Canadian
SB Cruiser 2WD Heavy-Cargo Trike & Dog Carrier
Phoenix, AZ, USA
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405
Published: 2023-07-31
This one has evolved since about 2015, with the original need to carry Tiny, one of my St Bernards at the time, as well as groceries, cargo, and the copious amounts of dog food required. Tiny, and later Kirin, both loved to ride in it, so there is an avatar of Tiny on the trike, and both their collars are there. The trike has outlived all the dogs except JellyBeanThePerfectlyNormalSchmoo https://twitter.com/PerfNormSchmoo who does not ride in it anymore, but it is still my only transportation, and a mobility aid in that without the motors I wouldn't be going anywhere (too many parts of me worn out), and still regularly carries 200-300lb grocery loads, and similar dog food loads less often.
It can also pull a custom-built trailer, and has hauled several hundred pounds of dog food multiple times, and a piano once, and many other varied large and/or heavy loads twice it has carried a queensized 12" thick foam mattress on top. I don't know what it's maximum load is I haven't broken it carrying things yet. -) but I try to keep it to 300lbs directly on the trike, and use the trailer for heavier things.
It was built of assorted reycled materials to be adaptable to each of those as the need arose, though it has since been narrowed down a bit, to create a slightly bigger and more secure (and cooler in the desert summer heat) cargo space that is permanenly installed, which also includes significant lighting for better safety in city traffic.
Braking is primarily handled by a single Avid BB7 MTN 200mm on the front 26" wheel goes thru pads sort of quickly but has so much braking power I can easily skid the wheel before reaching even my wimpy max lever pull. (a rebuild of the back end to install rear brakes of the same kind has been on hold for at least 3 years now).
It handles far better than you would expect an upright delta trike to do, because almost all the weight is down low and centralized. It is rather heavy with me on it and typical everyday cargo it is probably between 400-500lbs I'm not quite half of the lower estimate.
ELECTRICS:
The basic drive system is two (presently mismatched) hubmotors, an MXUS 450x and an ex-stromer Ultramotor (sans internal controller), each in a 20" rim with 2.25x16 moped tires.
Originally used a pair of older Grinfineons but today just the MXUS is driven by one of those, and the UM is driven by a generic similar in power but lacking in the functions.
All are powered by the same 14s 40Ah battery of EIG NMC cells, with a Meanwell HLG-600H-54A as an onboard charger.
Both are controlled via throttle from Cycle Analyst 3.1x, which is setup to read the cadence sensor of a TDCM BB (not using torque sensor at present), and output a throttle signal to both controllers, as the system is normally pedal-controlled. It is speed limited to 20MPH to comply with AZ legal restrictions. There is a metal ATV thumb throttle operating a cable-operated hall throttle box to use for a "get started" button for conditions where I cannot push hard enough on the pedals to move them and get going normally, and for increasingly-less-rare times when I am physically unable to pedal.
Side note: because the Grinfineons respond to proportional regen on the throttle input, and the CA is designed to send that when the ebrake signal is engaged, but the CA has no second input for controlling that braking level and instead uses the throttle to do so, I added a second COT pulled by the left brake lever, and relays engaged by that lever's ebrake switch that swap the CA's throttle input to that COT instead of the thumb-controlled one (and also turn on the CA ebrake signal and turn on my brake lights), so the brake lever modulates the braking level. Since the braking throttle input range is not separately controllable in the CA, the modulation isn't ideal, but it works.
The generic controller presently used on the right doesn't respond to that, nor have a useful regen function, so it instead uses the antitheft function that actively opposes wheel rotation, tied to an emergency-only ebrake switch--it's very hard braking, but is very hard on the motor and the controller.
LIGHTING:
Powered by a separate 4s 40Ah pack of the same cells as the traction pack, charged by a Grin Satiator set to 16.4v with a custom profile.
DOT headlight (salvaged from a piece of a KIA left behind in a parking lot after (presumably) a collision), DOT trailer taillights, turn signals, and brake lights. LED light strips for accents / downlighting, and additional turn signals and markers. Front and rear are also sequential-turn-signal LED lights that have steady marker lights when not signalling. All daylight visible at least as much so as the average car/truck/etc.
I'll add sections with more specific data on various parts, trips, etc., once I have time to do so. Until then, please see the build threads in the Links section. )
