Mountain E Bikes

[oldmancoyote1]

I have a Lectric XP 2.  I'm not very happy with it, but I have hopes for it once I have made a few modifications.  My greatest disappointment is how unstable it is on logging roads.  Frankly, by my experience, it's nearly unusable for prospecting/exploring as it comes from the factory.  After trying other fixes, I' think that the problem is the width of the handlebars.  They are about 22 inches.  I intend to replace mine with a 28-30 inch handlebar in the hopes that the bike will be more stable.  

In my experience, the second serious problem is the shape of the throttle/handgrip.  A 10 minute ride on a rough road, leaves the web between my thumb and first finger so painful, I have to stop.  The cause is the constant jarring and the increasing diameter of the throttle.  I hope a uniform width throttle/hand grip with a thumb throttle will be much easier on my hand.  With a wider handlebar, there should be room for both.  I'm going to try a $12 clip-on thumb lever.

I still have high hopes for the bike.  Otherwise, it seems a pretty solid design.

[GotAU?]

3 hours ago, GoodAmount said:

If I make another DIY ebike I’ll probably go for a CYC motor rather than a Bafang. The Bafang model I’ve got uses only cadence sensing and it’s a pretty raw riding experience. CYC use torque sensing to deliver a smoother ride.

The Rad bikes use Cadence sensing also- I don’t mind it at all but one does have to be careful when moving the pedals with the power turned up. I’m in the habit of holding a brake lever while getting mounted to avoid that issue…

[phrunt]

My only experience with E-bikes is borrowing JW's wife's E-Bike which she has very kindly lent me on a few occasions as JW has his own, I think he has a couple of them now and I must say they're amazing, I want one.  I made the mistake of using the throttle too much though and drained down the battery but it still held on the entire day, they just fly uphill with peddle assist and the throttle for that extra punch.  

[geof_junk]

From Wikipedia Human horse power that might be of interest. 

When considering human-powered equipment, a healthy human can produce about 1.2 hp (0.89 kW) briefly (see orders of magnitude) and sustain about 0.1 hp (0.075 kW) indefinitely; trained athletes can manage up to about 2.5 hp (1.9 kW) briefly and 0.35 hp (0.26 kW) for a period of several hours.

[phrunt]

Makes me want to just by a horse and ride it to my detecting spots, probably a bit like the old timers did, going full circle 🙂