Canadian
Rans Seavo Tandem Recumbent
Massachusetts
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101
Published: 2023-07-28
My wife and I love riding our tandem 'bent but hill climbs are a granny-gear slog in this seating position, and we live in hilly New England. The bike is pretty heavy and the weight of the bike, two riders, and cargo is often close to 450 lbs (200kg), so I knew we'd need a heavy duty motor. I went with the TSM-A5 rear direct drive hub and a 36V 24a battery with the latest baserunner and cycle analyst. It worked out great! Now, we fear no hills and we find ourselves riding more often and over longer distances.
One other challenge we had with this tandem is getting the whole thing moving. There's a little cooperative dance we need to do to start rolling from a dead stop so it takes a few seconds. This can be terrifying if we're trying to cross a busy street. With the motor, I just blip the throttle to get us moving across the intersection and we don't have to panic trying to get our feet in the clips.
The built-in torque sensor was one of the main reasons we went with this motor. This was our first ebike but I test rode a few, and using cadence to determine assist level just felt really unnatural. The torque sensor is a massive improvement and makes us feel super-human. We also really like the regen capability. I barely use the brakes any more - the regen is just super effective. We set a 25mph (40kmh) speed limit which keeps our speed down on even the biggest hills with no braking.
Hayley at Grin was a vital contributor to this project both pre- and post-sale. This is an unusual bike so I wanted to make sure everything was going to fit before purchase. Thankfully it all worked out great and we're very happy with our new ride! Thanks again, Hayley!
