fmullegun

If I hooked up a motor to one of the chainrings could I just use a simple on off switch to control the motor?

I would plan on making it as a help motor setupthe I would pedal to.

thanks

jomac

In a word 'yes' back in the UK where i live, in the 1980's a british company developed an electrically assisted tricycle called the Sinclair C5, it used a 250w 12v motor and the control was basically just a button, relay and a diode to supress the sparks on the contacts. It was crude but it worked and stood the test of time, theres many still running today, although a lot are being converted to 24v with a PWM conroller.

More info on the circuits used can be found at www.yourc5.com but you have to register to get to the manuals section, and the site chats generally about electric and tricycle/bicycle ideas

Jomac

wasp

if its a dc motor you can

FollowYourHeart

You can do that or spend an extra $10-15 and put a throttle switch to at least make the power delivery fully proportional rather than abrupt on and off. I'd also be cautious about accelerating from a start with full power all of a sudden, that acceleration easily puts the most stress on spokes.