New Cycle Analyst from Grin Technology

I received a new Cycle Analyst from Grin Technology this week. It's a NOS (new old stock) one that they were clearing out. It has the small screen. I thought it would be I rough shape since they were stating that it was used, however, it sure doesn't look used! $40 and shipping sure is a good deal!

SlyCayer's 24 A123 cells arrived!

Surprisingly, my A123 cells arrived very quickly. Thanks Sly!

The two boxes look very similar but if you check the cells and believe the labeling, they come from very different places. One set is from America and the other from Korea. I will be doing some capacity testing soon.

My next build - TidalForce M-750X

Now that I've sold a couple of my Tidalforce S-750X bikes, it's time to move on to building out my next bike, the Tidalforce M-750X.

Here are a couple of shots of the bike in the buff before final assembly. The frame and front wheel came from eBay and the motor came from Craigslist.

Another Tidalforce S-750X for sale on eBay

Since my first Tidalforce S-750X bike sold on eBay for the Buy-It-Now price, I thought I'd put up the next one. This time it's a Candy Apple Red model. This auction ends November 1st at 9:00PM PDT.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181007549696

 

Tidalforce S-750X Available for Sale!

I've decided to sell one of my Tidalforce bikes since I have way too many right now. It's the satin silver Tidalforce S-750X bike. I've listed it on eBay for a starting bid of $999 with a BIN price of $1,800.

http://www.ebay.com/itm//180986420579

Here are the glamor shots of it.

Tidalforce S-750X electric bicycle. Own a legendary bike as close to new condition as is available!

This is a genuine and fully functioning Tidalforce 1000 watt electric bicycle made by Wavecrest Labs in Dulles, Virginia. This may be one of the last fully functioning Tidalforce bikes available since the company went out of business in 2006 and Tidalforce bikes/motors/batteries are scarce.

Tidalforce was the one of the pioneer electric bike manufacturers in America. They were a subsidiary of Wavecrest Labs. They produced the highest quality electric bikes in the world at the time. Their motors are legendary for their durability and absolute silence and smoothness in operation. All components are very high quality and work smoothly. The original Tidalforce bikes were built so that they could be parachuted into military war zones and used as transportation during war times so you know they're built extra tough.

Tidalforce bikes are known for their smoothness and silent operation. Because of the design of the battery built into the front hub and the motor in the rear hub, they produced a very stable, balanced, and smooth ride.

The Tidalforce S-750X frame is a classic hard tail mountain bike frame. It is light, strong and beefed up in the appropriate places to support a high powered electric motor. The rear dropout is reinforced with extra bracing to eliminate flexing of the frame. There are openings in the frame to route the wiring to eliminate the tangle of cabling typical of most electric bikes.

The Tidalforce "X" motor is not speed restricted in Turbo mode so doesn't cut off power above 20 mph like other Tidalforce non-X bikes. Top speed on level ground without pedaling is typically 27 mph. It can easily go over 30 mph with pedaling. The bike has an auxiliary battery connector so the range can be increased by adding an additional third party battery to the bike. Typical range in non-X mode is 10-15 miles with the included front hub battery. The mileage you get varies with how hard you push the throttle and on the type of terrain and conditions you ride in!

The 9Ah battery in the front hub is very strong. It is one of the last ones available from Wavecrest Labs and was found recently when Electric Motion Systems (the sister company that formed when Wavecrest Labs folded) was clearing out their warehouse of Tidalforce parts. I would consider it new old stock. The included German made battery charger can charge a completely depleted battery in 3-4 hours.

The console includes a key lock for security, the Turbo mode button and has a cruise control button. Just ride to the speed you want to maintain and press the cruise control. 3 keys are included with the bike. There is a Cateye speedometer/odometer. The padded gel seat is in excellent condition. The kickstand is included. There is a water bottle mount in the frame triangle.

The bike is used however it is in excellent condition. There are no significant scratches on the bike. There is no rust on the bike or chain. The tires are in excellent condition. The brakes have new pads. The gears shift smoothly. There are some scratches on the original pedals and ends of the crank arms which is not unusual. The bike runs beautifully and is ready to roll!

All original documentation is included with the bike. No returns will be accepted and the bike will be sold as is.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180986420579 

New panel thermometer

I picked up a Sure Electronics LED panel thermometer on eBay and it arrived yesterday.

It can measure a range of -31° to 257°F or -24 to 125°C. That should cover a pretty good range for ebikes! Here are some pics. I plan on adding this to one of my Tidalforce bikes in the future.

New Dead Motors Arrive!

Woohoo! Icecube57 over on endless-sphere.com was trying to get rid of a dead motor with a broken stator. I thought about it for 5 seconds and bought it from him. He didn't include the mangled and broken stator because he had another buyer for it. I received it last night. Along with that motor, I bought the replacement parts needed from e-bikekit. Of course, it's not that straightforward. The parts I got to fix the motor aren't exactly 100% either so I will have to spend some time in ripping them apart to find out what exactly is wrong.

Along with Icecube57's rim and rotor, are photos of the replacement motor and stator along with a 8Fun motor that Veloman was giving away.

Here are the photos.  So many motors, so little time!

Dead Stator with unknown connectors...

wiring

 Connector to unknown motor

 New additions to the family portrain!

 Notice the slightly larger 8Fun rim

 The 8Fun 29er is behind the 26" e-bikekit motor with the drilled cover

The 8Fun has a nice rim from Alexrims. The DC19.

Riding the Tidalforce iO on a beautiful Fall morning

I took the red Tidalforce iO cruiser bike out for a ride on a beautiful early Fall morning this past Saturday and made a video. Everyone was out riding or walking and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! There was also a yard sale going on in the neighborhood.

The easiest way to work on a Tidalforce bike's motor and battery

I was working on my red S-750X bike over the weekend when I realized that it's much easier to mount and dismount the wheels and battery when the bike is upside down and sitting on the handlebars and seat! I had mounted the front battery into the front fork and it wasn't fully seated all the way into the dropout and so wasn't centered quite right. After I flipped the bike over (not an easy task considering the weight of the bike), I was able to easily mount and center both the front battery wheel and the rear motor into their dropouts. It's very easy to tell when they are in. They drop in with a solid clunk and don't wobble at all! I simply tightened the quick releases and voila. Done.

Swapping out a Tidalforce hub battery

The Tidalforce M-750X bike I picked up had a supposedly weak front hub battery. I swapped the front hub with my red S-750X front hub just so it would have a known good battery. I then took the supposedly weak battery and replaced it with the other known good front hub battery I have. I opened up both and took a couple of pictures of the two packs as well as close ups of the suspect pack from the silver M-750X.

The bad battery was supposedly replaced with a reconditioned one and from the looks of it, wasn't soldered particularly well. There are lots of uneven solder joints and lots of bubbles in the solder. Typically this is caused by an inadequate soldering iron (not enough wattage) or bad soldering technique. I prefer smooth, even, shiny and bubble free solder joints.

Side by side (good on the left, bad on the right)

Good battery with center axle nut and wheel bearing mounted

bad battery without center axle nut or wheel bearing

Solder joint on bad battery

Solder joint on bad battery

Solder joint on bad battery

Solder joint on bad battery

Solder joint on bad battery

Solder joint on bad battery

After swapping out the center axle rod and nut, it was pretty smooth sailing.