A remote thanks to everyone who came to see us at the Spezi show in Germany last weekend. What an amazing congregation of innovators, enthusiasts, and business leaders pushing the envelope of small scale human transport. From pedal generator drivetrains to collapsible solar quads, this fair had it all and we look forward to coming back.

It was encouraging to see so many setups already sporting Grin hardware and to talk to so fans of hub motors, regenerative braking, and open systems. Europe is ready to challenge the Boring Bosch takeover, and we will be working hard to make our stuff more readily available that side of the pond.

Ever since we heard about the Spezi bike show in Germany we knew this was an event we were born to attend. Covid got in the way the last few years but finally now the stars are aligned and thanks to the help of our partner ebike-solutions, we will be there to exhibit! 

This is the show featuring all the "special" bikes that get a short shaft at the normal trade shows. That includes recumbents, tandems, cargo bikes, velomobiles, folders, trailers, quads, and all the other creative wheeled misfits that the mainstream bike culture doesn't quite know what to do with. 

We'll be there with examples of Grin's All-Axle hub motors, air shippable LiGo 10X batteries, and regen capable motor controllers. This open hardware standard provides electrification options and versatility that stand in sharp contrast to the proprietary locked Bosch and Shimano systems that currently dominate Europe. 

The show is in Southern Germany, close to Switzerland and France, and we looks forwards to meeting up with many of our European customers and partners at our booth. So come by and check it out. 

It was exactly 1 year ago that we announced the release of three new torque arm designs. The torque arm V5, V6, and V7 set a new benchmark for both performance and bike compatibity, making the most of a dumb Chinese axle standard. We've now completed the final and most complex installation video for this set, with the "Built for Regen" Torque Arm V7: 

That follows in the footsteps of the V5 and V6 installation videos from a bit earlier. 

These splined insert torque arms have now largely replaced our previous designs, and are also available from our own store but also directly from Amazon for customers in the US (V5,  V6,  and V7).

M16 Axles

By popular request, we've also made a 16mm axle insert option for the V5 and V6 arms. This gives compatibiilty with more powerful motors that use larger M16 axles. A similar option for the clamping V7 Torque Arms is also in the works.  

Thanks to all who came to visit us at the BC bike show the previous weekend!

The attendance levels were great and our talk on our 20 year experience dealing with lithium battery safety on ebikes was also well received. For those who wanted watch but couldn't attend the show, we've just published a filmed version of this talk on youtube:

Grin's Perspective on Ebike Battery Fires, 20 Years of Experience - Live from the BC Bike Show

Non-UL Battery Blowout: 25% Discount

As explained in the video above, the recent media attention around micromobility battery fires has brought a large scrutiny to the industry, and dramatically changed the insurance landscape so nearly everyone in North America is required to have batteries with UL2271 certification. 

We of course are included in that, and in order to meet the insurances' requirement that 100% of our battery packs are UL certified we have just started a blowout sale on ALL our current battery inventory. Every single non-UL battery model is currently discounted by 25%. This is your chance to get a high quality pack with the best cells at a great price.

Are these batteries less safe?

Absolutely no less safe than a UL certified pack. Given an expected construction standard and BMS functionality, the safety of a battery is almost entirely determined by the brand of cells used in the pack. These batteries are all built using top-of-the-line Panasonic 18650 GA cells or Samsung 50G 21700 cells which have a nearly flawless track record. They have an established robust BMS circuit and sound mechanical construction, but due to peculiarities in UL's BMS requirement they can't quite be UL certified, and our insurers don't like that.

Their stubbornness is our pain and your gain! 

Are they warrantied

Yes, our standard Grin warranty still applies and the batteries are as reliable as they have always been. Our plan was to offer both UL and less expensive non-UL batteries and give customers a choice, but the insurance folks want us to exclusively carry UL certified batteries to renew our term.

When will you have UL listed packs

By later this spring we will be offering exactly the same batteries but with UL2271 certification. Because of the expensive testing fees we will start off with just a couple of the most popular models, and gradually add more varieties as cash flow allows. The UL certified packs will be functionally identical to what we offer now, but will simply cost more, both to pay for the testing fees and the more expensive UL BMS boards.

It's that time of year when people are thinking more about the upcoming bike season and the BC bike show is just around the corner to help kick it off!

We will have a booth showcasing our new kit systems using the Superharness with modern displays if you want to come by and have a look. 

Plus you'll get to see how our almost fully flushed out and almost fully regulatory certified LiGo 10X Batteries are progressing. There are many other local bike and ebike exhibitors at the event and it's a great chance to check out BC biking and outdoors scene.

Live Presentation

On Saturday at 11:30 am we will also be giving a presentation on the Cycle Stage all about lithium battery safety, which has been a topic heavy in the news recently.  With nearly 20 years in the field we have more than enough firsthand exposure to share relevant experiences and separate the facts vs fiction. 

Free Tickets

We've also got a handful of free tickets to give away to our loyal customers who want to attend, so send us an email if that will help you show up. They are first come / first serve. 

 

What do you want? A superharness! When do you want it? Now! 

After a lengthy development effort we're launching a product that ties together all the great features of a Grin kit together with the standard modern ebike displays that everyone keeps asking us about. 

This Superharness is more than just a main cable harness, it's a bit like having a mini Cycle Analyst hidden inside your wiring to implement some key features. This includes:

• Supporting Digital Ebrake Cutoffs that let you modulate and increase the regen brake force with the throttle.
• Supporting Analog Ebrake Levers that generate a proportional braking signal as the lever is pulled.
• Supporting Bidirectional Throttles, which twist forwards for power and backwards for regen control.

In addition to that, the harness also includes convenient DC power taps for hooking up both front and rear lights, with various options in how the lights are controlled.  For full details on this and other functionality, have a look at the hot-off-the-press Superharness User Manual. 

We decided to go with the popular waterproof Higo signal plugs for the throttle and ebrake connection, and over the coming months you will see more and more throttle and ebrake options listed with the Higo termination. 

There is currently a SuperH Kit Option for all of our motors that terminate with the L1019 cable, which you can find on the SuperH Kits Page. We've also wrote a Kit Types getting started page which explains the differences between these new kits and our traditional Cycle Analyst based system. We are working hard to get the V6 Baserunner_Z9 controllers out so that we can do the same with the lower power kits as well and expand this to our complete catalogue of motors. 

We've been receiving tons of interest in the 45mm fatbike All-Axle motors and are glad to say that our testing and development is going well, with an April release being quite realistic.  We're developing a front 45mm option for 135mm quick release and 150mm thru axle forks, and rear options for 170/190 quick release and 177/197 thru-axle frames. 

If you're keen on these more powerful 45mm fatbike All-Axle motors, we've opened the door to a $500 USD ($650 CAD) deposit option to be first in the line! Those who put in a deposit will not only get 10% off their motor or kit purchase, they'll also have options to get pilot release motors earlier in the test process.   

The busy bees have been at it this winter and have got the V3 release of both our front and rear All-Axle motors in full swing.

What's New?

This includes support for more dropout standards, more drivetrain options, better cable clearance, and most critically it adds integrated torque sensing to the rear hubs. That gives both full backpedal regen capabilities and torque sensing control without any need to install a bottom bracket sensor making installation a real breeze. You can read about the details here or just let the video do the talking!

We've also completed the full owner manual and have made 3D CAD model exports with all the different adapter configurations for people who like to do full modeling of their project build and motor integration.

The V3 hubs are listed on our store page by themselves or as components of full conversion kits. Our manufacturing team is having a hard time keeping them on the shelf so if the store page says "back-ordered" just place the order anyways to get in the queue as they come off the line.  

In addition to the current special on the torque sensing TSM-A5 Motors, we've also got a 25% off clearance underway on our remaining stock of prelaced eZee kits, either as a barebones system or a complete CA3 setup. 

The eZee motors set the stage for powerful geared hub motor design, and have been a reliable standby of Grin's kit offerings for many years. For the most part we've moved to a business model of only stocking unlaced motors and doing custom wheelbuilds into rims, and need to clear more shelf space for unlaced hubs.

The result is a great deal for you, we've got both 24" and 26" wheels left and they come with a tube and tire already installed for an extra straightforward installation process. 

Hey there, last week we published the first episode in a 3 part series we're doing all about power (watts) and how it relates to electric bicycles. 

For parts 2 and 3, we're hoping to fully instrument some Shimano and Bosch mid-drive ebikes to do proper performance analysis and power metering. Of course, none of our staff ride any of these proprietary factory ebikes for the reasons here, so we're reaching out to our fans and customers.

Do you happen to have a Bosch/Shimano ebike and wish you had gotten a DIY hub motor bike instead with an open and customizable platform, a powerful hub motor, and regenerative braking? If so we're offering a direct upgrade/exchange of your used Shimano/Bosch ebike for one of our front or rear All-Axle hub motor kits that you can install on any bike frame of your choice.

Please reach out should that tickle your fancy. Ideally, we're looking for people in the broader Vancouver area who can do the exchange in person. Your trade-in will help provide valuable info, comparison metrics, and hacking potential that we will share liberally with the ebike community at large!