Rosta

Hi,

I have switched to an E fat bike this winter for my daily commute to work. I commute 7km each way, about half my ride is on roads and the other half on a rail trail.

The bike I purchased is a Voltbike Yukon 750 which comes in around $2000 Canadian plus tax. Not a super expensive bike, but I did not want to spend too much in case this was a major fail.

So far my experience has been positive and I have put 570 km on the bike just to and from work.
- The tires are great until the snow powder reaches about 3 inches/ 10 cm, then the bike starts to float a bit and it gets slippery
- Fat bike tires are useless on ice, studded at least on the front would be better
- Best conditions are about -5 to -10 Celsius on groomed snowmobile trail, the best I have had is frozen snow that has been groomed, the knobby tires can bite into the snow but its hard enough to stay on top, better than riding on a road, I can safely do about 25km/hr on this surface
- The battery is good for about 50 km in cold weather depending on the depth of snow, deeper snow sucks more battery so it cuts the distance (I recharge every two days regardless)
- Someone mentioned fenders, they are a must, the slush and water that kicks up gets on everything and its all salt filled
- Salt means rust, I rust checked every bolt, nut, and exposed steel surface, still seeing some rust appear
- I bought a pesticide spray bottle and I rinse the bike everyday to get the salt spray off
- I have ridden in conditions from -20 Celsius with fresh snow to +8 Celsius raining and the right clothes make all the difference, in extreme cold exposed skin is a no no and my hands would freeze despite two layers of mitts (leather insulated etc. fine for not biking but no match for cold wind) so I bought reusable sodium acetate hand warmers, they last just long enough to get me to work, battery heated mittens are next. I also wear ski goggles and full face cover on cold days.
- I considered a non electric fat bike but I am glad I went ebike in the end, it helps push through the snow when its fresh and deeper
- The bike is very heavy, around 70 lbs, so a beast to peddle without assist, throttle is nice for starts, gets you up to peddle speed without having to shift too much in the cold
- I have had two issues so far, the chain came off on the front sprocket and pushed the peddle motion sensor out of alignment, the bike started surging and it took a bit to figure out why, then I notices the magnet disk was askew, simple to straighten but a bit of a puzzle at first to figure out what had happened.
- Second issue was foot slipped off peddle on standing start and was throttling so caused too much draw on battery and battery fuse went. No power. 7km peddle with no power through snow to get home and legs were burning, you want a workout that makes you sweat in the cold, peddle this beast with no assist. Batteries for these e bikes are expensive @ 500$ or more, so a second battery will require some saving.
- Bottom line: I love it, so much fun and a bit of a challenge to get to work, even cruising slowly on slippery trail is great fun. I ditched my f150 and this is my daily commuter in winter, if you factor in gas, insurance and maintenance the bike is already almost paid for and I have only had it for three and a half months.

Hope this helps.

robbie_d

Hi,
I've read all the posts. I am in Montreal.

I just bought a DYAD Banana Boss with 20X4" tires. It only comes with summer tires. I need to buy winter ones.

The specs say it has an iP65 rating, so it should be good for winter.
The bike is only two months old and i am noticing already that when i slip the charged battery into position and i press the start button, the bike doesn't start. I was so frustrated earlier tonight when i was removing the cell and putting it back and retrying it over and over again. Finally, it started, but i was beginning to think someone had cut a wire (vandalized) out of jealousy or something.
Also tonight, my headlight would not come on when i pressed the button that is right beside the "start the bike" button.
It did come on finally but it seemed to take a long time.
.
I've been reading around in here to see if i can see anything about insulating the battery. Someone briefly touched on it but nobody responded to the guy until now.

I am thinking of building an encasement around the battery area which is below the back rack and above the back fender. I am also considering using mitten/feet warmers somewhere in the encasement to generate heat to keep the battery warm while outside in the winter either parked or riding.

I'm, also, thinking that maybe i can use an (altered) insulated lunch bag that can be bought at Walmart, for example as part of the encasement. Just trying to imagine "how" to do it. The idea came to me only today.

As for protection against slush.
In Montreal, as it is in many snowy/slushy cities, bikes take a beating on the busy streets when it's slushy.
Several years ago, i removed some corrugated cardboard signs, politicians use them at election time, from the street poles after the election and cut them to fit over my standard bike. I made small holes and used zip ties to secure the cardboard in place. I had my crank all covered up in a "box", and all along both sides of the bike i had the cardboard tied to the frame so that when i was out in snowfall or riding on city-slushed streets, no snow could land on my chain from above, and when i got splashed from the sides, my gears, crank, chain and the parts of the frame that were behind the cardboard didn't get wet (directly from the splash). I found it really protected my bike and i didn't have to oil my chain as much as without the cardboard.
For my Ebike, i found a slab of thin Plexiglass that could cover up the back wheel on both sides. I have to make a template with the cardboard first and then use it to cut over the Plexiglass, and then, i'll zip tie or velcro it to the frame.

Oiling the chain.
An old man i know, he's 87 now, told me about 7 years ago, that he's been using automobile motor oil on his bike chains for decades.
There is a garage in the lane behind my place, and i asked the owner if i could take several used, empty motor oil containers from his recycling bin so i could let the oil drip from all the containers into one. He said sure. I got about half a container of oil and it's lasted me a long time. I found a whole unused container last year in a parking lot, so, i am set for life, now lol.

When i oil my chain, i do have to take a narrow flat head screwdriver and scrape gunk out from the back "cassette" before applying the fresh oil. Doing that seems kind of normal, though, whether i used the motor oil or proper chain oil. Am i correct? Is my old friend correct?

I tried it and i find it's okay. It's much less expensive than the bike chain oil in bike shops.

With the bike upsidedown, i pour drops of oil, from the cap, onto the bottom (now, on top) jockey wheel as i turn the crank. I switch the gears until the chain and teeth look oiled enough and then use a cloth and hold the chain between my clothed-fingers to soak up the excess oil until the chain only leaves a bit of oil on my fingertips when i swipe the chain. I use my clothed fingernail to wipe the jockey wheels, and i wipe the front crank if oil drips.
Any comments on this oil method? As i've said, I've been using it for years and it seems to be working okay.

Thanks for reading and hopefully responding