have one of these left, a wheel with a 2-cross black spoke pattern, pictured below. This is the last one we'll have for sale at our beta-test price of $550 (includes controller, thumb throttle, motor/wheel). After we get feedback from our testers, we'll be re-offering these at their market price, which will be higher.

If you want to be our final beta tester, you can use the paypal button below, or contact us. Note that with a beta test, you need to realize that you will be getting a reduced price, in return for your patience in case there are unanticipated problems (e.g. if spokes break, wheel comes out of true, etc). We will work with you to fix any problems if they occur. We also ask that after you use it for 1-2 months, you give us feedback.

Options

V1 motor kit, wheel, thumb throttle, 25A 36V controller $575.00 Kit w/Twist throttle $595.00 Kit w/6 or 7 speed freewheel $590.00 Kit w/Twist throttle and freewheel $620.00 Kit w/Tube and Schwalbe Marathon tire, freewheel $615.00 Kit with everything above $630.00

News from the front in the war on bike purism

We've had a lot going on this week, with moving our store to a smaller, temporary space while we sort out our permanent retail showroom. Nonetheless, the wheels of my mind are always turning, and here are a few resulting random thoughts:

-----
On the financial situation in the US. This is the big, big news. I can feel it in the air - everyone senses change is coming. Yes it is. The current blow-up in the big banks was not at all surprising to me. I've been reading this great site, itulip.com, for several years now. Eric Jantzen, its founder takes the long view based on history about our present situation, which he predicted quite accurately a few years ago. It is a large and complex problem that boils down to one simple thing: the USA has way too much debt. It is not just government, it is all of us. We are in hawk up to our ears as a nation. And our creditors are nations like China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Our continued spending spree is dependent upon them continuing to provide us an ever expanding credit line. Let's compare this to personal finances. One can get ever bigger credit lines and get further in further in debt - to a point. But when the creditors decide that the debts are too big to pay, they stop lending new money. What would (will) happen if (when) these countries decide to stop funding our profligate spending as a country? To sum up: ouch. A big change in the way most of us live, at least until we figure out how to get our manufacturing businesses re-started and re-build an economy based on true value, not just Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE, a term coined by Mr. Jantzen).

What does this have to do with bikes? Two things. First, a big portion of our debt as a nation are the > $500 billion per year we spend importing oil. What do we provide in return for those 4.8 billion barrels of oil we import per year? Create paper (or electronic) money. Money that can be printed, or at least created out of thin air as new treasury issues (i.e. debt). We are racking up the mother of all debts - debts that will be very hard to repay with anything of concrete value, unless we sell off all our assets to foreigners. The best way to reduce this debt, here and now, is for all of us to use less oil. Based on my own personal experience, electric bikes are the best available option, here and now, not some pie in the sky electric car that may or may not exist in the future at a price that may or may not be affordable to most of us.

But second, we as a business feel a responsibility to our community. We think that at least some of our products need to be produced locally. It is a long road from where we are now to that future, because in the past years, it's been pretty darn hard to compete with the Chinese and other countries on labor costs. But that is changing, slowly. Shipping costs are rising, while the dollar is sinking (see the stuff about our debt above, for an explanation of why). This means that as currencies like the Chinese Yuan rise against the dollar, imported products will get a lot more expensive. This is likely to re-balance the equation back towards making it favorable to produce at least some products at home. We are already starting in small ways - we build our own BMC wheels up in house, and we are designing a new DC/DC converter to power bike lights, stereos, coolers, etc directly from the main bike battery. That, too, will be produced locally. Those are small but important steps, providing local employment, and a tiny bit of insulation against drastic changes in world trade as various currencies re-balance.

-------

The eZee 26" kits are back in stock. These are still one of our favorite kits for upgrading a bike to electric - light weight and reliable. Also, easy to install.

-------

We've had a lot of inquiries about the BMC hub motors. We hand-build each wheel, so we'll be working hard to keep up with the interest.

Our next batch will be the new BMC V2 motors, which are capable of higher power and speed. Nominally rated at 600W, the new V2 motors have heavier wiring and internals to allow more extreme usage. They are capable of peak power of up to 1200W or so. We'll post more here as we get these in our hands and on our bikes for testing. We also have a V3 wheel (1000W) for testing. That wheel is supposed to be very, very fast.

-------

Well, the title of this entry mentions bike purism. I recently saw an article about the explosion of electric bicycles now available in the market. Some of the commenters wrote in with a negative attitude about electric bikes. The objections raised are the same ones I've been hearing since my first e-bike in 1994: why do you need power when you have perfectly good legs? Are you a wimp? When will you "graduate to a real bike?"

I do not think everyone needs an electric bike. There are plenty of people who are young, fit, or live close enough to work/shopping/etc that they are perfectly happy biking by leg power alone. That's great - I own 4 non-electrified bikes, and I use them often, and love them. But I also use and love my electric bike, for a variety of reasons that include: it is fun, it is great when I'm tired, it helps me carry heavy loads on my bike, it is more energy efficient than pedaling (because the food that I eat is transported mostly by oil-powered vehicles), it is great for hot weather, it helps keep me in shape, and it encourages me to ride the bike every single day and for all my errands.

So, my question is, why do the "purists" have to dump trash on the rest of us who find an electric bike practical and useful in our own lives? Excepting when I go on a rant like this one about their anti-ebike views, I don't trash on their choice of bikes. I've never once said "fixies are stupid" (referring to the trendy fixed gear bikes). What is it that compels such folks to have such an anti-ebike stance? I think it stems from the attitude that bikes are all about racing and recreation, and not for real transportation.

I've had multiple customers call up to tell us the same thing. They go into their local bike shop, and ask about an electric assist motor, and the bike shop folks look at them like they are aliens. They walk out, search on the web, and find us.

Seriously, there are many good things about ebikes, and it surprises me that so many in the bike industry in the US are so unaware of these facts:
1. Electric bikes are the most efficient form of transportation on the planet. They get over 2,000 miles per gallon equivalent.

2. Electric bikes encourage more people to ride. They help people who are out of shape, or in shape, get back on the bicycle and get in the car less. This leads to less oil use, less pollution, and a lot more fit people, reducing healthcare costs for us all.

3. A little racing bike is a lot of fun, but it is not meant to carry the items that most people need to carry in their day to day lives. For example: today I used my electric cargo bike to transport my daughter 9 miles each way to and from daycare, I picked up Chinese take out food, I stopped at the hardware store and bought a set of items including a large 3' x 3' screen protector, and I had a change of clothes handy for an important business meeting. I rode over 30 miles, transporting these things with an electric assist, that consumed a total of about 500 watt-hours of power, which costs about $0.07 (seven cents). By comparison, a typical SUV would have consumed 1.5 gallons of gas ($6.00), equivalent to 55 kWh of energy. That is 110 times the amount of energy, and 85 times the cost. A Toyota Prius is better, but still not great: optimistically estimating 50mpg for in town use, it would be about $2.40 for gas (34 times as expensive as my bike, not counting the difference in maintenance and depreciation costs), but more importantly, the Prius would consume at least 22kWh of energy, or 44 times the energy that I used on my bike. Do the purists really prefer that I just keep burning oil?

4. Electric bikes are not very complicated, but for a shop to provide good support and repairs, they do have to understand electricity. I understand why typical bike shops are reluctant in this regard. In our shop, we have a group of people with degrees in Physics, Biology, Computer Science, and (most of) a math degree. With that kind of background, figuring out what's wrong in an electrical system is not rocket science (it's not like what I do in my day job, which is developing computer programs to analyze genomes). But the typical bike person is not versed in volts, amps, power, and etc. I hope someday the USA will get to the point where many bike shops are versed in these things, because that will help all of us. But that will take a lot of time. In the meantime, I just wish those folks who complain about e-bikes being "difficult to fix" would just come out and admit that the reason they are "hard to fix" is because the person making this statement doesn't have the proper training to fix them.

5. I'm not going to "graduate" to a real bike (seriously, I've been asked when I will "graduate")! I have non electric bikes, and I ride them fast and hard. But I ride my electric bike fast and hard too. It is a great bike. There is nothing to graduate to, except an even more advanced electric bike.

C'mon bike purists, let it lie. There are more important battles to fight that affect all of us who bike, like getting better bike facilities and friendliness in our cities.

------

And finally, something that all cyclists should cheer about (electric or not): The "Bicycle Commuter Act" passed as part of the Financial Bailout Package. This provides a tax credit for "Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement," of up to $240 per year ($20 per month that the bike is used for commuting). We're not tax experts, but it seems that a bicycle hub motor used in commuting should qualify... (ask your tax person to be sure!)

Cycle9 is Moving!

Business at the Cycle9 retail store has been good this summer, and as a result, we've decided to move into the Town of Carrboro. This move will allow local folks easier access to our store and entice new people to come check out what electric-assist and cargo bikes can do to change their lives. We are still finalizing the details of our new in-town location, soon to be announced. In the meantime, we had to vacate our current location, so as of October 1, we will be in temporary digs. The good news is we will be out and about with the bikes, available for test rides as always. The first weekend of October (4-5) come see us at the

Jordan Lake Arts and Music Festival

. We will be in attendance both Saturday and Sunday. Starting the following Saturday (October 11) we will be at the Farmer's (and other fun stuff) Market at Johnny's Sporting Goods in Carrboro (

901 W. Main St

). This event goes on from 9-2 every Saturday. Come on down for crepes, coffee, local food, and of course test rides and purchases. We'll attend this event until our new space becomes available (watch the website for updates).

In addition to our weekend events, we will be available for bike pick up/drop off or other business by appointment at our office location,

204 W. Main Street

in Carrboro. Please call (919-636-5909) or email (cycle9sports at gmail.com) and we'd be happy to meet you. Our phone number and email addresses will remain the same. Our online store will remain open, and in fact, we hope to use this time to update the ease and use of our online store. With any luck, we'll soon be moving into a great new space and ready to serve you all again.
Thanks! - The Cycle9 Team

Installation of the new BMC Puma 450 watt geared bicycle hub motor

Your fearless Cycle 9 staff is constantly on the watch for new types of motors/bikes/gear. One item that caught our eyes recently was the BMC "Puma" hub motor. This mysterious beast has been seen occasionally out in the wilde(sic), but not too many people seem to know much about it.
We decided to check it out, since on paper it looks very nice:
- Brushless 450W nominal, 800W peak rated power
- Internally geared 4.8:1 drive system, that means increased torque in a smaller package
- Light weight compared to e.g. Crystalytes and Forsen motors
- It comes from a reputable motor manufacturing company. They make industrial motors for all kinds of applications.
- Included thumb throttle with basic battery status indicator
- 25A controller with low voltage battery protection, and waterproofed thoroughly (the electrical components are embedded in so-called potting material, which is impenetrable by water). Designed for 36 or 37 volt nominal battery systems.
- Good cost.
We ordered a few up, built the wheels, and Morgan installed one on an Xtracycle equipped bike. Here are some pictures of the installation:

Bare motor after wheel build:


Installing freewheel (this one is a six speed, but it can take up to eight):


Freewheel installed with the three washers: dropout positioning washer (a rudimentary torque arm), flat washer, and lock washer:

Installing rim tape to prevent spoke holes in tube. We like cloth rim tape.

Bike with Xtracycle upside down, ready for BMC hub motor:


Tightening down the axle bolts. Make sure to get them very tight, or spinouts can occur, which can tear the phase wires. Also, make sure washers are totally flat against the drop-out area. If not flat due to some protrusion, you'll either need to use a different/smaller washer, or use a tool (e.g. Dremel) to grind down the protrusion on the dropout


This shows the derailleur side, with a six speed freewheel (up to eight are usable with the BMC):


Controller, taped to the stay of the Xtracycle. It is good to mount the controller outside, against the frame, because the frame acts as a heat sink:

Plugging everything together. This shows the primary motor phase wires being plugged in. There is only one way this connection will fit together (the right way!):

Installing the thumb throttle. The BMC kit comes with a standard thumb throttle that includes a power light and basic battery charge indicator light. The install is pretty straightforward, though with certain types of shifters, there can be interference issues that need to be worked out. Picture shows tightening down the set screw with a 3mm hex key:


After putting a new wheel on, usually it is necessary to re-adjust the rim brakes for correct alignment and toe-in. If you ignore this step, the pads may squeal, or worse, rub on the tire and destroy it. This step does not apply to disc brakes (there's a different set of issues with those). The BMC does come ready for disc brakes, though we haven't yet tried that feature.


The installed BMC 450W Puma motor in the Xtracycle Freeradical:


The bike put back together. Note that it still has my original (large) Crystalyte controller as well. I took that off later after confirming that the BMC controller did indeed work:


I've now used this on my bike for several days, including daughter carrying, and other moderate loads. I have about 40 miles on it so far. I am powering it with some Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFEPO4) batteries at present.

Overall, I am impressed. It has good torque and good hill climbing. It is very efficient, and quiet. My watt-hours per mile are pretty low using this - around 13 wh/mi the first 20 miles, then around 16 for the last 20 (when I was carrying my daughter and in a hurry). It is very similar in overall "feel" to the eZee, though perhaps a bit more quiet. I'm not so excited about the thumb throttle, just because I prefer twist throttles. But installing a different throttle should be straightforward. Anyway, I didn't measure the weight before putting it on the bike, but it feels very similar to the eZee, which is around 10 lbs for motor + wheel (significantly lighter than Crystalyte motors). I will measure the weight of the next one we build up.

Top speed was actually a bit better than expected, depending on the voltage of the battery pack (i.e. whether it was just charged, or not). At 38V, the top speed was around 23 mph, and at 34V, it was more like 21mph. The power curve "feels" fairly flat (a good thing). For two days' riding over hilly terrain, on the Xtracycle, carrying my daughter (45 lbs) half the time, I averaged just shy of 18mph (including a fair number of stop lights and signs). That is a respectable number.

It does have a "soft-start" feature, meaning that when the throttle is activated, it takes 1/2 second to start going, and then ramps up a bit slowly at first. This was apparently implemented for safety reasons (and it also helps conserve battery). Some customers will like it, others will hate it. For those who don't like it, we've been informed that it is a simple modification to the controller to get rid of it, and let the motor just "take off".

The only issue I noted on the first day was that when the battery voltage got low (< 31 V), the motor seemed to "chug" or struggle. I think this was the low voltage cutout happening to protect the battery. It only happened at higher currents (> 13A). It was possible to avoid it by taking it easy on the throttle. That's probably a good idea anyway when the battery is getting low (especially NiMH or lead acid, which can be damaged if over-discharged).

For the technical crowd, peak Amps from the controller was ~21, and peak Watts was about 790. This is a nice mid-power range.

We are building these up with beefy 2.0 mm spokes, brass nipples, and Sun Rhyno Lite wheels. We like these wheels because they are pretty solid and cost effective.


Now, for those patient or interested enough to wade through all that, here's the scoop on availability. We will be selling some in limited quantities at an introductory price of $550, for wheel/motor, controller, and throttle. After we are happy that all is good with these, we'll raise the price. To get one at this price, you'll need to convince us that you can handle a "beta test," meaning that until we have more experience with reliability, there could be down time or other issues. We'll of course back up problems with warranty, but we can't guarantee that we'll be able to Fedex you the fix by the next morning. You'll also need to be technically inclined enough to do installation and basic troubleshooting (or, if you are a local customer around the Triangle, we can do that stuff).

Right now, we have 3 of the rear motors available, two being built into 26" wheels, and one into a 700C wheel. If you want to get your hands on one, please drop us a line. We're pretty excited about having another nice, lightweight geared hub motor to offer. And if it stands the test of my use, that's saying something... (I am pretty abusive on gear, and also picky).

Morgan