Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Joe, didn't you move out of CA because you couldn't handle all the hipsters?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

No, I left CA because I got a job offer in NY I couldn't refuse.

Realistically speaking, hipsters don't actually bother me. In fact, relatively few people genuinely get under my skin in real life.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Okay, just making sure the brony wasn't calling the hipster black...

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Them's fightin' words.


But in all seriousness, I just tend not to get really riled up by the mere existence of broad groups of people who do nothing more serious than drinking fizzy yellow beer and paying lots of money for clothes designed to look like they came from Goodwill. Same goes for the "sideways hat and waistband of my pants hanging around my knees" crowd, people who think schlammed Hondæ are race cars, furries, Mac / iThing fanbois, etc.

Now, the guy blasting his car stereo outside my apartment at 1am, he annoys me. So does the President of the United States*, whoever at Ford was responsible for resurrecting the Taurus after its discontinuation in 2006, and Mayor Bloomberg. All of these people are doing something which actually affects my life negatively in some way.

But hipsters? C'mon- if seeing people wearing plaid with corduroy is enough to set you off, then you need to recalibrate.


* = not any one specific President, just whomever happens to be holding the office in general.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

^^ Most sane Joe Perez rant ever candidate #1

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

The PCP must be weaker in NYC compared to Cali.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Pusha comes to mind.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Nah, I'm just real calm, man. Life's bein' good to me right now.



You know, I honestly can't even remember which one Pusha was. After they're banned, they all sort of run together.

At first I thought he was Hyper, but then I remembered that they were two separate people. Doesn't matter though, because in a way, they're not. They all fall into the category of the Willfully Ignorant.

This is a tough group, as my instinctive reaction is always to want to help people and increase the sum total of human intelligence. But the Willfully Ignorant don't want to learn, or even to engage in civil discourse and try to convince you why they're right. They just want to make noise. So for them, you gotta flip that mental switch that places them into the same category as the homeless guy sleeping in the subway station who I have to step over. I have neither empathy nor hatred- they are just scenery.


Life gets a lot easier once you start to figure all this **** out. You gotta be the cat, dude, not the terrier.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

there is no point other than wasteful energy expenditure in worrying about the things around you that you have no control over. simply accept the parameters of their existence and adjust your actions to take them into account.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Like, meow, man.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Roger digs it.

The cat simply does not care. Just don't step on his tail, and he's all good.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

"Why no, officer, my motor is incapable of propelling this motorized bicycle faster than 20 MPH on level ground, and the motor output is 999 watts."

y8s

iTrader: (8)

Seems like a secret switch to reduce power to that level would be obvs.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Dont the police in the city have better things to do, like put people smoking weed behind bars and investigate stabbings? Like seriously, you'd never be bothered for something like that, or speeding, or running red lights, or committing (non-grand) larceny in worcester, because the police are too busy doing important things like standing near road works moving their arms around, investigating stabbings, and arresting people with child **** dungeons in their basements.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

Just in case the officer brought along his standard-issue e-bike diagnostic kit.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Fortunately, yes. I've never heard of anyone in the US being hassled for riding a "normal" e-bike, even here in NY where they are completely banned altogether.

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

I've been thinking about building something electric for the last 4 years due to my daily 10 mile commute and onsite power availability at the office. Most of my focus has been in the motorcycle direction but the eBike thing is actually starting to look pretty attractive. If you guys don't mind me asking, how much money do you have invested into these bikes? From reading here over Joe and Koto's shoulders plus poking around the em3ev site, I should expect to budget what, about $1000 if I wanted to build one of these things? Assuming I could fit the motor hub thing in my 90's vintage generic aluminum frame Costco mountain bike...

Upgrade em3ev "Pick'n'Mix" kit - $406

• 9 fet 30A (36-52V, IRFB3077)
• 255rpm loaded @36V 10T Upgrade
• 26" Alex DM24 CNC
• Thumb Throttle
• Ebrakes

50V 10.25Ah Samsung Pack - $380

• Cell Type SDI-ICR18650-22P (10.25Ah)

Aluminium Case Charger - $60

• 58.8V 5A,14S Li Ion/NCM (with Switch)

That's $846 but I'm probably missing some things, like a 6/7/8/9sp freewheel and I may not have the throttle and brakes selected correctly, plus the Cycle Analyst hardware but that may not be absolutely required? Also not sure about the torque arm stuff or the spacers, but that's not looking like a huge deal.

This comes in way under the electric motorcycle project I priced out a couple years ago. Em3ev almost makes this too easy. The 25mph projected top speed is a little intimidating and Joe's 30 mile range estimate with similar hardware seems almost surreal. Or dangerous/fun

What am I missing? Any recommendation for an up-to-date n00b guide for this stuff? Thanks guys

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

I'm in at $1380 for the electric stuff and $500 for the bike. But that's with the fancy 18.5 Ah triangle battery, frame bag, and 11-tooth freewheel. I went with the 29er version to match my bike. I've attached a screenshot of my order, HTH.

The em3ev kit is totally easy. So easy I can do it.

Cycleanalyst isn't necessary, but sometimes I do think I might like to be able to monitor some of the parameters it displays. I'll probably add it down the road.

I haven't done any frame reinforcement. I maybe should. I try not to floor it from a stop, a little mechanical sympathy will go a long way IMO.

I wouldn't be scared of 25 MPH. You can go faster than that on pedal power. Of course, you'll be carrying more weight with the e-bike so take that into consideration. What kind of brakes does your Costco bike have?

Definitely do it. Then you can do stuff like this (don't mind my leg...):

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

From memory, rear brakes are either "Cantilever" or "Linear Pull" as in this random image I pulled off thegooglemachine. Definitely hub brakes though, no discs here.



I'm all flatland out here, at least for my commute anyway (I'm also in Monterey County) so I'm not sure I need the capacity or expense of the 18.5Ah triangle. It looks like I can do nearly 3 days on the 10.25Ah with room to spare if I'm reading all this correctly.

Thank you for posting the invoicing, I hadn't realized the 3SP Thumb Throttle was not included with the base kit. Aparently they don't list the battery monitor thing anymore as part of the 3SP :(

I do frigging hate the twisty shifters that are on the bike now, and the 9 quadrillion gears. Seriously, its like a 26 speed or something. Might be worth the $200-$300 investment to start with a bike I can actually tolerate (ie: the Amazon or WalMart bikes listed a few pages back) maybe with a set of discs, but we'll see.

Bitchen info, thanks Koto!

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

NP man.

Yeah I can't do "grip shift" either.

I put the full twist as my choice for the kit and ordered the thumb throttle in case I didn't like it, just so I had the flexibility. You can probably order the thumb throttle with the kit though.