Shimano Tiagra 30-42-52 crankset

My eBike is very fast when it is freshly charged and starting the ride. In fact, it's so fast that I can barely keep up with it when I'm pedaling. I really need to crank pretty fast just to act as if I'm actually adding some power to the ride! In an effort to reduce my cadence, I've just bought a larger crankset for my bike. It's the Shimano Tiagra 30-42-52 crankset. This should allow me to pedal at a more normal tempo when going fast. My current crankset tops out at 48T.

More later,
Ambrose

Seat tube shims

When I bought my Thudbuster, I grabbed the cheapest one I could find that I could fit onto my bike. The one I picked up on eBay ($43 shipped) was 27.2mm. I found out that my seat tube on my bike was 30.6mm. I shimmed the space with some aluminum sheeting that I cut and rolled up to fit the space. It works, however, it slips and I can tell that the bike seat is dropping lower and lower after each ride. I finally went ahead and bought the proper 27.2mm to 30.6mm shim from Thudbuster.com. This should help to hold the seat tube in place and not slip anymore. It of course will look a lot better.

More later,
Ambrose

iO fell through but other TFs appear!

The guy I was planning on buying the iO from sold it out from under me! Bummer. However, two other TF bikes have appeared. A red S-750 and a black M-750. One local, one in Florida. They should end up being around the same price when the show up here.

More later,
Ambrose

Double the light!

I picked up an extra Magicshine light head to augment my existing one. This doubles the amount of light that I will be putting out to around 1,800 lumens. I haven't tried it at night yet, but I can't wait!'''

Theoretically, this should reduce the battery life to about half, but since I'm only using them for about 1.5 hours a day and most of that time in blink mode, I don't think it should be a problem. I'm also planning on adding a DC-DC converter from my 48V main pack down to the 9V range that these lights need.

More later,
Ambrose

Rain, rain, go away!

No bike commuting today! The remnants of tropical storm Ida are passing over my area now and it's a steady downpour. I don't mind a little drizzle, but a steady rain reduces visibility, increases road slickness, and generally makes drivers less smart! Hopefully, it will dry out by tomorrow. Sigh. I got in the car and drove to work today.

Tidalforce iO bike?

My eBikeKit motor on the front wheel has been acting up lately and is making a kind of a bus or truck braking noise when I'm accelerating. It's hard to explain and I can't record it easily since it only happens when I accelerate hard and my hands are busy steering!

I've spotted a Tidalforce iO on Craigslist and am thinking about buying it. It's got a beach cruiser frame but can be modded to ride more like a regular bike. The frame on the iO has a nice big open area for placing batteries in the middle of the frame. The motor on the TF bikes are also very famously, totally silent.

I hope to be able to report that I've picked it up and am modding it for my purposes shortly!