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Next Wednesday evening, Justin will be delivering a presentation at the monthly VEVA meeting at BCIT, called "Lead Free since 2003". This will be an informative and entertaining summary of all his experiences, lessons, and tribulations with advanced rechargeable batteries since he got involved with electric bikes seven years ago. There is a reason that so many in the EV business groan at the mention of batteries, and this presentation will show you why in all the gory details. The talk is at 7:30pm at the BCIT cafeteria, and is open to both VEVA members and the public.

The Vancouver Public Library is hosting an event on Saturday Nov 20th from 12:00 - 3:30pm that features innovating organizations as part their "One Book, One Vancouver" program. This all stems from Vancouverites choosing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as their favorite book to read. We've been invited to participate and will have a booth and demo vehicles for people to ride and learn what we believe the future has in store. Note, due to some unforeseen circumstances we will no longer be able to host a booth at the innovation expo, though it will still be a great event to check out.

Since renaming our company GRIN in May, we have been struggling a bit to come up with an ideal logo to go along with it. Our little flying ebiker that serves as the ebikes.ca homepage logo (dating back to the UBC electric bike club days) is fun, but too complex. Do you think you have an idea that suits our style and image? A stylized way of writing "GRIN" with a doodle that communicates what we're into?

If so, we'll be giving away $1000 USD of store credit if someone comes up with a design that we like and decide to use. So feel free to send any sketch ideas that you have via email to logo@ebikes.ca 

Back in 2005, Justin and his friend Matt Chudleigh spent a summer after university figuring out how to design and build a dedicated display meter for ebikes, with no real idea what they were getting into.











This unit was christened the "DrainBrain", and its eventual success turned our operation into what it is now. It's time to show our appreciation to these early adopters who took a leap of faith in our technology when we were just a couple guys in a garage. So, from now until the end of November, we will be offering the new large display Cycle Analyst at 50% off to anyone who purchased and still owns an original DrainBrain from 2005/2006.



In order to get this, please send a photo of your bike setup with a "DrainBrain" running, or send a copy of your original order details, and we will get you on queue for the new Large Screen unit with enclosure for just $75. It's our way of saying thanks, things would have never happened without you. The world owes a lot to Early Adopters.

It has been well over a year in the making, but we have at last our own custom enclosure molded for the large display screen Cycle Analyst. This means regular ebikers and not just large EVs can make use of the wider screen and font size, while only taking up a bit more real estate on the handlebar than the original CA.

Some other improvements we made:

* Silicone Rubber Keypad. Left and Right push buttons have more responsive tactile feel
* Glued and sealed scratch resistant window, clear visibility to backlight LCD screen without risk of water damage
* Brass inserts in all screw holes - Open and close the CA as many times as you want without worry of stripping plastic threads
* Mounting Options - In addition to a horizontal hold that fits our standard handlebar bracket, there is a 1/4" threaded insert to allow easy customized attachment schemes and compatibility with handlebar camera mounts
* More cable ports - We now have 6 tapered channels in the back plate for feeding wires. So there is no problem adding additional cables for Lumenator lights, data logging circuits, throttle interceptors, DC converters, speedometer sensors and whatnot.







We are currently engaged in a beta-testers release of this device to early DrainBrain users, with full scale production beginning in mid-December.

We now have a new higher capacity battery option for both the eZee and Nine Continent kits. This 36V pack squeezes 14 Ah of capacity into the light and low-profile eZee flat enclosure box, using the same Samsung cells that have been working so well in our 48V packs. These flat packs also have an eZee double-decker carrier rack option which can be selected in lieu of the seat post clamping mountain bike rack, making it easier to carry panniers and additional cargo. We have a limited number of both on hand and coming in during the ensuing weeks, but full stock will not be until Jan 2011.

2010 has been a summer that was filled with unicycle events in Vancouver; from the popular Wednesday drop-in rides at Science World, to the Muni Weekend that saw over 50 mountain unicycle enthusiasts converge here from all over the continent, to the making and unveiling of a one-wheeled electric assist vehicle. We're committed to fostering the scene and are pleased to now carry the Schlumpf 2-speed uni-hub. This hub takes unicycle commuting to a whole new level (the level of bicycles!), allowing you to gear the unicycle up to go 50% faster at the click of a heel.

The KH model Schlumpf hubs are in stock and can be built into any unicycle frame that uses 42mm ball bearing cups.

Sometimes great products get a little bit buried in the list of parts on our store site. Last month a small group of us with ebikes were on a ferry from Saltspring Island when some other passengers started to inquire about all the wires and gadgets on the bikes. A short demo of Bruce's ebike with the VeloAmp Sound System soon turned into a full fledged dance party on the ferry deck that lasted the entire trip. Click below for footage:



Guys, you can do this too! Bring fine high fidelity music to public spaces with all the energy stored in your ebike battery pack. Bruce has now made a webpage for his VeloAmp project with additional information and specs, and we keep them in good stock on our store accessories page. We are still looking for handlebar mount speakers that can do justice to this amplifier, but in the meantime quality house speakers do the job well.

In spite of the non-stop rain, there was a great turnout at the annual VEVA electric vehicle show on Sunday. This included a sample "Tango" which is one electric car we can get behind (unlike those Tesla roadsters), a few well converted electric bikes and trikes, and even a vintage 1950's outboard motor converted to electric power. A reporter from CNN happened to show up and took some interest in the electric assist unicycle, which got featured in an iReport here. Looks like Justin set himself up for a bit of a ride next summer!

The electric bike show hosted in conjunction with eatART's Power the VAG event brought together a great collection of people and ebikes, including the famous Luke (liveforphysics) who came up from Washington state with his 14kW RC rocket bike. See his postings on the ES forum. Huge thanks to Melisa who showed up just in time to be our celebrity judge and event photographer. See her Flickr page for photo summary, list of prize winners, and funny commentary.