Blog

If you've visited our shop this summer you've likely noticed that things can be really really busy. It's a wonderful problem to face and in order to help us maintain our high standards of customer support and product support need more people working at Grin!

We're looking to bring on up to 5 or 6 new recruits in the areas of manufacturing, packing/shipping, accounting/bookeeping, and sales/support. If you are already living in the Vancouver area and see yourself or someone you know fitting in with our culture and mission, please get in touch with us by email. There's a brief description of what we are looking for in the jobs/careers page.

We're in the midsts of inventory suffling right now especially as we transition over to the new L1019 connector standard, and that means a lot of savings and discounts with the remaining Anderson inventory:

MXUS Motor Sale

Now that we have the 9C RH212 direct drive motors in full stock, they'll become our new standard budget direct drive hub, and the remaining MXUS cassette motors are all 25% off. Same with our remaining 9C+ front motors.

eZee Kits:

We've also put a 15-18% sale on all the eZee hub motor kits in anticipation of having an L10 connectorized version of these later in the fall, so now is a fantastic time to get one of these venerable high torque geared motor systems at a discount. 

Stokemonkey:

We're also retiring the classic Stokemonkey kit as we move to focus entirely on hub motor drives, and have our remaining inventory at 50% off and more. If you're looking for a real classic drive system for a cargo bike this could be your chance for bargain shopping.

New 21700 Battery Options

Plus, we've recently expanded our downtube battery selection to include batteries based on the Panasonic NCR21700A cells. These are the same cells used in Tesla vehicles that became available at an unusual discount due to US/China trade issues and so we were able to bring them in and have them on sale in one go. There's a 36V 14.5 Ah, 36V 19.5Ah, and 52V 14.5Ah options, with a new enclosure standard that has an on/off switch, mini 3-pin ST charging port, and Baserunner controller compatibility.

Fatbike Rims Too

We also just received a shipment of the DHL65 rims from Weinmann to further support fatbike and large tire ebike conversions. Unlike most fatbike rims that have excessive left-right spoke stagger rendering them difficult to use with hub motor wheelbuilds, the DHL65 has holes drilled near enough to the centerline that even hub motors with narrow flange spacing can be laced successfully. These rims work well for tires ranging from 3" up to 4.5" in width and are stocked in 20" 24" and 26" diameters with both 32 hole and 36 hole drilling options. Available directly from our Rims catalog or as an option on any kit with a custom wheel build. 

Thanks in part to an unexpected article by the ebike champion and educator Micah Toll, we've found found ourselves being flooded with interest in our new GMAC Hub Motor series. Well we're glad to say that after 2 years of development testing and design iterations, the goals we set out to achieve in partnership with MAC motors for have been fully realized. It's time to properly introduce the GMAC motor now in full production:

A powerful regen-capable geared motor, with integrated torque arm, round axle, side cable exit, cassette freehub, and no clutch. Enjoy!

We hope all of our northern customers have been having a great Canada Day long weekend. If you've gone on an ebike powered camping expedition then send us your celebration pics!

For the next week we have a flat 15.2% discount on all our flagship made-in-Canada items (Phaserunner, Grin All Axle motor, LiGo batteries, dc-dc converters etc). Simply use the coupon code "Canada152" at the checkout.

Just a note to everyone that Justin and Anne-Sophie are now back from a 6-week leave after bringing a little baby girl into this world. Her name Andina was inspired from AnSo's unicycle trip across the Andes, and it's going to be a delight for us to join all the other young families who've been raising a kid from the seat of a cargo bike rather than the backseat of a car.

Anyways if there's been a lack of updates on the site that is why, and we want to thank all the staff at Grin who've been keeping things running and flowing during this very busy time of year. More good stuff (videos, new products, web updates, clearance sales) coming soon.

A trade show we've been dying to attend one of these days is the Spezi bike show happening next weekend (April 27-28) in Germany. This is where all the oddball, unusual, and otherwise special bikes get showcased, and if anyone's been keen on electrifying wheeled oddities it's us!. 

While we won't be there in person, a number of vehicles will be at the show featuring the new Grin products like the GMAC Hub Motors, RH212 direct drive motors, All Axle hubs, and the Baserunner and Phaserunner_L10 controllers.  If you're lucky enough to attend then check out Booth A.18 and Booth 3.12 for some velomobiles and cargo vehicles running this gear.  

The timing is also great for us to formally announce an updated 2019 version of the Grin All Axle motor suitable for these single side applications, as explained in this new video below.

First off we want to apologize for the longer than normal response time and email backlog as much of our team was busy both in the preparation and attendance at the Taipei Cycle Show this past week. We'll be working hard to catch up on that in the coming days and thank your patience and understanding. To all the dealers, vendors, manufacturers, component partners, and general industry friends we met at the show, what a great time and we look forward to exciting pursuits ahead. 

GMAC Motors

One of the items we demonstrated at the show is the new GMAC motor series. This is a powerful clutchless geared hub motor developed over the past 2 years in partnership with MAC motors, using a custom axle with an integrated splined torque arm. Imagine a MAC motor with perfect frame fit for modern bicycles, zero torque transmission on the dropouts, and phenomenal regenerative braking control.

You can learn more about the development and axle testing process on this endless-sphere thread. Our ambition is to make this splined axle design into a new standard that we deploy across our entire higher power motor lines to replace axle flats. If you're as excited as us and want to jump right into ordering, we have the first production shipment on hand available in bare motors and complete kits.

L10 Connector

One thing you'll notice about this GMAC motor is that we are using the 10 pin waterproof locking motor plug. Over the course of the year we will be switching to this connector standard for all of our medium and high power hub motors, replacing the Anderson and JST-SM's that we had standardized on previously.

Our hope is that this plug will become to motors in the 500-1500 watt power range what the 9pin Z910 became for the low power geared motors, with all motor manufacturers agreeing to the same pinout standard for easy swapping and interchangeability . We have an L10 version of the Phaserunner motor controller available now and will soon be expanding this to a Grinfineon offering as well.

More L10 Motors

There are two additional motors in our lineup already using this locking connector. The first is a new rear cassette motor from Nine Continent, which has better disk rotor clearance and axle alignment than the MXUS hubs. Our first batch of these has sold out but the larger sea order is expected later in April.

The second is an updated variant of our Grin All Axle motor where we've got the cable exiting on the disk side of the motor for single side applications. If you've got a catrike and are looking for powerful dual motor drive like the one here, please give us a shout.

72V Batteries and 21700 Cells

We've also released our first native 72V battery pack in a conventional downtube battery casing, assembled using the high power Samsung 27100 40T cells so that even with the small 8Ah capacity it is able to deliver 40-50A continuous currents. This is an ideal battery for fast and sporty offroad ebike builds, allowing powerful performance without the weight or complexity of most 72V setups (either two 36V packs in series or a large triangle frame battery).

At the moment this battery is in stock but for local pickup orders only as we are going through the certification testing required for shipping. We've been keeping the 21700 cell offerings on our radar as they start to catch up with the performance specs of the more mature 18650 series and this year it looks like they are finally making the grade. Expect more from us as the year goes on. 

Inbound Shipments

Our multiple-delayed Crystalyte sea shipment has also arrived this last week after being held up by customs inspections, and all the Crystalte 'H'motors are back in stock again. A lot of you have been waiting for some time for these and the wait is finally over. 

General Kits Intro

Here is the other presentation from the BC Bike Show earlier this month. It was a basic primer for people to learn about ebike conversion options before we went on to do a live install of a conversion kit. 

This is a virtual hello to all the people who came by our booth last weekend at the BC Bike Show and are just now visiting our webpage for the first time. We had a great time and were delighted to see how much this event has grown recently. (And to those who lament that the bike show is now totally taken over by ebikes, well it's been over 15 years now that we've been trying to tell you all this day was coming!)

For those who missed seeing it live, we've also uploaded a youtube video of our live demonstration of a regular bike being converted over to electric assist. We hope that this helps demystify the process for some considering their first kit purchase. It was a fun opportunity as the owner of the bike was at the show and could ride it away the next day.

The video of our earlier presentation on how to navigate various ebike conversion options should be ready to upload later this week.

With so many turn-key ebikes on display at shows like this, it's pretty common for people to ask why would they bother to retrofit a normal bike when they can just buy an electric bike that is ready to roll? It's a fair question and we decided to answer that with an in depth pamphlet that we also made available on our webpage here.

Active Transportation Survey

Unrelated to the show but also of local interest. The BC government is soliciting input on what is meant by "active transportation" which could hopefully help to direct policy and regulation governing not just ebikes but all kinds of human scaled transport. If you think electric skateboards should be on their radar or faster S-Pedalec class ebikes then this is a chance to have your voice heard. Electric bicycles have been an entirely grass roots phenomenon for most of their trajectory and it's encouraging to see the entire scope of personal mobility finally being acknowledged and discussed at this level.

See

https://engage.gov.bc.ca/activetransportation/

The BC Bike Show is the premier cycling and outdoors event in Western Canada and is happening in just 2 weeks on March 2nd and 3rd. We'll be there of course, and in addition to our exhibitor booth we'll also be hosting Cycle Stage to give more public presentations. On Saturday at 11:45 am we'll talk on how to navigate the various motor and battery options available for ebike retrofits, and on Sunday at 2pm we'll be doing a live demonstration of a regular bicycle being converted over to electric assist.

This is an opportunity to get your questions answered and to demystify some of the uncertainty regarding aftermarket and DIY ebike options. 

If you're thinking of coming out to the show to visit us, then let us know as we may be able to help with the tickets too. 

It's been found!  After five years being AWOL the first official V3 Cycle Analyst user manual is now hot off the presses. We're hoping that this document strikes the right balance at explaining the key setup options and features of the latest CA3.1 firmware in a way that's informative but not too deep in every possible technical detail. 

For anyone who has had to struggle finding concise setup information on their CA3 in the past, we're sorry and plan to make amends. One way we'll be doing that is through the continued production of CA3 video tutorials. We've got two released just right now on setting up both basic PAS sensors and also torque sensors with the CA3.1 firmware. 

While 2018 had its share of excitement and new pursuits for us, it also saw the doors close on two iconic and long serving bicycle businesses here in Vancouver who we think deserve a shout-out. The first of these is Brock Davis of Cambie Cycles who kicked off their final day with a new years party at their vacated premise on Dec 31st. 

Brock had been running his esoteric shop on Cambie St. for over 30 years, pioneering the sale and production of recumbent bikes, tricycles, velomobiles, unicycles, and of course electric bicycles well before any of these things were popular. He was dabbling with early ebike conversions in the 1990's when we were still in grade school and has been for many years one of the few shops always willing to say yes to electric retrofits. We hope to still see him riding around streets of Vancouver in a white velomobile. 

The other shout-out goes to Paul Bogaert who decided to close the Bike Doctor after 27 years and instead cycle tour the world with his wife. Paul had an early role in Vancouver bicycle advocacy and at bringing cycle riding to a less elitist/athletic and more everyday commuter crowd through their shop.  They were among the early shops to embrace family friendly cargo bikes and  appreciated the role that electric would play in making cycling more broadly appealing.