George Mann

The problem with a trike is that I live in an apartment with no place to secure it, otherwise I would already have one.

tds101 

You mistake arrogance for irritation. You withheld pertinent information, and wasted people's time, by having them try to figure out what the issue could be. That's arrogant, and ignorant.

And FYI - you could post a picture of the "ebike" in question, and see if someone could find a solution. Get a new battery/controller/display combo, if applicable. The battery doesn't necessarily have to remain rack mounted.

George Mann

If you believe that I have wasted your time, why are you still doing so?

The bike is a 2017 Raleigh Retroglide iE (stepover). I would have to rewire the whole setup to mount a different battery to the frame.

Between the canbus system and the integrated controller of the Currie motor, they made a mess of it.

As it stands, I suffer from brain cancer, and can only attempt to ride when I am feeling up to it, and I may be waisting my time with this particular bike.

I however want to press on to see this project thru.

tds101 

I'm wasting my time because people help each other out here in the forums. That's what we're here for. And I'm sorry to hear about your cancer. That could also affect your equilibrium. Here's a picture of your ebike. Looks like it's mod'able, but it might be too cost prohibitive.


PS - mid drive? If you can get it up and running, it will be worth it.

George Mann

Yes, and yes!

George Mann

I only need a new inner battery pack to make it work. If I can find someone to build it with LiFePO4 batteries, and a good BMS, even better.

tds101 

You'll get a bit more assistance in this section. Hopefully someone can recommend a solution. Please be patient.

2old

EBikeMarketplace in Las Vegas is a company that reportedly (I've never used them) rebuilds batteries. However, mailing yours to them is a conundrum if it's even something they can repair. I would think that, since you reside in a metro area (from your location), you should be able to locate a similar service nearby. It's possible that a new battery can be combined with your Raliegh interface or since it seems like there may be positive and negative wires going to the controller, just splice in a different battery. If your bike doesn't have a throttle, you might take a look at a new Electra (flat feet technology and sold at Trek stores) if it has a throttle since that would facilitate starting out. As stated above, I'm so sorry to learn of your affliction and the more information we have (especially budgetary), the more assistance we can provide.

George Mann

EBikeMarketplace is pretty flakey these days, and their price is more than I would like to pay, especially with shipping added in.

I would like to stay under $500. I was planning to contact a few Chinese battery manufacturers to see what they can do for me. But you never know what you will be getting from them.

2old

The wires from your battery to what I assume (I know, I know) to be the controller APPEAR to have positive and negatives. If so, you could hook up a battery which had for instance an XT-90 "female" connector by splicing an XT-90 male (probably with pigtails) to those wires. I would concur not to use a Chinese company. Also, for only $800 you could procure a Lectric Cycle ebike with throttle (although only single speed); maybe you could defer part of the extra cost by selling your bike for $100 - $200.

George Mann

I paid $200 for it just a couple of months ago. I have looked at all of the affordable ebikes, and they all have one thing in common. Cheap parts, and indifferent quality and engineering.

If I can't get the one I have going, I will give up on 2-wheeled ebikes entirely.

JGaerlan

Saw a survey that most of the accidents among the elderly riders are from mounting and dismounting when stopping on a bike. A crank forward design (also called cruiser, feet forward etc) maybe the way to go. A recumbent bike is on the extreme, but you can go with the Electra Townie where the bottom bracket is positioned about 6 inches front of the seat tube. This design allows you to stop without dismounting from the saddle. You can find them used on craigslist for under $300.
If you can bike wrench, buy a mid drive kit and build yourself a decent ebike.
I suffer from some back pain so I got a used $300 recumbent. Another $300 for a Tongsheng mid drive kit fr aliexpress and repurposed a 48v server batter for under a hundred.

Schweinhund

Rebuilding a battery pack ain't rocket surgery. find a local tool battery guy and pay him to look at it so it's not a waste of his time if you don't fix it.
But you want to know what cells it's using. Are they flat, Samsung style, potted? Specific output per cell. cell id numbers if possible.
Cells, unless custom, can be sourced. The beauty of the whole chinese set up is they all use the same commodity parts so almost nothing is super custom.
And if, when it's open and he says "Oh these are XXXX" ask him to fix it.
You're not going to be changing battery types unless you know someone that can built you a control circuit for your new set up.

Smaug1

Hi George,

A couple ideas:

1. There's a woman on facebook named Susie Cen who can source new battery packs directly from the China suppliers. You might try reaching out to her with some pix and specs of your battery pack. I bet she can do a lot better than $600.
2. Maybe you shouldn't give up on a trike so easily? You could just invest in a quality lock, alarm and cover and lock it up outside somewhere

Good luck.

George Mann

I have decided that a trike would be best for me. Thanks for your help.

Pop N Wood

Why do people post stuff like this?

If you lived closer I would help you modify the bike to use a generic battery.

I helped a friend try and find a bike for her son with a balance problem. Lots of good options for a trike but hear you on the issues with storing and transporting them. He ended up getting an electric scooter, he could balance that.

BTW if you have trouble starting out on a regular bike don't even consider a 2 wheel recumbent. Those are tricky to get started.

tds101 

Wrong person to quote. I'm not the person having issues starting out riding my ebikes without power. Please go read the prior posts. The OP has health issues (cancer).

Pop N Wood

I'm sorry, you didn't write this?

And you are right, made my original post without reading the rest of the replies.

tds101 

I did post that comment, but it was before we had additional information added. The OP, as you see, has special issues. Hopefully it's working out well for them. This ended up being a bit more involved than just simply get basics and providing a solution.

George Mann

There were a few assuptions made here about whether or not this particular bike could serve as a conventional passively pedalled bike.

Well, this is a conventional bike design that has been adapted to an ebike. It operates just as a convention bike should, but it weighs 50lbs without the battery pack.

The weight of this bike appears to be the sole hinderance to getting it up to speed.

I have several ideas that would make the bike lighter such as removing the motor (around 8 pounds) and adding lighter rims.

I have not weighed the seat or stem.

I also want to swap out the current derailleur for one of higher quality.

Trakhak

The weight of the bike is definitely a factor, but with the placement of the battery that high and that far back, on a bike with handlebars that also position your upper body high and far back, it's not surprising that it's hard to start pedaling. That weight distribution isn't far from unicycle territory. Believe it or not, moving the battery to a front rack (assuming that you're able to repair or replace the dead battery) would improve the stability of the bike when starting out. (Many experienced touring riders put upwards of 30 or 40 pounds of stuff in front bags attached to a rack mounted to the fork and carry less weight elsewhere on the bike.)

If you know the electrical ratings (voltage, etc.) for the original battery, I would hope you could find companies that sell batteries with the same ratings that could be safely adapted for installation on the existing rack or a front rack. There might be compatibility issues I'm unaware of, though.

George Mann

Just so there is no confusion here, I have completely removed the battery components from the bike.

veganbikes

That bike was meant to be an e-bike, maybe not a great one but it is not a great candidate for much other than a lower initial cost cruiser e-bike. There are plenty of more suitable bikes with better components that will be easier to ride. Having such a heavy bike without battery means it is going to be less stable and less practical for most rides aside from slow casual cruising in a flat area like a beach. Putting a bunch of money towards it doesn't really make sense the derailleur on it isn't great but it matches the rest of the bike and the price point they were intending to hit. Just ride it as intended or as you have set it up and realize it is not the right bike for the job. There is a reason there are so many different bikes out there because some bikes are suited for different terrains and purposes.

George Mann

This is the style of bike I like. They made a few significantly lighter cruisers recently, but none of them are currently available at an affordable price.

See above.

That's what this style of bike was intended for. There are many vintage bikes that are heavier.

This was a $2000 bike back in 2017, not a cheap one.

veganbikes

The Specialized Roll would be an excellent example of a comfortable cruiser like bike that is more suitable to more than just beach riding. I believe the 3.0 is on sale right now.

There are not many vintage bikes heavier than 50lbs. There are some there will always be heavy bikes but most of that stuff was just old technology and lower end steel tubing.

I know the bike well, we sold a couple back in the day, it is a cheaper bike. Maybe as a non-electric bike with what it is equipped with it would be expensive but 2k for an e-bike is about the lowest I would ever go on a new e-bike and usually those have compromises. It is generally close to the same prices as many of the online random e-bikes out there from various different company names maybe a few hundred more than some but close to that.