such a frustrating year for mountain biking. Our trails are still wet, and now a week of rain. Normally by this time I would have done a few trips. We had Moab booked at spring break before all of this happened. No biggie, we have BC. But we are encouraged not to travel, so I can't go there. I normally would have gone to Invermere by now. Or my favorite is to go to Squamish, and make my way back. I ride in Squamish, then Kamloops, then Vernon (I stay at a friends), then Revy. Sometimes if I have time, I will hit Golden. If I can't bike in Golden, I still stop at Whitetooth brewing and bring home some bombers. It's always a good trip.
I still have a trip to Bend booked for August, but I'm thinking that will be cancelled.
Sorry, just venting. Probably should have gone in GMG.
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Anyone used a dynamo hub for providing power to a portable charger while cycling? I'm just trying to figure out what they come with as far as cabling and if it would be suitable for long distance rides. I've called a few bike shops but nobody is answering phones or they aren't too familiar with them.
Yes, I've use a SON dynamo hub before for bikepacking. I would just caution that you need to average 14 or 15 kph at least in order to charge anything. This sounds really slow, like who can't average 14 or 15 kph, but if you are mountain biking in serious terrain with a 70lb bike, it can be very difficult. I had a dynamo on the bike I took to South America but it was basically useless because I could only average 11kph. If you are doing road riding or are a strong bikepacker, it shouldn't be an issue.
Which dynamo hub are you getting and which charger?
I had my SON dynamo installed when they built my wheels, I don't think it came with any cabling at all. I have a sinewave cycles beacon that I used as headlight and charger and I believe that came with the cabling necessary.
Generally, the cabling should come with the light or charger you buy, not on the dynamo side.
They know more about dynamos than most bike shops would and were quick to respond when I was dealing with them a few years ago and they have lots of Dynamo related parts.
Which dynamo hub are you getting and which charger?
Great, thanks. I am still shopping around for the hubs, but I've heard a few bike shops can access the Shimano brand. I'll be mostly road cycling so I shouldn't have any issues with the speed.
My external portable charger is just a regular Anker powerbank that I'd like to connect to the hub so I can fill up the power while I'm riding and then use it to charge my cell phone in the evenings.
I will definitely check out that website and get some more info from them!
You need something in between the hub and your powerbank to convert the energy the hub produces to something that can charge your stuff. You will need something like this:
3 very slow wobbly groups of juniors? (with adult supervisors) headed south from Cochrane towards Airport road about 1115'ish this am. Slow and wobbly enough that the busy passing cars slowed down to 40-50'ish and backed up. Made it hard for a speedy roadie like me to dodge and weave as well. sigh... hope they consider safer training routes?
Next gear grinder... coming from the western edge of Calgary into the city is now brutal that the Crestmont route is pretty much closed (Stoney Tr construction), COP is closed to all/roadies, so that funnels a lot of riders through that short stretch of Old Banff Coach road where they have only 2 lanes. Extremely busy traffic, plus those lovely giant slipper metal plates NOT PUSHED TOGETHER creates potential for real accidents. Any alternatives? I ended up having to come down through Grand Central... er... Edworthy, and wow. Avoid. No such thing as distancing there! (but not as bad as Costco was Friday eve).
Lastly, most road shoulders are in good shape although the rains seemed to push a lot of finer grit over. So careful in corners. I'll give it another couple of weeks then move to the faster tires on the carbon wheelset.
If you're looking for quieter roads, head south east of the city, towards De Winton, Okotoks and Davisburg.
While I usually just head out from the garage and pick a route, I don't mind throwing the bike in the back of the car, driving 10-15 minutes and finding quieter spots to avoid the crowds. Navigating through Fish Creek on a busy weekend is painful. Especially these days.
This is a fun spot south of city. Narrow bridge over the Bow with a steep little hill afterwards but if you take a right at the top you can go 10km of paved road with next to no cars.
Hi guys - I don’t venture into this thread often. Who has information about converting my bike into a ebike? What kind of costs, where to shop? What should I be considering?
You can shop for bikes curb-side at Bow Cycle - they bring the bikes out for you to look at. About 1-2 hour wait on the weekend. They sell about 60 bikes each day.
They are opening an e-bike shop in the East Village.
The Grin website is a good staring point for figuring out what you want.
I had planned to buy a bafeng geared hub motor and controller off of AliExpress and then the battery from em3ev. Was going to be about 1100-1200. But then they put the Rad bikes on clearance for 1400 so I picked up one of those instead.
I do sort of wish I had built my own a bit as I could have gotten 54 volt instead of 48 and would have been on a nicer bike.
Your first decision to make is front hub vs rear hub va mid drive.
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Given the weight of the thing, I suspect your best option is a rear wheel drive unit, but the wheel will have to be built fairly strong. And you will probably need more power than a typical conversion. But then you may need to up-size your brakes as well...and we remember that kettle of worms... I'm not saying it will be impossible, but it may take some research and maybe more money that it is worth.
I may have a line on a used setup you could buy if you are interested, I'm not sure he wanted to keep it.
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I have a large cargo bike currently and I want to explore converting before i look into new
Luna Cycle BBSHD. Don't bother looking anywhere else IMO if you're doing a conversion. If you had bought it electric, then I'd be going with Bosch. Hub drive is garbage and on a cargo bike you're more likely to burn it out.
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Who is in charge of this product and why haven't they been fired yet?
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Cory Meza from the bike shop was in a serious cycling accident and is in critical condition. On June 3rd, profits from sales will go to help Cory and his family.