eggnoggbubble

Hi

I posted on the utility forum and someone suggested I also post here. I'm buying a Bike Friday Haul-a-day and I'm planning to add an electric assist. My use is basically 2 kids and beach gear up hills (the worst hill I might want to climb is 92m climb over 750m = 12%!!) in heat and humidity. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? In particular, any idea what size motor I'll need? I live in Japan so I'll be buying from this site Kit Including Battery - seems to have a good reputation over at endless sphere.

Thanks for any thoughts!

2old

You selected (arguably) one of the two best vendors in the world. For the ascent you need a mid-drive as you mentioned, and Paul is very responsive to email questions. Basically you should get the biggest system as long as it's legal, that is BBSHD with 52 Volt battery. Amp-hours depend on distance you need to travel.

eggnoggbubble

Aah, legality is a bit of an issue....basically to be legal in japan an electric assist put out a maximum of twice foot pedaling power (not sure exactly how that is defined) up to 10km/h, then gradually taper down until at 24km/h it cuts out completely and you are running on pedal power only. Now, I'm pretty sure the BBSHD won't taper like this out of the box (tho I am wondering if it can be hacked in some way to do this) and will probably give more than twice foot power, so it'll almost certainly be illegal. But I'm also not terribly worried about being pulled over by the cops for an overpowered bicycle (especially as with my kids on I ride pretty slowly, tho we'll have to see what temptations I succumb to when I'm child-free....), right now electric bikes aren't even on the radar of police or anyone elses concerns. So, with that in mind....what size BBSHD do you think I shoiuld get?

2old

The BBSHD is one size although it can be "tweaked" with an external controller. It's rated at 1000 watts (5-8 times human power or so). I don't have one (I have the smaller 750 watt BBS02) and both do well with 52 Volts. Go to electricfatbike.com for more than you ever want to know about either system. Also, Paul may be able to program the BB so it's perfect for you.

eggnoggbubble

Thanks, I'll email Paul and see what he has to say.