Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

When suddenly, parts!

y8s

iTrader: (8)

how is that trader joe's dunkel? is it a dark hefe or what?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Indeed- I've found a couple of the beers which are private-labeled under the JosephsBrau brand to be quite drinkable, and a remarkable bargain.

The Dunkelweizen and Hefeweizen, in particular, are quite good. Certainly not the finest examples of the style, but perfectly satisfactory and cheap enough to keep several packs in the fridge as an everyday garage beer. Of the two, I slightly prefer the dunkel, but they're both decent.

The Stockyard Oatmeal Stout is another TJ brand which, like the weiss beers, is quite yummy and an excellent bargain. All in all, I'm finding TJs to be an excellent source of cheap, everyday beer.

All three are made by Gordon Biersch here in CA.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

good to know. I just picked up an Erdinger Hefeweissebeer Dark today (or whatever name they give it) and it's never cheap to buy a biggish dark wheat beer from germany. they're all like 4 bucks. I imagine the TJ's equivlanet is $4 for six or some crazy deal.

I suspect the more european dunkel weisse styles are going to be better but it's so hard to find a specific brand or have the opportunity to choose from more than just the one a store has in stock that it's a crap shoot anyway.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Well, it's been almost a day. You got those parts installed yet?

olderguy

iTrader: (19)

Is that Gif Campbell?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I think they're something like $5.50 a pack or thereabouts. Less than a buck a bottle at any rate.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I'm impressed.

The bike is done, first ride today. And it's pretty freakin' sweet. I'd hoped that this build would be a significant improvement over the last one, but I was thinking incremental, not radical. Compared to the first bike, this is like taking a VW Rabbit diesel, strapping an MP62 onto it, then crushing it and buying a Lotus Elise instead. Not by any means a drag queen, but just a rock-solid performer.

Specifically, the hills no longer exist. They are simply gone. Those steep grades that used to kill me with the Amped system (not to mention killing the Amped battery itself) are hardly noticeable anymore- I was climbing 'em at 15-20 MPH without any indication of protest from the bike, and I've even got the system current limited to 25A at the moment (the battery and controller are fully capable of 40A or more, although the motor might not like that.)

On the last build, I thought I was making a wise decision selecting a direct-drive motor over a geared motor, basing my thoughts entirely on the motor's size and rated power-handling capability. What an unbelievably stupid decision that was. Despite the fact that it's half the size and weight, this little planetary-geared wonder is an absolute torque monster. Trying to climb those hills with a direct-drive motor is like driving your car in 5th gear all the time. With this motor it's like driving in 1st all the time, except that you have an eleventy-million RPM redline and the motor is both massless and frictionless. I actually had to re-map the throttle to make it less sensitive, as giving it even 1/4 throttle from a stop makes the front wheel want to leap right off the ground if you happen to be leaning back.

Anyway, the pictures:






The battery is a perfect fit, with just enough space for some padding around it on the inside of the bag. It's a fair bit heavier than the old one (LiFe vs. LiMn) but it's by no means burdensome. It's also 35% higher voltage and about 10% higher capacity. With the much smaller motor and the aluminum frame, this bike is noticeably lighter overall than the last one. It's on the charger right now- I'll weigh it later. Having the smaller side-baskets as opposed to the large top basket also helps the handling with a full load.

Someone had asked about range a while back. I took the short route to and from the office today, covering 9.7 miles and consuming 3.9 Ah. Did the usual amount of pedaling, and probably burned a lot more power than was necessary gunning it up those hills, but with this ride profile let's call it 22.8 miles range to 80% discharge, and 28.6 miles to complete discharge, assuming the battery's 11.5Ah rating is accurate. Obviously that can be extended by riding more conservatively than I was today, and given that it's been several months since I last rode, I'm a little out of shape and probably contributed less human power than I could have.

On the other hand, motor temp at the end of the ride was only about 50°C, which tells me I could probably up the amperage quite a bit if I wanted to.

So I will.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Thanks!

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

So when do you install the turbo and MS?

18psi

iTrader: (76)

That and it desperately needs 6UL's with RS3s

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Well, I've got the CycleAnalyst, which may only be a piggyback, but I think I get credit for running prototype hardware and beta software, and for figuring out the bug in the temp sensing circuit.

As for the turbo, well, electrons can in fact be turbocharged, but it requires a slightly larger device than this frame can probably support.




Haha. The 6UL may be a light wheel, but two of 'em in 15x8 with with R-S3s would weigh only four and a half pounds less than the entire bike complete with all the electrons it can hold.

I just weighed it at 74 lbs, which seemed like a lot until I though of it in that context (two wheels plus a Chihuahua). So thanks for that.

curly

iTrader: (25)

Did you get a weight on your previous setup? My bike is around 35lbs IIRC, after fenders, lights, bottles, pump, computer, tools, etc.

Just got back from a 10 mile ride with some heavy hills, with basically your exact bike...minus the electric parts. Trek's basic mountain bike, hard tail. No discs though.

I wish I had your bike, I was lucky to hold a steady 5mph up the moderate hills. On the heavy hills I had it in 2nd or 3rd (first was designed for vertical hills) and just stared at the ground hoping to die. So probably 2 or 3 mph?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I honestly don't remember. It might be in this thread somewhere.


I'm quite liking it. Took the longer way into work this morning which has a big uphill section which contains some 10-12% grade (the same one where, going the opposite direction, I crashed into the truck carrying nuclear fuel and puppies a month or two ago) and it took it like a champ. I was pushing the bike (and myself) pretty hard, but it didn't complain and I was able to maintain about 18 mph up the whole stretch. The Armstrong I passed looked like he was standing still by comparison.

You know what's even more fun? Speeding on a bicycle. As in, going fast enough that the little speed limit sign with the radar gun in it flashes "SLOW DOWN" as you pass it. (35 in a 25) Admittedly, that was downhill and I think I was doing more of the work than the motor at that point. The way its wound, current really falls off between 25-30 MPH.


And now, an observation:

Bicyclists are dicks.

Consider certain other niche forms of transportation. Motorcyclists commonly wave when they pass each other. NA owners wink the headlights. NC owners pull over to the side of the road and perform fellatio.

Bicyclists just ignore you totally. Not even a nod of the head. I'm talking about the spandex-wearers here, of course. The more ordinary commuters will even go so far as to look at you and say "good morning" or words to that effect, but not the Armstrongs. They're apparently too superior to even acknowledge the existence of others on the road. (I would imagine that they even hold pedestrians carrying adorable kittens in contempt.)

Ah well. I'll continue to be polite to them as I pass 'em at 20 MPH uphill.



I did have something really surprising happen this morning though, and I'm still a little freaked out by it. I was cruising down Poinsettia Ln. going east. Poinsettia is four lanes, divided, with wide bike paths. Very nice road, good visibility.

So coming up behind me and on my left is an SUV. He passes me and is signalling a right turn. I was going sufficiently fast that he only had maybe a 30 meter lead on me by the time he got to the intersection, at which point he stopped and waited for me to pass before making the right turn.

?!?!

The natural behavior for any driver in the US, and even moreso the driver of an SUV, is supposed to be either complete oblivion towards bicyclists, or to act in a way which maximizes the probability that the bicyclist will be killed. So needless to say I was already hard on the brakes and slowing in preparation for the impending assault. But not only was this fellow aware of my presence, he actually YIELDED to me, rather than attempting to murder me.

What is this society coming to?

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

where's the burnout vids?

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Agreed. I live in suburbia, and we regularly get the types that honestly believe I must share the road. Yes, you have the law on your side. I however, have a 3700# steel box traveling much faster than you. I refuse to cross the double yellow for you. You can argue just how right you are from your wheelchair, dipshit. I'm on my way to work, you are simply wasting energy.

This goes double for the runners who think that they must run in the road when there is a perfectly good sidewalk less than three feet away.

Anyone who is not wearing racing clothing is exempt from my ire.



He hasn't read any of your rants?

y8s

iTrader: (8)

Also
they travel in packs--which only serves to make their behavior worse. One armstrong running a red light is bad. 50 of them following the first guy is hard to swerve around.

pusha

iTrader: (5)

skidude

iTrader: (3)

So you're the ------- who always runs me off the road? Wait until it's safe to pass, move the ---- over, and pass me like you would any other vehicle going 20mph.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

agreed that it's dick to run a runner/cyclist off the road.