Blog

This coming Wednesday at 7:30pm, Justin will be giving the first full length talk about the coast to coast electric bicycle trip he completed last summer. The format will be a mix of video and slide show, compiled from the 23,000 pictures that were taken once a minute from the handlebar camera on his bike. It will cover the trials of touring by electric bicycle and the fascinating people encountered and places explored. Anyone interested to hear more should check it out and learn about VEVA as well. The event is held at the SE1 cafeteria building at BCIT in Burnaby. Be sure to print the map or make good notes because the exact building can be confusing to find on the BCIT campus.



Also, the March kilowatt-hour ebike ride was another blast, with a turnout of 14 riders who all biked out together for drinks on Granville Island.

The remaining bugs in the V2.1 Cycle Analyst code appear to have all been fixed, so we are now releasing this in a special form for electric vehicle enthusiasts. CycleAnalyst 2.1, with datalogging serial output, is available OEM style in a 200V high current board with an extra large display screen and no enclosure. It is ideal for installing behind the dashboard of electric cars, scooters, motorcycles, and other larger EV's that can benefit from a much bigger display size. More information will be coming soon but check out the CA page for preliminary details.

We have 5V 10 watt, 6V 10 watt, and 12V 20 watt DC-DC converters in production now. These devices allow you to run powerful 3rd party headlamps, sound systems, and other electronic gadgets from your main electric bicycle battery. Like our ebike LED lights, these DC-DC converter units are simple, rugged, compact, and waterproof. They are engineered around the specific needs of electric bicycles, are made in Canada, and we guarantee them for life. More information will be posted in the coming week on our Lighting page.

The eZee kits are well thought out and include a spacer washer, which helps the hub motor fit in bicycle dropouts fit for quick release. We now have an open 'C' spacer washer made up from 3/16" stainless that can provide this same functionality to our other hub motors that are installed on front forks which have a recessed cavity and 'lawyer lip' for quick release nuts. With the open 'C' shape, it is possible to slide this over axles that have wires and connectors coming out the end. As well, we have redesigned the torque arm plate slightly, increasing the thickness to 3/16" for greater strength.

There is a shelving unit in our hallway with an increasing amount of ebike stuff accumulating on it as a result of our activities. This includes sample parts from companies that we decided not to follow through with, battery packs that didn't meet our QC needs or which were used by our demo bikes, various used ebike components that have been returned to us but are still functional, and a number of connectors and cable assemblies that we don't really have use for. These could be perfect for the DIY project person and they are all listed at take 'em away prices for customers coming by to visit our shop.

Although we've been pretty sold on hub motors for the vast majority of conversions, there is a case to be made for mid-drive systems especially in the application of load and cargo hauling applications. That is where the Stokemonkey system from Clevercycles has been a natural match. It is designed to install around the Xtracycle attachment which adds a whole new realm of utility to your bicycle. And unlike most other mid-drives which have a loud and whining gear noise to put up with, the Stokemonkey using the familiar low-rpm Crystalyte motors is completely silent. We have a limited number of Stokemonkey setups that will be listed on our kits page, and will be offering the Xtracycle and accessories in the near future too.

Our latest shipment from Crystalyte included a few goodies to make note of. First is that we received a number of 72V pedal first controllers with a 30 amp current limit using the IRFB4110 mosfets. For the first time this means that we have a sensorless controller option for people wanting to run the large 5300 series hub motors, and for those who want to drive the Nine Continent and 400 series motors to higher power levels than is possible with 20 amps.


Secondly is that Crystalyte has sorted out both disk brake compatibility and waterproofing issues in the latest samples of motors. The rear disk motors are now available with an side cover that has an integrated 44mm bolt pattern for attaching disc rotors, the days of screw-on non standard discs are over. As well, there is a rubber sealing ring surrounding the axle entry to the side cover, and the wire entry slot is filled with a sealant. We have a small number of front and rear disk 5304 Crystalyte hub motors available, as well as spare 5300 series side cover plates for those who want to adapt a regular rear to the disc version.



Finally, the Project Motors which we had Crystalyte make a couple years ago ended up getting used in several interesting vehicles that required single sided axle support. Rather than ordering separate project motors for each winding type, this time we had a custom set of project motor axles manufactured, and with our press we can swap the axle out of any 400 series hub motor we have stock and replace it with one of these.

Our online store site has evolved quite a bit from when it was just an html table of a dozen items and prices a few years ago. We have been hard at work on the latest revision, which includes a more browse-able layout for all our parts, a search field, a full featured cart system with no pop-ups, and best of all an automatic shipping calculator that gives instant freight quotes to most destinations in the world. We are trying to make purchasing conversion parts as straightforward as possible, so check it out and give us your feedback.

The summer season seems to be just around the corner here in Vancouver. The decent turn-out at the last Kilowatt Hour ebike ride organized by Steven Luscher is sure sign that people are packing in their winter projects and are ready to head outdoors on their bicycles. So come out to the next ride on Friday, March 13th, we'll make it a big one to bring on 2009. As well, the Wednesday following the ride, March 18th, Justin will be giving a full length video/slide show presentation of his cross-Canada trip at the VEVA meeting. More details on both these events will be posted as the dates approach.

But don't get too excited, a job is just a job right? We are looking for someone with excellent customer skills, some sales experience, and an understanding of administrative duties. See our posting on posting on Craigslist.